Policy Delphi Study
A policy Delphi was conducted by the Work RERC to identify key legislative and policy issues critical to the implementation of successful workplace accommodations and to develop policy options for addressing potential barriers.
A policy Delphi is a polling technique that seeks feedback from various stakeholders on a given issue. It is usually conducted over the course of several rounds, in which open-ended questions are also asked of the panel. Responses are then used to help develop the questions for the subsequent round. Our Policy Delphi on Workplace Accommodations took place over three rounds and involved about 45 participants representing the disability community, employers, vocational rehabilitation, and state and federal officials.
Participants in the Delphi were asked to provide input on four categories of questions.
- Forecasts are items that examine the feasibility of broad social, economic, regulatory, and technological trends that may affect the future of workplace accommodations.
- Issues items elicit the input of respondents on the importance of perceived and identified barriers and opportunities related to workplace accommodations. They are clustered into broad categories: 1) awareness, 2) policy/regulatory, 3) economic, 4) technological, and 5) social.
- Goals concentrate on the desirability of particular outcomes in addressing pertinent issues.
- Options items ask respondents to consider the feasibility of initiatives and policy interventions to address issues deemed important and achieve goals determined to be desirable. Participants in our policy Delphi arrived at a set of 22 policy options that received the support of at least 75 percent of the panel. Many of these options take a collaborative approach, including the involvement of federal agencies such as the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) in the Department of Labor and the ADA Task Force of the Department of Justice.
Read the full policy Delphi report.
