Wellness Without Barriers: Making ‘Accessible’ Scalable

The Challenge

A global priority, a healthcare necessity.

Across industries, accessibility is an ethical, legal, and financial imperative. In the world of healthcare, it takes on an even higher level of importance. Imagine if the immunocompromised population were unable to access the COVID-19 vaccine or ill patients could not fill their medication prescriptions. Persons with disabilities (PwDs) often need healthcare services the most, yet they also have the most difficulty accessing care.

A Fortune 5 market leader with over 44 million customers, CVS Health recognizes accessibility as a global priority and an industry necessity. A pharmacy chain, health insurance provider and more, the corporation’s many brands include CVS Pharmacy, CVS Caremark, and Aetna. Accessibility is at the core of each brand’s shared mission to help people with their health whenever and wherever they need it.

From in-store experiences to mobile applications, CVS Health sets out to put accessibility and inclusive design into action across every digital touchpoint. However, successful accessibility programs require quick access to niche expertise, and special talent searches demand deep understanding—which makes the right talent solutions partners as hard to find as the right talent.

The Solution

Client-driven specialization, user-centric success.

Our clients needed experts. So, we became the experts. Onward Search joined the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) and launched a new practice dedicated to helping organizations build delightful experiences for all.

Led by our Practice Leader, Kate O’Connor, and Delivery Leader, Catherine Sherry, our digital accessibility staffing task force hired over 120 professionals for CVS Health at record speed. Together, we transformed our client’s once modest accessibility team into a full-fledged department, nearly 50% of whom have disabilities themselves. Today, CVS Health does not just build solutions for PwDs; it builds solutions with PwDs.

“I’m finally able to start a life of my own,” declared a visually impaired accessibility engineer our team hired. We’re immensely proud to have helped professionals with visual, auditory and cognitive impairments find stable work with CVS Health. And our industry-leading client is equally proud of the tremendous work they accomplished.

“It’s not just about compliance; it’s about building a delightful experience. People with disabilities often view functional as exceptional. We take pride in raising the bar,” shared a representative of the rapidly growing accessibility department.