Leading the race to digital accessibility for all

In 2004 Asif made a presentation at a conference in his home town of Kolkata, India, about how IT can be enabled for disabled people. The event changed his life. “Fortunately, the PwC India Territory Senior Partner was in the audience, and he really liked what I said,” recalls Asif. “We met during the coffee break, and he asked whether I would like to come and work for PwC India. I jumped at the chance.”

It was the right decision. Eighteen years later Asif is an Associate Director with PwC India, having worked in client-facing roles across sectors from manufacturing to the public sector and from business process outsourcing to smart cities. Still based in Kolkata, he travels widely across and beyond India to advise clients and speak at conferences. He has even met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the government’s efforts to improve access to infrastructure, services and opportunities for disabled people.

Hardly surprising then that Asif says, "You don't need sight to have a vision." Born in Bhagalpur, Bihar he grew up in Oregon in the United States, and lost his eyesight completely at the age of 16 due to a genetic disorder. It was a crushing blow, almost making him give up on trying to achieve anything in life. But then a teacher told him: “You can either be a nobody or you can create your own identity. Make your choice.” He did.

After attending community college in the US, Asif returned to India. There he took a graduation degree in commercial studies, followed by an MBA in Human Resources. Not long after that, PwC India came calling – and he has never looked back. “PwC provides you with a safe space to be the best you can be,” he explains. “What excites me most about being here is the opportunity to pave the way for the next generations of employees who may or may not have a disability.”

It's a pathway he’s been actively building ever since he joined. On day one he found he couldn’t access a lot of PwC India’s applications “because they didn’t have digital accessibility built in.” He decided to speak up. “I made my voice heard on several internal platforms, and PwC’s global leadership was very, very receptive. Today I'm very happy to report that all of the applications I use daily are fully accessible to me.”

As well as helping to catalyse that change, Asif has also been helping to pilot PwC’s journey to disability inclusion at various levels. “I was part of the consultative working group that developed our first Global Disability Inclusion Strategy, launched in 2022. I also helped to create a toolkit that firms across the network now use to engage more effectively with employees with disabilities,” he says. “And in India, I'm part of a team that monitors and initiates action on all dimensions of inclusion & diversity. I also speak on inclusive practices at many internal and external forums – including a recent session for PwC Indonesia and Singapore with close to 1,000 attendees.”

So, how does Asif assess PwC’s progress on disability inclusion? He’s proud of what’s been achieved – but stresses there’s much more to do. True, we have great policies, but the key challenge is people’s mindsets. As a person with a disability, you might have accessible technology – but there are still instances where I might have to convince a client or manager that you're capable of, say, travelling or doing a particular job. I am grateful for the allyship and sponsorship I receive which means I don’t have to have these conversations on my own.”

Asif has achieved this – and has proven his capabilities outside work as well. In December 2022 he set the Asian record for an unsighted runner in the TSK25, a 25km road race held annually in Kolkata. Running blindfolded, he completed the course by relying on spoken guidance from two sighted buddies running on either side. “There were so many variables to navigate – bad patches of road, speed bumps, other runners, left and right turns, going up and down hills,” he recalls. “It was about breaking more barriers for people with visual disabilities. And the PwC India chairperson sponsored my successful record attempt.”

Aside from running, Asif’s other passion outside work is public speaking. He says: “I love being a motivational speaker at colleges, conference events, seminars and so on – talking not only about how to make services more accessible, but also about my struggles and how I’ve overcome the hurdles I’ve faced. My hope is that this will offer hope to others.”