SHRM Guides Employers on Accessible Careers Websites

Careers websites routinely exclude disabled candidates, and SHRM has now published guidance telling employers how to fix that. The article, released by the Society for Human Resource Management, addresses the recruitment pages where applicants first encounter an employer's application process.

The guidance arrives as the careers site has become the primary gateway to employment. For a disabled jobseeker using a screen reader, keyboard navigation or alternative input devices, a poorly built application portal can end a candidacy before it begins. SHRM's article frames accessibility as a hiring problem, not only a compliance obligation.

What does the guidance cover?

The SHRM piece walks employers through the components of a careers website that most often fail disabled users. The focus falls on practical remediation: employers should audit their recruitment pages, correct the barriers they find, and maintain accessibility as the site evolves.

Typical failure points on careers sites include:

• Job application forms that screen readers cannot interpret
• Multimedia job postings without captions or transcripts
• PDF job descriptions that lack structural markup for assistive technology
• Page layouts that trap keyboard-only users

Each of these barriers maps to established web accessibility criteria, and the guidance directs employers toward the recognized standards that define conformance.

Why the careers page specifically?

The recruitment funnel is where exclusion carries the highest cost. A candidate who cannot complete an application never reaches an interview, so an inaccessible form silently filters out disabled talent at the first stage. SHRM's framing puts the responsibility on employers to remove that filter before it discriminates.

The article also connects accessible design to the wider employer brand. Candidates who encounter a usable application process, regardless of ability, form their first impression of the organization from that interaction. Accessibility work on the careers site therefore serves every applicant, not only those who rely on assistive technology.

What should employers do next?

SHRM positions the guidance as a starting point for human resources teams that own or commission recruitment technology. The recommended workflow is straightforward: identify barriers on the existing site, apply recognized accessibility standards during redesigns and vendor selection, and treat accessibility as an ongoing maintenance task rather than a one-time project.

For organizations that have never audited their careers pages, the article functions as an entry point into a discipline with mature standards and established testing methods. As regulatory attention to digital accessibility intensifies across markets, recruitment pages that remain inaccessible are likely to attract both legal exposure and reputational cost — an outcome a structured audit can prevent.