How much do dyslexia accommodations cost employers?

According to the Job Accommodation Network's survey of over 26,000 employers (2019–2024), 49.4% of workplace accommodations cost nothing at all. Of those that do carry a cost, the median one-time expenditure is $300. UK data shows a similar picture: most dyslexia adjustments are policy changes that cost nothing, and specialist software can be covered by Access to Work at no cost to the employer.

What is the business case for making dyslexia adjustments at work?

The business case has three parts. First, accommodations cost very little: median $300 one-time (JAN, 2023). Second, not making them is expensive: replacing an employee costs $30,000 or more in the US, and £30,614 on average in the UK (CIPD, 2024). Third, supported neurodiverse employees are measurably more productive: JPMorgan Chase found participants in its neurodiversity program were 90–140% more productive in certain roles than neurotypical peers.

Can my employer refuse dyslexia adjustments because they cost too much?

Rarely. Under the Equality Act 2010 (UK), the test is whether an adjustment is 'reasonable' given the employer's size and resources. Under the ADA (US), 'undue hardship' requires significant difficulty or expense relative to the employer's overall financial resources. For most dyslexia adjustments costing $300 or less, neither threshold is close to being met. UK employees can also route software costs through Access to Work, which pays the supplier directly — meaning the employer often pays nothing at all.

How do I make the business case for dyslexia adjustments to my manager?

Three numbers do most of the work: the accommodation cost ($0–$300 for most dyslexia adjustments, per JAN 2023), the replacement cost ($30,000+ if you leave, per HR industry benchmarks), and the masking cost (the hours per week you spend compensating without support, multiplied out at your salary). The masking cost calculator at dyslexia.vision puts a number on that third figure. Going into the meeting with all three shifts the frame from 'I need help' to 'here is the cost-benefit analysis.'

The $300 accommodation that saves your employer $30,000

The budget conversation is coming. Your manager has the adjustments request on the agenda: extra time to review documents, a text-to-speech license, colored overlays for the shared screen. Someone in the room will say "we need to think about the cost."

Here are the actual numbers. Most come from US research (where the data is most comprehensive) but the cost structure is near-identical in the UK, Australia, Canada, and most other English-speaking markets. UK-specific figures are labeled throughout.

What adjustments actually cost

The Job Accommodation Network (JAN), the US federal body that advises employers on disability accommodation, surveyed over 26,000 employers between January 2019 and December 2024. Their finding: 49.4% of workplace adjustments cost nothing at all. Of those that do carry a cost, the median one-time expenditure is $300 (JAN, May 2023).

$300

Median one-time cost of a workplace accommodation, from JAN's survey of 26,000+ employers (2019–2024). 49.4% of accommodations cost nothing at all. Source: Job Accommodation Network, askjan.org/topics/costs.cfm.

The picture is the same in the UK. Colored overlays, font changes, and adjusted document formatting cost nothing. Text-to-speech software runs from £0 (built-in OS tools like Microsoft Immersive Reader) to around £200–£300 (roughly $250–$380) for specialist tools like Read&Write.

The same JAN survey found that 68.4% of employers rated their adjustments as "very effective" or "extremely effective." Another 18.3% called them "somewhat effective." That's an 86.7% effectiveness rate from employers who actually tracked results.

Put this number in the room first. When someone frames adjustments as a budget question, $300 (or $0) is the opening figure.

What not adjusting actually costs

HR industry benchmarks consistently put the cost of replacing an employee at 50–200% of their annual salary, covering recruitment, onboarding, and the productivity gap during the 6 to 12 months a new hire needs to reach full output. For someone on a $60,000 salary, that's $30,000 to $120,000. UK figure: CIPD benchmarks (2024) put the average replacement cost at £30,614 for employees earning £25,000 or more.

$30,000+

Minimum cost to replace an employee at a $60,000 salary (50% of annual salary). UK equivalent: £30,614 average replacement cost (CIPD benchmarks, 2024). For director-level roles, the figure rises to 50–200% of annual salary.

For a director-level role, the upper end of that range isn't theoretical. Specialist recruitment fees alone often exceed $20,000–$30,000 before onboarding costs are added.

Spending $30,000 or more to avoid a $300 accommodation is a miscalculation. That's what happens when a dyslexic employee leaves because their employer wouldn't fund a text-to-speech license.

