Exploring the role of digital leadership in advancing digital accessibility and perceived inclusion of employees with disabilities in South Africa

Abstract

Digital transformation has redefined how organisations function, yet people with disabilities remain excluded from fully participating in digitally mediated workplaces. This study explores how digital leadership influences digital accessibility and perceived inclusion among employees with disabilities in South Africa. The research addresses key gaps, the lack of empirical frameworks linking leadership behaviours to accessibility outcomes, limited understanding of how accessibility mediates inclusion experiences, and scarce evidence contextualised to South Africa’s socio-economic and legislative landscape. Guided by Transformational Leadership Theory, Organisational Inclusion Theory and the complementary philosophy of Ubuntu, the study employed a quantitative, cross-sectional design using a survey. While the small sample limits statistical generalisability, the findings provide valuable exploratory insights for theory refinement and policy advancement. Results revealed strong, positive correlations between digital leadership and digital accessibility, and between accessibility and perceived inclusion. Mediation analysis confirmed that digital accessibility fully mediates the relationship between leadership and inclusion. The direct effect of leadership on inclusion was non-significant, identifying accessibility as an essential, practical mechanism through which leadership intent must be translated to achieve perceived inclusion. The study contributes a contextually grounded model of digitally mediated inclusion, advancing theory and offering practical insights for leaders and policymakers to embed accessibility as an ethical and strategic imperative within South Africa’s evolving digital workplace.