National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) officially ends on October 31, but employment is a year-round concern. As of fall 2026, the U.S. employment rate for people with disabilities is 40.3 percent—a record high, but still trailing the non-disabled employment rate of 75 percent. It’s worth noting that for both populations, the number of unemployed people actively seeking work is tiny—3.5 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively. While much of this is due to high retirement rates and self-employment, there are also many people who don’t know how to start a job search, or who have given up looking.
Among the disabled population, common reasons for procrastination include:
- Fear of losing disability benefits if their income goes up
- Intense dislike for changes in daily routine
- A habit of letting family take care of everything
- Difficulty finding truly accessible workplaces
- Under-accessible job boards, online applications, etc.
- Stigma (or fear of stigma) related to disability
Let’s Get Started
While these problems are real, disability employment rates are still higher than ever, and growing. Also growing is the capacity of a top-search job tool: artificial intelligence (AI).
The following list covers several good AI tools for networking, navigating websites, finding disability-friendly workplaces, and other essential skills.
One important note first: AI is useful to help you find work, not to relieve you of all personal responsibility. Your (human-intelligence) role is to use good AI prompts, fact-check the results carefully, edit-and-repeat as often as necessary—and, of course, to eventually interact directly with other humans. (See our recent blog post “The Human Factor.”)
Suggested AI tools:
- Microsoft Copilot: Microsoft calls this tool “AI built for work.” It’s useful for writing résumés, cover letters, and emails; interpreting job descriptions; and generating sample interview questions. It can also be used as a “career coach” to provide additional job-hunting ideas.
- Otter: Specializes in recording, transcribing, and organizing information from live discussions. A recommended aid for following up interviews and training sessions, especially if you have difficulties processing live input.
- Jobscan (web platform only): Personalizes résumés to fit job descriptions and Applicant Tracking Systems. A great tool for large-scale online job searches.
- For job hunters with vision disabilities: Be My Eyes and Seeing AI. Both offer verbal guidance for reading screens and documents, or for navigating in-person locations. If you need help with complicated tasks (e.g., filling out online applications or reading difficult handwriting), Be My Eyes is better because it includes the option of real-time human assistance.
- The JobBridge (web platform only): Stands out for being designed with disabled job seekers in mind. Helps users find disability-friendly employers, also to create résumés and prepare for interviews.
Bonus Job-Search Hacks
Again, don’t forget your human intelligence. You’ll also need it to exercise these tips:
- Emphasize your strengths before your accommodation needs. (See the 2026 NDEAM theme, “Celebrating Value and Talent.”)
- Get recommendations/referrals from people who know your abilities.
- Know what application/interview styles you’re comfortable with. If you’d rather avoid a specific approach (e.g., making a video clip of yourself), seek out applications that don’t require it.
- Don’t automatically blame “discrimination” if you’re turned down: it happens to typically abled people all the time. Stay positive and keep looking. You’ll find the right place soon enough.
- Keep organized records of your search.
- Once you have a job, know the secrets for keeping it. Understand what’s expected, stay dependable, get to know the rest of your team—and take care of yourself on and off work, so you can always function at your best.