When Maria Chen, a project manager in Chicago, started using AI tools at work last year, she noticed something unexpected: the same features that made her workflow faster also made her materials easier for colleagues with vision and hearing differences to use. She is far from alone.
A new survey of 1,019 working learners across the United States found that 89 percent see real opportunities for AI to make their jobs more accessible. The survey, conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of University of Phoenix and released ahead of the 36th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act on July 26, reveals that workers see AI as a tool that could help everyone do their jobs better.
Accessibility, in this context, means making sure digital tools, content and resources work for people with different abilities. This could mean adding captions to videos, writing summaries of long documents, or designing websites that work with screen readers and other assistive devices.
Among workers already using AI, 60 percent said the technology had improved their own knowledge of accessibility standards and guidelines. That is a meaningful shift: people are not just using AI to check boxes. They are actually learning about inclusive design through the tools themselves.
The survey also highlights a gap between worker enthusiasm and company policies. Forty-five percent of respondents said their workplace AI policies either do not mention accessibility, are unclear about it, or that they are unsure whether it is covered at all. Only about a quarter of workers said the AI tools available through their jobs support people with disabilities very well.
"The reality is that accessibility benefits everyone," said Kelly Hermann, vice president of accessibility and student affairs at University of Phoenix. "If accessibility is built in from the beginning, organizations are more likely to create AI-enabled environments that are universally usable."
Hermann pointed out that clearer content, better summaries, accurate captions and multiple formats help more than just people with disabilities. They also help busy parents juggling schedules, people learning English as a second language, and anyone trying to absorb information quickly on a phone.
Looking ahead, 90 percent of workers surveyed identified AI and accessibility skills as valuable in their current or desired career fields. Nearly half said understanding when AI-generated content needs human review is an especially important skill. About a third said human oversight for important decisions should be part of responsible AI use at work or school.
The findings suggest that as AI becomes a bigger part of daily work, companies and schools have a chance to make accessibility a core part of how these tools are used, not an afterthought.