What if your HRIS excluded your employees without you even knowing it?
Leave management, expense reports, annual appraisals, training… HRIS systems support your employees at every stage of their professional lives. However, for those with invisible disabilities: dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, partial visual impairment… These same tools become a daily obstacle course.
Since June 28, 2025, with the entry into force of the European Accessibility Directive (EAA) compliance has become both a legal requirement and an ethical imperative.
The question is no longer “why”, but “how” to make your HRIS truly inclusive.
HRIS and invisible disabilities: a little-known reality
Sophie works in sales for an ETI with 800 employees. Every week, she opens her HRIS to book vacations, declare expenses, consult pay slips or register for training courses.
What she doesn’t tell her colleagues is that she is dyslexic. And every interaction with the tool is a silent struggle. Overloaded menus, insufficient contrast, incomprehensible error messages. What takes her colleagues 5 minutes takes her 20.
Sophie is one of the 80% of disabled people whose disability is invisible. And like her, thousands of employees struggle every day against tools that are supposed to make their lives easier.
Digital accessibility: some disturbing figures
When we think of digital accessibility, we often think of blindness, deafness or the use of a wheelchair. But the reality is much broader. It encompasses many situations, often invisible, that can have an impact on the user experience:
- Dyslexia, dyspraxia and dyscalculia affect around 10% of the population. Inaccessible design: complex interfaces, illegible fonts, confusing forms… can hamper productivity and compromise user comfort.
- Attention deficit disorders (ADHD) can make it difficult to navigate dense menus or concentrate on lengthy processes, especially without intermediate storage.
- Partial visual deficiencies (color blindness, visual impairment) lead to altered visual perception, often invisible, making it difficult to read color codes, dashboards or status indicators.
- The fatigue or anxiety associated with certain chronic conditions can make the use of a non-optimized digital environment more demanding and less inclusive.
- Temporary situations: an immobilized arm, an ophthalmic migraine, post-operative fatigue…
We can all potentially be affected.
The vicious circle of silent exclusion
The problem with invisible disabilities is that they can’t be seen, and often go unnoticed.
Most of those concerned say nothing. For fear of being stigmatized. Because they’re afraid it’ll affect their careers. Because they think “they’re the problem”.
They often prefer to bypass the tool rather than report their difficulty. They ask a colleague to type for them. They write things down on paper. They avoid certain functions.
RGAA, EAA directive: obligations to be aware of
Since January 1, 2024, all private companies with sales in excess of 250 million euros must make their digital services accessible, in accordance with the RGAA (Référentiel Général d’Amélioration de l’Accessibilité).
But since June 28, 2025, regulations have been tightened with the entry into force of the European Accessibility Act. From now on, all private companies with more than 10 employees OR sales in excess of 2 million euros are concerned. Only micro-businesses (fewer than 10 employees and sales of less than €2 million) are exempt.
The obligations are clear: compliance with the 106 criteria of the RGAA, publication of an accessibility declaration for each site or application, preparation of a multi-year accessibility plan and appointment of a digital accessibility referent.
In the event of non-compliance, penalties can reach €50,000 per digital service, renewable every 6 months, and a further €25,000 for failure to declare.
But beyond the regulatory threshold, every company has an obligation of non-discrimination, including in access to work tools.
An inaccessible HRIS is potentially :
- Discrimination in employment (the employee cannot carry out his or her normal duties)
- An obstacle to job retention
- An obstacle to career development
The question is no longer “are we concerned?”, but “when are we going to act?”.
5 questions to assess the accessibility of your HRIS
Before launching a full audit, ask yourself these simple questions:
1.keyboard navigation
Can you use all HRIS functions using just the keyboard, without a mouse? This is essential for people with motor difficulties.
2.contrasts and legibility
Are texts effortlessly legible? Is important information distinguishable in ways other than color (a key point for color-blind people)?
3. Error messages
When a form is filled in incorrectly, is the error message clear, precisely localized, and does it propose a solution?
4. Route complexity
How many clicks does it take to submit a leave request? A lengthy application process can be an obstacle for people with fatigue or attention problems.
5. Compatibility with support tools
Does your HRIS work with a screen reader? Voice dictation software? 200% zoom?
If you answered “no” or “I don’t know” to more than one question, your HRIS probably has some way to go.
Accessibility: benefits for all employees
Designing an HRIS is not about “doing a favor” for people with disabilities. It’s about improving everyone’s experience.
- A streamlined interface benefits people with attention deficit disorders… and anyone who wants to move fast.
- Optimized contrasts make reading easier for the visually impaired… and for anyone working on a poorly adjusted screen or in direct sunlight.
- Simplified itineraries make life easier for tired people… and for all employees in a hurry.
- Clear error messages guide people with cognitive difficulties… and all occasional users.
This is the principle of the “ramp effect”: an access ramp helps not only wheelchair users, but also parents with baby carriages, delivery personnel with carts, the elderly, the temporarily injured…
Improve the accessibility of your HRIS in 5 steps
The good news: improving the accessibility of your HRIS doesn’t have to mean rebuilding the whole system.
Here’s a pragmatic approach:
Step 1: Raising awareness
Train your HR, IT and management teams in the challenges of digital accessibility. The first barrier is often lack of knowledge.
Step 2: Diagnosis
Conduct an accessibility audit of your current HRIS. Identify the most pressing bottlenecks, those that impact the most users.
Step 3: Get involved
Set up a group of testers including people with disabilities. Their feedback is worth all the audits in the world.
Step 4: Prioritize
Concentrate first on the most frequently used paths: vacations, expense reports, consulting pay slips. This is where the impact will be most visible.
Step 5: Contractualize
Integrate accessibility requirements (RGAA level AA minimum) into your next HRIS calls for tender. Make accessibility as much a criterion of choice as functionality or price.
Accessibility and digital responsibility: the SQORUS commitment
At SQORUS, we are convinced that responsible digital responsibility cannot be limited to the environmental dimension. Digital inclusion is an equally fundamental pillar.
That’s why our approach, recognized by the Responsible Digital Label fully integrates accessibility issues:
- In supporting our customers with their HRIS projects
- In designing the solutions we deploy
- Raising awareness among our teams and partners
Because a responsible IS is an IS that excludes no-one
Key points to remember about accessibility and digital responsibility
- 80% of disabilities are invisible: your employees probably won’t tell you.
- 70% of professional digital content remains inaccessible
- HRIS, inclusion tools par excellence: would you like to assess the accessibility of your HRIS, which are often themselves factors of exclusion?
- Accessibility benefits everyone, not just the disabled
- Simple actions can improve the situation
As a signatory of the Diversity Charter and involved in inclusive partnerships (Femmes du Numérique, Access Inclusive Tech), we support our customers in building information systems that are accessible to all.
Would you like to assess the accessibility of your HRIS? Raise your teams’ awareness of the challenges of digital responsibility? Our experts are at your disposal to discuss your challenges and support you in this process.
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