Due to uncertainties regarding workplace accommodations, many employers are reluctant to hire employees who are blind or visually impaired. But Beyond Vision has numerous vision impaired employees and helps them overcome obstacles.
For more than 115 years, Beyond Vision has used innovation, such as 3-D printing and screen readers, to enable people who are blind or visually impaired to work for the organization, which was originally part of state government and became an independent nonprofit in 1985.
Seeking to reduce the 70% unemployment rate for blind people in the U.S., the organization assigns blind employees to many jobs, including assembly and packaging, manufacturing and customer care,. It provides products and services to local and national companies and organizations such as Harley-Davidson, Briggs & Stratton, GenMet, Caterpillar and the federal government.
All Beyond Vision employees, sighted and blind, receive competitive wages and benefits in environments that allow opportunities for advancement.
“We’re all about providing people with visual obstacles a career path. We’re all about the mission. We’re all about servant leadership in the course of achieving our vision and mission.”
-James Kerlin, president and chief executive officer of Beyond Vision
