Accessibility Company Blazes Career Path for the Disabled
Minneapolis, Minnesota (PRWEB) December 26, 2013 -- As a disadvantaged business enterprise in Minnesota, WeCo offers a unique career opportunity with a four-level advancement path for people with disabilities. By hiring people to be their Certified Test Consultants, WeCo aims to foster independence by utilizing and compensating the skills of people who may have been overlooked by traditional work environments.
The 2013 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium states there is an employment gap of 40.8 percent between people with disabilities and those without in the workforce. People with disabilities from ages 18 to 64 experienced a 32.7 percent employment rate in 2012 while those without had a 73.6 percent employment rate. 1
WeCo works to decrease this gap. Hiring people with disabilities to test their clients’ websites, WeCo test consultants use their skills in recognizing inaccessibility to improve the quality of the testing results. By taking this approach to website accessibility testing, WeCo not only provides testing services with a “human face,” but they also actively demonstrate the value of what employees living with disabilities can bring to the table in a professional work environment. “WeCo’s test consultant career not only offers individuals living with disabilities the opportunity to participate in professional employment, we also reward their work with the chance to advance and take on more responsibility within our company,” commented company President, Lynn Wehrman. “For many of our consultants, this is something they’ve never even dreamed possible in their work environments.”
WeCo Certified Test Consultants, or CTCs, begin at an entry level and can advance to Senior, Lead, and Principal CTC levels in which they begin to earn more and take on more responsibility within the company. Each advancement enables the individuals to grow professionally by participating in mentoring and leadership roles.
Lead Certified Test Consultant, Nina, is one of WeCo’s advancement success stories. Blind for almost 20 years, she has worked with WeCo since its inception in 2011. Unlike employment elsewhere, Nina finds WeCo to be a more flexible environment where she is given more chances to use her skills and assets. She enjoys the exposure to accessibility education and becoming more knowledgeable and open-minded. When asked about her promotion, she considers it a great opportunity to learn and grow. She looks forward to being the leader who paves the way for others and serving as a guide for current CTCs.
“I never thought it would be possible for me to find meaningful employment, let alone career advancement.” – Nina
Based in St. Paul, Minnesota, WeCo is a mission-based, for-profit organization. While creating a strong accessibility learning environment for your organization, we also provide professional employment to people who live with disabilities. Considering that up to 80% of people in this group are either unemployed or employed below their education and capability levels makes the work WeCo does even more uplifting and important. WeCo is recognized by the State of Minnesota as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise. In WeCo’s first year in business they were featured in the MarketWatch Wall Street Journal, Google Finance and Tech{dot}MN. Find more about the company at theweco.com.
Toni Grundstrom, The Wehrman Collaborative, http://theweco.com, 855-849-5050 Ext: 704, [email protected]
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