Recruiters can now offer disabled candidates guidance over clear access to their interview.

A new mobile app aims to help recruiters avoid disability discrimination by providing disabled candidates with information on accessible journeys and venues in London. 

The app is an extension of the London Access App, developed by Tobi Collett, managing director of Diverse HR Solutions, and is part of the UK Recruitment Industry Disability Initiative. She is working on a version of the app for recruiters with The Clear Company, which helps organisations improve the diversity of their recruitment and talent management processes.

The app will be rolled out over the coming weeks, initially for London and then across the country for every major city. Kate Headley, director at The Clear Company, told Recruiter that research carried out last year revealed “a big gap” between the perceptions of recruiters and candidates’ experience of the recruiting process. “The vast majority of disabled people don’t feel they get the support they need from recruitment service providers when they are trying to find a job,” she said. “We need to get these issues out into the open and find ways and means to deal with them professionally and respectfully, which is where this particular app can help.”

The London Access App was launched in January this year and sat in second and third place on the App Store’s most popular and most downloaded travel app lists for more than two weeks, out of 34,000 apps worldwide. It is available on the iPhone and makes use of the device’s now familiar in-built technology, as well as live travel information to help people plan their journeys and provides access information for particular venues. 

“If a candidate submits an application it’s a way for recruiters to say not only are we welcoming disabled people but we’re also providing practical help and support,” said Headley. “A lot of recruiters don’t work in entirely accessible buildings but there is nothing to stop them meeting a candidate in an accessible venue and helping arrange their journey.”

Headley said the app was also about minimising risk for recruiters. With 11m disabled people in the UK, she pointed out that one in five people who come through a recruiter’s door could be disabled. “Many recruiters say the disabled issue doesn’t apply to them and that kind of attitude is dangerous because you don’t know you are discriminating,” she said. 

She added that another major problem is that recruiters think that dealing with disability issues will cost them money, so take what they think is the low-risk option of avoidance. “But this is actually the high-risk route and they put themselves and the client at risk,” she said. “We’re trying to tackle it head-on and it is not a big cost thing. In the case of the app, it’s a low-cost option at £1.50 forever.”

The Clear Company is keen to hear from recruiters who want to provide input into the development process of the app, which will also be developed for other platforms including Android.

www.theclearcompany.co.uk