Cisco's commitment to diversity includes people with disabilities.
The Networking Academy curriculum addresses the needs of
students with learning disabilities, visual and hearing
impairments through content and delivery modifications and
in partnership with the National Center for Learning Disabilities.
Beyond the Academy program, Cisco was one of the first companies
to create an external web site that is accessible to people
using assistive technology, and company policies support
the hiring and retention of persons with disabilities.
The educational institutions that host the Academy program
have the primary responsibility for providing equal access.
However, the Networking Academy program is listening and
providing support to help them meet those needs. Our curriculum
team can make all four CCNA courses available to instructors
in Word format to interface with technologies for helping
visually and hearing impaired students.
In September 2000, Cisco entered a partnership with the
National Center for Learning
Disabilities
(NCLD) to ensure that students with learning
disabilities (LD) have full access to the Academy curriculum.
NCLD reviewed the curriculum and provided recommendations
for improvement and instructor awareness and training. As
a result, the Cisco Academy curriculum team added components
to the design process for curriculum updates, and included
accommodations in the Cisco Instructional Best Practices
Video Series.
On October 30, 2001, NCLD launched a web site Living
with LD as a result of the partnership with Cisco. The
web site covers a range of issues including: LD testing,
educational and career choices, studying, interviewing and
job- hunting skills. This site is an excellent resource
for Academy instructors and students.
Cisco has recruited a number of employees through Project
Hire, a nonprofit that helps people with disabilities gain
competitive employment. Cisco is currently working with
HirePotential, Inc. to conduct a workplace assessment for
a Customer Support Engineer who is visually impaired, and
Cisco compiled a Persons with Disabilities Resource Guide
for all employees.
