Starting the process
Contact your AtW contact centre directly, where you will be offered advice and guidance from an Access to Work Adviser.
You will be sent an initial two-page form asking you to complete some basic details about your job and contact details for you and your employer. You can have the AtW advisor complete this with you over the phone, and it can be sent to you for your signature. It is important at the initial contact stage to state your preferred format so the advisers are able to meet your stated communication needs. It can also be helpful to consider the key issues at this stage and to explain the difficulties/challenges you are facing, as this will help ensure that all your needs relating to your job are addressed at the assessment.
If you already know what you need in terms of support, it is possible for AtW to approve costs at this stage. However, we would not recommend this approach unless you are sure of your needs and the most appropriate solution, as there may be options you may not know about that can be explored during an assessment.
Assessment
An assessor will come out to your workplace in order to determine exactly what you require to access your work; this can be an AtW Officer, an external contractor or an RNIB/Action employment specialist.
You can get the most out of any assessment by thinking about all the aspects of your job beforehand. Try to identify all the areas where your disability affects your work. This can be hard if you are starting a new job, but if your needs change you can always go back to AtW to ask for further help.
Report
There should always be a formal report as a result of an assessment. This is sent to AtW outlining the results of the assessment and will contain the necessary information to enable the AtW Adviser to reach a decision regarding the application. If no on-site assessment has taken place, the assessor can produce a formal document, or you can supply a letter containing the necessary information (that is, what you require, who manufacturers it and how much it costs).
Agreeing support and costs
The AtW Adviser will present a final figure of necessary costs to your employer, and then the split of costs between the two agencies will be agreed. (Maximum coverage of costs by AtW is up to 100%).
Authority to purchase
AtW will provide written permission to your employer, which will include their final agreed contribution.
Purchasing
Your employer is free to purchase the equipment as soon as permission has been granted. They can then apply for reimbursement of AtW's agreed contribution with supplied documentation. Either yourself or your employer may be asked by AtW for an additional voluntary contribution to the cost of equipment. This is voluntary, and your entitlement to support will not be changed should you choose not to pay it.
Travel to work and travel in work costs are rarely funded up front, and the cost of employing a support worker is not always funded by employers. In most cases you will be required to finance the costs of transport and support workers and then claim this money back from AtW.
Set up, installation and training
The costs of these elements will have been outlined in your report, and your employer can apply for reimbursement of the AtW contribution to these through supplied documentation.
Ownership, repairs and insurance
The equipment that you use is the responsibility of, and is owned by, your employer. Agreements will be made between all involved parties if you wish to purchase the equipment, or move it to your next place of employment. Access to Work will not pay for repairs or insurance under any circumstances.
Does it really work?
There are many blind and partially sighted people working in a range of jobs throughout the UK, some of which may not have been as easy or even possible to do without the support available through the Access to Work scheme. If you go to the Success stories section, you can read the case studies of Steve and Margaret and find out how Access to Work helped them.
Contact details
In order to make an Access to Work claim you should contact your nearest Access to Work contact centre.