A Co Tyrone man has settled a disability discrimination case against his former employers, the Western Trust, and the HSC Business Services Organisation (BSO) for £3,000.
Stephen Campbell is a software engineer and is registered blind, using a guide dog called Nemo to help him in everyday life.
He took a case over the fact that he could not access job applications initially through his screen reader technology.
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"When I was looking to get onto a permanent contract or get a promotion, whenever I tried to apply, the website was inaccessible," Stephen said.
"Either for downloading the job spec or even if I was able to do that, I couldn't upload it as it had a component called the application wizard, which was only programmed to work with mouses.
"So I contacted the HR department and they were very helpful and welcoming in applying by providing a Word document for me to fill in.
"But whenever I tried to apply to other Trusts, I was unsuccessful for the most part, so I contacted the Equality Commission for some advice.
"Then we proceeded down the route of disability discrimination on the basis of the accessibility of the site."
The Cookstown man said it had been hard to actually take on the case and said it had left him feeling a particular way.
"To be honest, embarrassed - taking a legal case against my employer even though they were fantastic, and against the regional body BSO, it just made me embarrassed that I had to take it," he said.
"It should already be implemented, accessibility, within the websites both internally and publicly and unfortunately that wasn't the case.
"It's extremely important for employers to realise, because they may have employees even if they're not open, some of them may have hidden disabilities.
"So if the website is not accessible, it will stop people with physical disabilities or sensory disabilities being able to access promotions or even applying for permanent contracts.
"It will then make them different to their sighted colleagues or physically able colleagues which can cause issues with morale.
"I just did not want someone else coming down the line having the issues that I came across."
Eoin O'Neill is the Director of Legal Services at the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.
"It was another example of a barrier to disabled people in Northern Ireland - currently only 36% of people with disabilities in Northern Ireland are employed, which is the lowest rate for any region in the UK," he said.
"The Commission itself, the majority of the queries we get from people who believe they have been discriminated against, relates to disability discrimination and in particular to employment.
"So it's important that the Commission supported this case to a successful outcome."
He said that cases like this were useful in that they served as a reminder to others of their obligations when it comes to employment practices.
"It's also very important that employers generally and specifically in the public sector ensure that their websites are accessible to all and in particular to those people with disabilities," he said.
"It's all about removing barriers for disabled people who have talents and who can bring a lot to various employers."
The Western Trust said it had tried to support Stephen in his application process, which Stephen acknowledged and said it would continue to engage with the Equality Commission.
A Spokesperson for the Western Health and Social Care Trust (Western Trust) said: "The Western Trust is committed to ensuring that everyone who comes in to contact with our health and social care services have equality of access and that we comply with all relevant equality legislation.
"We will continue to work in partnership with the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland to consider their respective policies, practices, and procedures in respect of recruitment access for blind people.
"The Trust’s HR Department will always strive to support individuals who need assistance through a recruitment process, as we did on a number of occasions for Mr Campbell."
In a statement, the Department of Health said: “The BSO have committed to ensuring they comply with the obligations under all the relevant equality legislation.
“They have liaised with the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland to consider their respective policies, practices, and procedures in respect of recruitment access for blind people.
“They have learnt lessons and have taken on the responsibility to ensure their forms of communication and engagement tools, are high quality, continually improving, and efficient and responsive to the needs of the user. They will continue to be welcoming and inclusive to all who live here and avail of their services.”
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