These pages will be updated an ongoing basis. Meanwhile, please continue to use the guidance and support described below. If you require this information in an alternative format, please contact diversity@kcl.ac.uk.

If you have a disability/long term health condition, you are entitled to request workplace adjustment(s) and should speak to your manager/supervisor about what support you may need. You should discuss reasonable adjustments, as well as a plan to review their effectiveness. To determine whether or not a requested adjustment is reasonable, you wil need to: (i) decide if the duty to make a reasonable adjustment is required, (ii) decide if it is reasonable.

• If you are an existing member of staff, your manager/supervisor may refer you to Occupational Health for an Employment Health Assessment.
• King’s does not currently have a central fund to finance adjustments. Sources of funding currently available to staff:

o Access to Work – a government grant that aims to help fund disabled people to start or stay in work.

o Head of Department’s budget (discretionary).

• If you are experiencing mental health difficulties at work, Remploy’s Workplace Mental Health Support Service is free and complements any existing occupational health service.
• If you are experiencing issues associated with the habitual use of computers and other display screen equipment, then you may be interested in finding out more about King’s ergonomic trial scheme.

• You can also seek confidential advice from the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). The EAP service is entirely independent from the College and the service is confidential. The EAP provide free telephone and web based advice, telephone-based counselling service and a computer-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
  
  
• You can also contact your HR People Partner who are able to provide support with adjustments. With your consent, it is advisable that the adjustment(s) are recorded centrally (should your manager change/you move to a new role), which you should speak to your HR Advisor about.
  
  
• If you require an Assistance Dog at work, then please read King’s Policy on Assistance Dogs. You will need to inform/work with your manager and it is they who are responsible for making the arrangements listed on page 2. These will be made with the assistance of an Estates &Facilities delegate.

• If you have declared a disability/health condition, you may need a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP), which details how the safe evacuation will be conducted of a disabled person from a building in an emergency situation. Your manager should work with you to establish and agree a PEEP. Contact the Health & Safety team for support in this process.

If a member of staff you are managing/supervise declares a disability, they may require workplace adjustments. You should have a discussion together about what support they may need, and agree the adjustments and next steps. If an adjustment(s) is put in place, it is advisable to review the effectiveness of these periodically.

The law does not require employers to make adjustments that are not reasonable. To determine whether or not a requested adjustment is reasonable, you wil need to: (i) decide if the duty to make a reasonable adjustment is required, (ii) decide if it is reasonable.

• You may refer the employee to an Occupational Health specialist for an independent medical assessment:
  • to enable employees returning to work following ill health;
  • assist employees to achieve good health by providing health advice and support;
  • prevent employees from becoming ill as a result of the work they do.

• King’s does not currently have a central fund to finance adjustments. Sources of funding currently available to staff:

o Access to Work – a government grant that aims to help more disabled people start or stay in work.

o Head of Department’s budget (discretionary).

The Equality Act (2010) makes it unlawful to pass on the costs to a disabled employee.

• If a member of your team is experiencing issues associated with the habitual use of computers and other display screen equipment, then you should advise them about King’s ergonomic trial scheme.
  
  
• If a staff member is experiencing mental health difficulties at work, Remploy in partnership with Access to Work, can help. Remploy’s Workplace Mental Health Support Service (WMHSS) is free and complements any existing occupational health service.
  
  
• If you haven’t already, you should contact your HR People Partner who are able to provide advice about next steps and support with adjustments. With consent of the staff member, it is advisable that the adjustment is recorded centrally (should you move to a new role/the employee moves to another department) this will better enable the adjustments to remain in place.
  
  
• If you would like some impartial advice and support, register with the Business Disability Forum to access free resources/guides, and call their Advisory Service for up to two hours’ free confidential expert advice from BDF disability consultants. Please note the BDF are unable to help staff regarding any personal cases, and will be advised to seek support from King’s HR Advisors.
  
  
• If a colleague has declared a disability/health condition you should work with them to establish a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP), that details the safe evacuation of a disabled person in an emergency. Contact the Health & Safety team for support in this process.
  
  
• You should also ensure the employee is aware of the location of fire/first aid equipment for their central site of work. You should also ensure the employee is aware of the fire drill and alarm/location of fire exits/ assembly points for all sites of work. (internal page)

Log into LinkedIn Learning, to access the following video tutorials:

• Being positive at work
  Techniques for cultivating positive environments, relationships, and habits.
• Developing self-awareness
  Learn how to become more self-aware in order to develop yourself personally and enhance career progression.
• Mindfulness
  Increasing confidence, peak performance, and connection with others
• NHS Guidance on Accessible Meetings
  Information and guidance to make meetings more accessible
• Inclusive Conference Guide
  A practical guide for event organisers to help create inclusive and accessible conferences
• Hosting accessible online events, meetings and webinars
• How to Run Accessible Online Meetings for disabled people working and studying from home

Find out more about King’s Disability Advisory service, Counselling service and Well-being service for students.

