Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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How does a recently blind person find a tech job? (self.Blind)
submitted by emwells
Hi r/blind! I'm trying to help my uncle so I thought I'd reach out. My uncle is in his late 50's and has an IT support and project management background. Since losing his vision about 5 years ago he slowly stopped working and has been focusing on rehabilitation (went to CVI, got a service dog, learning JAWS for his computer, braile, etc). After completing training at his local CVI they gave him an internship at a nearby college and have provided him with a few resources to find jobs. No luck yet but he's a very tenacious person. Is there any blind person here with a tech background that can shed some light on where to look or what jobs are a good fit for him? Any advice is appreciated!
rumster 3 points 7y ago
Dude start looking in tech support sector. Lot of openings in it. Also check abilityone.com!
emwells [OP] 1 points 7y ago
Thanks, I'll look into it!
GoneVision 1 points 7y ago
Does your uncle have any knowledge about Section 508/WCAG2.0? I'm a totally blind Accessibility SME, and my wife also works in the accessibility field. We both are aware of current job openings in our area of expertise. Shoot me a PM for details.
emwells [OP] 1 points 7y ago
he does not but I looked it up and am reading about it. If he's interested I'll PM you. Thank you!!!
GoneVision 1 points 7y ago
Cool. Have him study the standards, and if he isn't already, become an expert/wizkid on the AT, JAWS, NVDA, ETC. Most blind testers test apps and web pages for Section 508/WCAG2.0 compliance using JAWS and accessible automated testing tools, so he could easily perform this role if he is good in these areas. If he has previous PM experience, that's only going to help. Amazon, J. P. Morgan Chase, Microsoft, The Ohio Secretary of State's Office, SSB Bart Group, to name a few off the top of my head, are all currently hiring accessibility professionals, with multiple openings. Experienced folks in my field can easily earn low to mid 6 figures; Junior staff will start somewhere above 60K.
carpe_diem1977 1 points 7y ago
If he lives in the SF Bay Area pm me.
emwells [OP] 1 points 7y ago
Agh, I wish. He did used to live there and worked for a few tech companies. Thanks!
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