Wellness Without Barriers: Making ‘Accessible’ Scalable
CVS Health Case Study | Digital Accessibility Staffing
Overview
Onward Search helped CVS Health, one of the nation’s leading healthcare solutions corporations, build and scale one of the strongest accessibility & inclusive design departments in the country.
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. Our team members joined the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP). Onward Search’s digital transformation (Dx) division now has a dedicated accessibility talent recruitment team serving many of the nation’s leading brands.
Led by CPACC-certified specialist, Catherine Sherry, the digital accessibility staffing task force hired over 120 accessibility 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’s rapidly growing accessibility department 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 accomplished accessibility team.
Anyone can recruit talent, but only specialists can understand talent.
Catherine Sherry, CPACC
Director of Client Services, Onward Search
By The Numbers
Relevant achievements and statistics to date:
Hired 120+ accessibility professionals for CVS Health
Made nearly 30 hires in 3 months for CVS Health
Recruited over 50 people with disabilities to CVS Health
Built a network of over 5,000 accessibility professionals
By The Capabilities
Accessibility objectives that we helped CVS Health power:
Accessibility Auditing
Remediation Planning & Execution
Internal Team Training & Process Improvement
Strategic Communications & Policy Development
Accessibility Project Management
End-to-End Digital Product Design & Innovation
By The Experts
Examples of accessibility specialists in our exclusive talent network:
Whether you’re looking for your next hire or your next career, we’re here to help.