How cross-sector partnerships can help close the disability employment gap for those with sight loss
By Marsha de Cordova, MP
The Government has spent much of this year setting out the foundations for growth, underlined by a fairer and more dynamic economy. Included in this central mission is one of its most ambitious aims: to support more people back into work.
In order to achieve this, we cannot ignore the UK’s persistent disability employment gap, which stands at a shocking 28.6%. This highlights the systemic inequalities that continue to lock out a wealth of talent from our economy and limit disabled people’s futures as a result.
This is even worse for those who are blind or partially-sighted – a community which I’m proud to be a part of. A 2020 analysis by the Royal National Institute of Blind People found only 27% of people registered blind or partially-sighted were in employment – contrasting significantly with the rest of the disabled and general populations.
While Labour’s plan for growth holds great promise, the disability employment gap shows us that we need to go further to enable more of us to join the workforce. Policy change alone won’t be enough. For those who are blind or partially-sighted, success will depend on how we use the power of technology to break down those barriers at scale.
In Parliament this week, I had the privilege of hosting Vis-Ability, an event in partnership with research charity Fight for Sight. Vis-Ability brought together Parliamentarians, innovators, and advocates all with a shared goal: to explore how we can harness AI and assistive technology to empower people with sight loss to access meaningful work.
The conclusion we came to was clear: tackling the disability employment gap requires a commitment to effectively and inclusively implementing AI technologies. This will not be achieved just by policy makers but instead through a collaborative effort.
We can see that the potential of technology is already here. Screen reading, magnification and voice-to text have already made computers, phones and tablets more accessible to our community, while the latest advancements in smart wearables represent a new frontier.
For many blind and partially-sighted people, these technologies are already making daily professional and educational life easier than ever before.
But for every breakthrough, there is a barrier: poor integration in the workplace, lack of awareness among employers, patchy procurement processes, and prohibitive costs that keep transformative tools out of reach.
Labour’s missions — to drive economic growth, deliver equity, and transform public services — must be underpinned by a national commitment to properly implement inclusive tech across sectors.
That’s why we need a cross-sector partnership to spur on inclusive innovation in assistive technology and AI.
Cross-sector partnerships, where stakeholders from different industries and professions are achieving as one, will not happen overnight. It will require co-designed policy, where people with lived experience of sight loss are at the table from day one as well as partnerships between government, disability organisations, tech firms, researchers, and employers. It will also require a regulatory and investment framework that ensures assistive tech and AI solutions are safe, diverse, affordable, and user-led.
The public sector should ensure that public procurement rewards accessibility, and that employers are supported to adopt inclusive technologies with confidence. For instance, the Changing Attitudes, Changing Lives report from the Eye Health and Visual Impairment All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) which I chair revealed that 25% of employers would not be willing to make workplace adaptations to employ a blind or partially-sighted person, and nearly half lacked accessible recruitment processes. These findings highlight the urgent need for systemic change to foster inclusive employment practices that deliver for everyone.
If we get this right, we won’t just close the disability employment gap — we’ll open new possibilities for millions of people and the whole of society will benefit as a result. Let’s build a future of work that works for everyone.
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