Empowering Job Seekers with Disabilities through VR Training
Discover CCRW's innovative use of VR to support inclusive employment with the VirtualSpeech app
Highlights
Skills
Communication Skills
6000+
minutes spent in VR
366+
practice exercises completed
27%
increased in confidence scores
Customer Introduction
The Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work (CCRW) is a national non-profit that supports the equitable employment of people with disabilities. They provide job seekers with tools like job search support, workshops, and accommodation assessments.
The Goal
CCRW aimed to empower job seekers with disabilities by building their confidence in navigating workplace conversations around disability. Traditional role plays, while useful, were time-intensive for staff and often lacked the realism and psychological safety needed for clients to fully engage.
The objective for the first year was to complete a minimum of 330 VR-based activities that would help individuals strengthen their communication and self-advocacy skills in a supportive environment.
"VirtualSpeech has really enhanced our services and our ability to provide dynamic and customized trainings to support job seekers with disabilities and employers to increase their disability confidence."
Jeffrey Normore - Director of Digital Operations at CCRW
The Solution
Through VirtualSpeech, CCRW developed four custom VR scenarios designed to simulate real-world conversations about disability and employment. These immersive experiences allowed job seekers to safely practice key communication skills, such as maintaining eye contact, interpreting social cues, and advocating for accommodations, while receiving real-time feedback.
In just one year, 134 users completed 366 VR activities, surpassing the original goal.
Results and Benefits
- Confidence scores increased by an impressive 26.91.
- Net Promoter Score of +70.
- 366 VR based activities completed.
- Over 6000+ minutes spent in VR.