• Reasonable Adjustments - Neurodiversity
• Texthelp Read & Write - assistive software available on all King's devices from the Software Centre
  
  
  • Text Help Read and Write Gold: Proof read your work, listen to your work, documents, convert text to a high quality audio and create audio files
  • Dragon Naturally Speaking: Voice recognition software. With Dragon, you can dictate documents in Microsoft Word, send emails and more, all by speaking.
  • Zoom Text 11: A screen Magnifier and Reader, it reads most documents and can change background colours. This application is beneficial to users with a visual impairment.
  • Jaws 18: Jaws enables users with vision loss to independently use a keyboard with a computer along with a connection to braille output devices.
  • MS Office’s built in dictation works with Outlook and Word documents too.
    
    Text Help Read Write is available from the Software Centre.
    MS Office Dictation is built in to KCL devices.
    Dragon, Jaws and Zoom are available for a cost. As mentioned, it is the staff member's local department's responsibility to pay for such additional software licenses.The Department can then seek to claim back the money via the Access to Work scheme. Please speak to KCL IT in case the software can be sourced via them.

1. Provide as much information about the event beforehand (as you normally would)
   • How to sign up/join the meeting
   • What meeting platform will be used
   • The format of the meeting/event and who will be speaking
2. Check with presenters that they are confident in using chosen platform
3. Share slides ahead of time to allow processing time and to reduce technical issues
4. Manage expectations and respect personal preferences (e.g. using video or microphone)
5. Ask participants to join on mute, especially if lots of people joining
6. Ask participants to post comments and questions using chat function (or ‘raise hand’ to notify the chair)
7. Ask participants to introduce themselves before speaking
8. At the start of the meeting, outline the format of the event. What will happen and who will be speaking
9. Highlight features such as chat functions and live captions at the start of the meeting
10. Use live captions - good for people in loud environments or those with hearing impairment
    • MS Teams has auto captions feature https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Use-live-captions-in-a-Teams-meeting-4be2d304-f675-4b57-8347-cbd000a21260
    • Zoom closed captioning https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115002522006-Closed-Captioning-With-Zoom-Rooms
11. Blur background if you have a busy environment – this makes it easier to focus on the speaker
12. Make sure any materials shared before/after are accessible – use Microsoft Accessibility Checker

Clear Voice Language Services

Clear Voice offer a range of services to King's, through various delivery modes (written, online, face to face, telephone etc). These include:

• transcription
• translation
• interpretation and sign language (including British Sign Language, BSL)

Clear Voice Interpreting Services is a social enterprise. All of their profits go to their parent charity Migrant Help which supports exploited and displaced people, and victims of modern-day slavery and trafficking. They are actively supporting King’s Vision 2029 “to make the world a better place.”

Find out more on the Intranet: https://internal.kcl.ac.uk/about/ps/procurement/suppliers/language-services-translation-transcription-interpreting

Twelve million people across the UK have some form of hearing loss. Many people who are Deaf, have hearing loss or work in noisy environments rely on lipreading to communicate, and face coverings make this impossible.

Here are some tips for communicating with a face mask, put together by Access King's, the Staff Disability Network:

1. Write it down. If speech isn’t working, write it down or use a text message.
2. Use an app. There are mobile apps that can translate speech into text, or you could use the built-in dictate feature on iPhone notes (no need to download an app).
3. Keep it clear. If you can, use a face mask with a clear panel or a clear face visor so your face is visible to the lip-reader. You could make your own or purchase one online. There are plenty available on Etsy (such as here and here).
4. Find a quiet place. This will make it easier to hear, especially if technology is used to support hearing.
5. Use Microsoft Teams for video calls. If you don’t need to meet face-to-face, a video call with captions or British Sign Language interpretation may work just as well and you won’t need a mask. Remember that visual cues are lost when the camera is off, and for those that lip-read and/or are hearing impaired, being able to see the speaker makes a big difference. So if you are happy to, put your camera on when you are speaking if possible.
   
   We recommend using Microsoft Teams, which comes with in-built live captions (many others, such as Zoom, do not have this feature as standard and will exclude those who are hearing impaired). Highlight this feature at the start of the meeting so that everyone is aware. Don’t make assumptions – hearing loss is invisible, and you don’t know who this might benefit! Find out more about choosing and using video conferencing platforms.

This list has been adapted from the National Deaf Children’s Society recommendations, with input from the IoPPN Disability Inclusion Working Group

For more information, visit:

• Action on Hearing Loss – Communication tips for the general public
• Transparent face masks could stop ‘months of misery’ for millions

Microsoft Teams Accessibility Guidance (University College London)

Digital Education Accessibility Baseline KEATS course. 

Room Information (Internal Only)