Reasonable Accommodation (RA) is an adjustment to a job or work environment which enables an employee with a disability to perform the duties of the position.
An accommodation is a tool, provided by the employer, to help employees with disabilities to do their jobs, just as an employer provides the means for all employees to accomplish their jobs. For example, employees are provided with desks, chairs, phones, and computers. An employee who is blind or who has a visual impairment may require computer software which operates by voice command or which provides enlarged print.
RA options may include: making the work environment accessible, job restructuring, acquiring or modifying equipment, adjusted work schedules, modified workplace policies, telework, providing personal assistants (e.g., a reader for a blind individual or an interpreter for a deaf individual), along with a whole range of other creative solutions. Reassignment is the final accommodation option and is considered when it has been determined that there is no reasonable accommodation available which would permit the individual to remain in the current position.