加入今天劳动大军需要能无障碍地使用通讯手段。技术辅助工具为失明的海伦•张提供了与同事们一样的成功机会。

海伦•张（Helen Chang）在美国国防部（U.S. Department of Defense）从事网页制作，开发用户所需的网站和系统，帮助让国防部各个环节更有效地运转。

她自称自己是技术迷，把绝大部分时间都用来为电脑应用程序编写代码。除了每天在工作中使用尖端技术外，作为盲人，她还使用屏幕阅读器和光学字符识别（OCR）软件等辅助性技术工具，从而使她能够审阅打印及扫描的文件。她还使用一个电子布莱叶（Braille）盲文笔记本。

于1990年签署生效的《美国残疾人法》（Americans with Disabilities Act）禁止雇主歧视有残障的人。加入今天的劳动大军需要能够无障碍地使用通讯手段。拥有这些通讯手段意味着有感官残障的人能够同样地与无此类残障的人进行交流。

这些通讯手段使所有雇员在职场拥有平等的成功机会。张说：“要善于学习新技术和软件、学习任何能够帮助你取得事业成功的东西。”

Participation in today’s workforce requires unhindered access to communication. Assistive technologies give Helen Chang, who is blind, access to the same opportunities for success as her coworkers.

Helen Chang works as a Web developer for the U.S. Department of Defense, developing custom websites and systems to help the department’s components run more efficiently.

A self-proclaimed techie, she spends most of her time writing code for computer applications. In addition to the cutting-edge technologies that are an everyday part of Chang’s line of work, Chang — who is blind — also uses assistive technology tools, such as a screen reader and optical character recognition (OCR) software, which let her review printed and scanned documents. She also uses an electronic Braille note-taking device.

The Americans with Disabilities Act, signed into law in 1990, prohibits employers from discriminating against people with disabilities. Participation in today’s workforce requires unhindered access to communication. Communications access means that people with sensory disabilities can communicate (and be communicated with) on an equal footing with those who do not have such disabilities.

Communications access allows all employees to have equal access to the opportunity for success in the workplace. "Be open to learning new technologies and software,” Chang said, “anything that will help you be successful on the job."