The initial recruitment contact was helpful and reassured me that my disclosed impairments and requested adjustments had been noted and passed to the panel. This made me feel positive and I do want to say that she (the HR person) was very nice throughout. However, the interview panel appeared entirely unprepared; they failed to implement agreed-upon adjustments and seemed unaware of my specific accessibility requirements. Having to repeatedly remind the panel of these needs created an uncomfortable and exclusionary atmosphere from the outset.
When technical issues (audio) occurred with their chosen platform (Teams), the "solutions" offered by the panel were inaccessible for someone with my disabilities and demonstrated a further lack of awareness regarding the barriers I experience. The burden of troubleshooting was placed entirely on me - try this, try that, leaving me very flustered. I was deeply disappointed when a panel member basically questioned how I'd do the role if I can't get audio to to work, despite the issue being platform-specific (Teams) rather than a fault with my own equipment or connection. My suggestion to switch to a more stable, accessible platform like Zoom was ignored.
I provided detailed feedback to the HR contact regarding these barriers. While they apologised, the "solution" the panel offered was to reschedule for an "out-of-hours" meeting the same day or the following Monday, both times I had already stated I was unavailable. It was with the same panel I complained about. This failed to address the core issues of platform accessibility or the fact that I had already taken annual leave for the initial appointment. I have since declined to proceed as I just felt uneasy about the whole thing although I do wish to reiterate the person from recruitment was very nice throughout. I should also add that the job advert was marked as being live for a year on their site (although I only found it recently). There was also an error on the advert so their career page needs addressed too.
