Accessibility: Consider the genius of the humble shirt-folding board

Step 1: Lay the shirt on the template.

Step 2: Fold the hinged parts of the template (or fold the loose bits of the shirt around the edges of the board, depending on the style).

Step 3: Slide the board out and be proud of the sharp, smooth result.

Brilliant, right?

Intricate engineering to fix the problem of rumpled shirts in retail stores.

Definitely the kind of invention that changes lives.

Not really.

And yet...

It achieves three fundamental things:

1: Eliminates barriers

2: Supports everyone

3: Opens the future

For those who struggle with tasks requiring dexterity, coordination, and spatial reasoning, a folding board lets them accomplish a task with a level of quality that would have been too laborious or simply out of reach.

As an employment service provider for individuals of all abilities and all diagnoses (or no diagnosis), we think eliminating employment barriers is certainly worth inventing something for. And to do it in a way that's simple, sustainable, and fully cost-effective is genius.

But it's even more genius than that...

...Because it turns out everyone benefits.

Everyone who was folding shirts "fine" before can fold them even better now. The board ensures a better result with less effort. It cuts training time. And it reduces frustration. It supports everyone. 

This small accommodation is a universal tool that benefits the whole team, improves customer experience, and makes training more consistent.

"Universal design" is the idea that environments and tools should work for as many people as possible, without needing separate or "special" solutions.

As we work with individuals to secure meaningful work and thrive in it, we believe that making the workplace accessible, supportive, and well-designed is a genius idea that improves the workplace for everyone.

Many accommodations are simply best practices that are good for everyone. This shows up in far more places than just shirt-folding boards: Visual checklists, flexible schedules, quiet break spaces, noise-reducing headphones, receiving the agenda ahead of the meeting ... these are just a few of the simplest, genius ideas that benefit everyone.

Accessibility isn’t an extra—it's a path to better productivity and morale for everyone.

When everyone can do their best work, everyone benefits...and the future of our community opens wide with possibilities.

Is it the kind of invention that changes lives? Maybe not in the way you might think at first, but certainly in a way that's real and meaningful.

Genius!