Research from Neurodiversity Global (2024) found that organizations without neuroinclusion programs see up to 30% higher turnover in roles that benefit from pattern recognition and detail-oriented work, precisely the roles dyslexic employees tend to move into after years of building compensatory strategies.

Retention is the cheapest productivity argument. Before any discussion of outputs or adjustment costs, the cost of losing you is already a business case.

The productivity numbers your employer hasn't seen

Most employers assume accommodations are a cost with no return. Organizations that actually tracked the data found something different.

JPMorgan Chase tracked performance data for employees in its neurodiversity program and found they were 90–140% more productive in certain roles than neurotypical peers, and made significantly fewer errors (JPMorgan Chase Autism at Work program data). The program spans autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and related conditions. The mechanism is consistent: remove the cognitive tax of compensating without support, and output goes up.

A 2023 report from Accenture, in partnership with Disability:IN, tracked 346 companies between 2015 and 2022. Those leading in disability inclusion had 28% higher revenue and double the net income of companies not investing in inclusion (Accenture, 2023). The income gap isn't small.

Neither figure is a guarantee for any individual. But both point to the same thing: accommodations remove a performance drag that was never supposed to be there.

"Removing a drag on my performance" is the accurate description of what your adjustments do. It lands differently than "I need support."

The masking calculation your employer hasn't run

Before adjustments, a dyslexic employee at work is doing two jobs simultaneously: the actual job, and the job of hiding the extra effort. Re-reading documents three times before a meeting. Drafting replies twice: once to get the words out, once to check they're the right ones. Declining to take minutes because the room would notice the lag.

This is masking: unpaid cognitive work happening during paid hours.

The masking cost calculator puts a number on it. Enter your salary and your typical workarounds, and it returns what that compensatory time costs per year in lost productive capacity. For many dyslexic employees at mid-level salaries, the figure lands between $4,000 and $10,000 per year (UK equivalent: £3,000–£8,000), time redirected away from the job and into managing the job.

An adjustment that removes even one major workaround gives that capacity back. A text-to-speech tool that means a document gets processed first time instead of third recovers hours per week. The employer gets output they were already paying for.

Quantify your workaround hours. If you can say how much compensatory time you're putting in each week, you can calculate exactly what an adjustment is worth. That number is more persuasive than any awareness argument.

How to use these numbers before the meeting

"I'd like to request reasonable adjustments" positions the conversation as a personal need. "I've run a cost-benefit analysis on my adjustments" positions it as a business decision (which it is).

Three numbers worth having ready:

The accommodation cost: $0–$300 for most dyslexia accommodations (JAN, 2023), UK equivalent: £0–£300
The replacement cost: $30,000+ to recruit, onboard, and ramp a replacement (HR industry benchmarks), UK equivalent: £30,614 (CIPD, 2024)
The masking cost: calculable from your salary and weekly workaround hours. Run it at /tools/masking-cost-calculator before the conversation.

You don't need a slide deck. You need those three numbers at hand when someone says "we need to think about the cost."

If you haven't worked out which adjustments to request, the reasonable adjustments builder turns your specific challenges into a conversation plan and a draft email in about 2 minutes. Run it before the budget meeting, not after.

If you're still at the disclosure stage, the disclosure decision guide covers the legal and practical case by situation type, including what your employer can and can't ask.

The legal floor: what employers must do regardless

UK: Under the Equality Act 2010, employers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees. Dyslexia qualifies where it has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on day-to-day activities. "Reasonable" means proportionate to the employer's size and the employee's role, not free, but not optional. A £300 (roughly $380) adjustment is reasonable for virtually any employer. Failure to make it is a disability discrimination claim; Employment Tribunal awards for disability discrimination had a median payout of £14,000–£17,000 in 2023 (MoJ Employment Tribunal statistics, 2023).

US: Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), employers with 15 or more employees must provide reasonable accommodations unless they can demonstrate undue hardship. The EEOC's own data shows that most accommodations fall well below any reasonable "undue hardship" threshold. See the ADA accommodations guide for the full legal process.

An employer who treats adjustments as discretionary generosity is misreading the law. Lead with the business case. The legal duty is the floor beneath it.

The math has always pointed one way. Now you have the figures to show it.