Purpose
The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether an interactive educational video of a rehabilitation professional who is blind positively affects attitudes towards, knowledge about, and intent to hire people who are blind or have low vision (B/LV). The interactive video will provide the viewer with the opportunity to ask questions related to employing people who are B/LV as well as personal questions about blindness.
Research Questions/Hypotheses
- Viewing an interactive video of a rehabilitation professional who is blind will result in improvements in attitudes towards, knowledge about, and intent to hire people who are B/LV.
- Are changes in attitudes towards, knowledge about, and intent to hire people who are B/LV retained over time?
- Does the opportunity to ask personal questions about blindness result in greater improvements in attitudes towards and intent to hire people who are B/LV?
- Are the effect sizes of observed improvements in outcomes when utilizing an interactive educational video similar to effect sizes for improvements after one-on-one meetings?
- What questions are hiring managers most interested in asking related to employing people who are B/LV and related to blindness?
Study Summary
Long considered one of the major barriers to employment for people with B/LV, negative employer attitudes continue to be identified as a significant barrier to employment today. In a study from our 2015-2020 RRTC grant, we determined that brief, one-on-one meetings between a vocational rehabilitation professional and a hiring manager resulted in significant positive increases in attitudes towards, knowledge about, and intent to hire people who are B/LV. We now want to determine if a less labor-intensive method to share information with employers can also be effective.
We will create an interactive video of a blind rehabilitation professional who will provide information about employing people who are B/LV. The video will include introductory information, and then the viewer will be presented with a menu of questions and can select the questions for which they would most like to see the answers. Questions will cover topics related to employing a person with B/LV, blindness in general, and the professional’s personal experience with blindness. We will conduct two separate efficacy studies with (a) at least 120 managers-in-training and (b) 62 hiring managers to determine whether positive changes in attitudes towards, knowledge about, and intent to hire people who are B/LV occur after viewing the video.
Expected Outcomes and Benefits
This study will allow us to determine whether a less labor-intensive method to share information with employers can result in positive changes in attitudes toward, knowledge about, and intent to hire people who are B/LV, as one-on-one meetings with employers did. If found to be effective, this interactive video will be made available to any employer interested in viewing it through the NRTC website, as well as to vocational rehabilitation professionals who will be able to utilize it with their business contacts.