Reasonable Adjustments for Interviews | The Reasonable Adjustment

Published: 29 July 2025

Let’s start with the basics: if you’re disabled, you’re legally entitled to reasonable adjustments in interviews under the Equality Act 2010. Not as a favour nor as a courtesy, but as your right.

And yet — for many of us — interviews are where accessibility goes to die.

You get the generic line: “Please let us know if you need any adjustments.” But when you do, it’s suddenly complicated. Or not standard practice. Or passed on to the hiring manager (who never got the memo).

✅ What Counts as a Reasonable Adjustment?

Anything that helps you access the interview on a level footing. Examples include:

• Written questions in advance
• Extra time to respond
• Alternative formats (video off, screen reader friendly, plain English)
• A support person present
• Flexible formats (e.g. phone instead of Zoom, in-person instead of group)
• Breaks during long assessments

No formal diagnosis is legally required. You can simply say, “This would make the process fairer for me,” and that’s enough to trigger the duty to accommodate.

🧠 What If They Say No?

Let’s be honest — part of the reason many people don’t ask in the first place is because they’re worried. Worried that by disclosing a need, they’re subconsciously putting a cross against their own name. That they’ll be seen as “difficult,” “high maintenance,” or just not worth the extra effort in a market where competition’s already brutal.

That fear is real. And it exists because employers still don’t consistently treat accessibility as non-negotiable. For every “We welcome disabled applicants” statement, there’s someone quietly bumped down the list for asking to be treated fairly.

But here’s the thing: if a company sees your adjustment request as a burden rather than a basic part of the process, what happens once you’re actually in the job? That red flag is doing you a favour.

So yes, the fear makes sense. But silence also protects the status quo.

If you feel safe and supported enough to ask, do. If you’re not sure yet, that’s okay too — but know this: the law is on your side, and you’re not unreasonable for needing the system to work for you, not against you.

📝 A Simple Way to Ask

You don’t have to write a legal essay. Something like:

“As part of the interview process, I’d appreciate the following adjustments due to [disability/neurodivergence]:
– [List them briefly]
Please confirm whether these can be accommodated. I’m happy to provide more detail if needed.”

Short. Clear. Respectful. Firm.

🤝 You Deserve a Fair Process

Being disabled doesn’t make you less employable. It makes the system less accessible. That’s not on you.

Interviews shouldn’t be memory tests, social obstacle courses, or speed-round performances. They should be about what you can do, not how well you fake comfort under pressure.

So ask for what you need. And if someone acts like that’s too much — it says more about them than it does about you.