Darryl Adams is Intel’s director of accessibility.
Intel
One of the most popular articles I posted last year was an interview with Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, which coincided with Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Gelsinger, who wears hearing aids, spoke to me about the chipmaking giant’s efforts at disability inclusion and his own experience using assistive technology to compensate for his hearing loss. Also present during the discussion was Daryl Adams, Intel’s director of accessibility. Adams, who is disabled himself and was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at age 14, said his role is “to be a[making] “We aim to make computing and digital information accessible to everyone and to make Intel an employer of choice for employees with disabilities.”
What I wrote in my lead post then still holds true today: Most people don’t associate Intel with accessibility and assistive technology, but they should.
I recently reconnected with Adams via video conference ahead of Intel’s release of its 2023-24 Corporate Responsibility Report. The report, released today, also includes a letter written by Gelsinger, detailing how the Santa Clara-based company is working to address societal issues such as sustainability, artificial intelligence, climate change, and, of course, accessibility. Of particular note on the disability front, Intel boasts that it has received recognition from disability rights groups such as the Americans with Disabilities and Disability IN for its highly inclusive efforts.
“We continue to evolve our thinking about disability inclusion and supporting our internal workforce through accessibility and innovation. [employee resource groups] “These are all different touchpoints that we can build to make the employee experience as welcoming as possible,” Adams told me in an exclusive interview about Intel’s disability inclusion philosophy.
Adams acknowledged that most people think of Intel as a company that makes computer chips. People know it from the “Intel Inside” stickers on Windows laptops and the famous jingle. But Adams stressed that he believes Intel has a “bigger story” that goes beyond just being a processor company. “We’re not just thinking about the core processing that we’re known for, we’re working on computer architecture and working closely with computer manufacturers and operating system vendors to enable the experiences people have today,” he said. He said this work is important because computing is “rapidly changing experientially” today with the rapid rise of generative AI and other types of machine learning. Adams added that Intel is actually a vast software organization, with more than 19,000 developers last year whose job is to build an ecosystem that brings together hardware and software. Intel isn’t just in the business of selling hardware. Adams said they also sell “an ecosystem that enables other companies’ software developers and application developers to build businesses and industries.”
On the talent side, Adams said a key part of Intel’s social justice efforts is the company’s “strong, intelligent” collection of employee resource groups (ERGs). He said the disability-focused ERGs are an “incredible global community” that provide an opportunity for workers who identify as disabled to connect with like-minded people and share experiences and challenges related to their condition. This is “powerful” and ultimately informs product strategy in that, as a technology company, Intel can use the ERGs “to get feedback, to conduct research,” Adams said. [people] “This is exactly what Intel did with its hearing aid initiative that I reported on a year ago,” Adams said. Intel employs a large number of employees who use hearing aids, and the company connected employees with hearing care professionals who could fit them with hearing aids and get feedback before they tried out the technology.
“I think [that testing] “That’s really powerful because not only do they benefit from being on the cutting edge of these technologies, but we benefit from their insights,” Adams said of employees conducting comprehensive testing. “They feel like they’re contributing in that way. This could be a finance employee, this could be an employee who’s not necessarily technical, but they can still contribute to the larger goal of creating these successful products.”
Commenting on the aforementioned Corporate Responsibility Report, Adams said the release, which came just over a week before this year’s Global Accessibility Awareness Day, highlights “a significant number of positive advancements around accessibility, innovation in the enterprise and disability inclusion, particularly working towards goals around self-reporting.” Adams noted that most large companies want to encourage disability self-reporting, with Intel’s goal being to aim for 10 percent of its workforce. While Adams acknowledged that this figure is not representative of disabilities globally, he said the bar for self-reporting is “pretty high” when it comes to people feeling comfortable disclosing such information in the workplace.
According to Adams, Intel has many initiatives within the company to make it an accessible place to work for employees with disabilities. It’s not perfect, but they try to make it clear to employees that they can come to work every day as their true selves, with or without disabilities. There are many programs within Intel to promote that ideal, and Adams says Intel has identified “Accessibility Champions” who are passionate about creating a work culture that is “more inclusive and more accessible” for employees with disabilities. This “Accessibility Champions Network,” as Adams describes it, is made up of people with and without disabilities who come together in monthly interactive meetings to share their experiences of living with a disability. Storytelling is a valuable tool that goes a long way to acknowledging people’s lived experiences and “celebrating the wins” of such candid conversations.
“Culture change is hard, but these things do just that over time,” Adams said. “They [disability inclusion] And it’s just raising awareness in general. Not just awareness, but more people are advocating and now they’re actually doing something about it. It’s very exciting. It’s a proud achievement for us.”
Adams elaborated on Intel’s inclusive mindset, saying that as part of his role leading accessibility and chairing the company’s Disability Leadership Council, he’s “seen a trend” in conversations. Adams has noticed more “great” public conversations about disability, and the trend is upwards. More people are sharing their experiences as disabled people, which allows them to find others who are facing similar situations. In other words, people are starting to realize they’re not alone.
“Given the global reach of the company, I think there’s still room for growth. We’re not targeting everyone,” Adams said of expanding inclusion for people with disabilities. “That’s my long-term goal: to provide a good experience. It’s about filling in the gaps and continuing to solve them over time. Overall, things are going very well.”
Looking to the future, Adams wants everyone interested in a career at Intel to understand that “their abilities are welcomed” regardless of their circumstances. Intel wants everyone to have a positive experience in their interactions with the company, and Adams told me he wants future employees to know that they are welcome and that Intel will do its best to assist them in every way possible. He made the clear and sharp distinction that Intel does not address accessibility and disability inclusion because it is trendy. Intel does it because it feels that it “celebrates and recognizes” the disability community, rather than simply tolerating and accommodating them as something that is mandated by law, he said. Even more pointedly, Adams said the main reason accessibility is so important is because disabled people live in a society that is clearly not designed for them, and therefore they will need creativity and ingenuity as a means to survive.
“There’s a huge emphasis on creative thinking on project teams in large companies and across all organisations,” Adams says. “It’s not, ‘Let’s accommodate people with disabilities,’ it’s, ‘Let’s reach out thoughtfully and let our team have these insights and perspectives.’ The simple fact is, [disabled people] I contribute as part of a team. [mindset] “It will lead to better products and better outcomes. I want to see that scale… I want to see it consistently.”