Modifying Access, Barriers, and Opportunities: Increasing Access for People with Physical Disabilities
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WHAT DO WE MEAN BY INCREASING ACCESS?
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WHY SHOULD YOU MAKE YOUR ORGANIZATION OR INITIATIVE MORE ACCESSIBLE?
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WHEN SHOULD YOU MAKE YOUR ORGANIZATION OR INITIATIVE MORE ACCESSIBLE?
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WHO CAN HELP YOU INCREASE ACCESS?
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HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT INCREASING ACCESS?
With over 54 million citizens making up their ranks, people with disabilities are the largest minority group in the United States. Worldwide, about one in ten, or 650 million people, live with disabilities that affect their daily lives. The vast majority – about 80% -- live in developing countries, are poor, and lack educational and other resources that could help them change their situations. It's also a group that is always growing because of lengthening lifespans -- as people age, they become more likely to develop a disabilities. In spite of their numbers, people with disabilities continue to experience discrimination and marginalization that are only slowly changing for the better with the help of the modern disability rights movement. One of the biggest battles faced by people with disabilities is the struggle for increased access. Accessibility issues can take many forms. For example:
- Jamahl had long been interested in doing some sort of volunteer work, and when he heard that the local anti-drug coalition was bringing in a famous author to do a lecture on volunteerism, he was really excited about going. But when he went to the lecture, no sign language interpreter was present. Annoyed that such a large event didn't make it possible for him to enjoy the lecture, Jamahl left before applications and brochures on volunteering were handed out.
- Katrina wanted her son Ricky to get involved with a citywide afterschool tutoring program. Transportation was provided for students in the program, but none of the buses used to take students to and from the tutoring site were wheelchair-accessible. While Ricky really could have used the help in his math classes, he was unable to participate in the program.
- When Emilio's wife died, he started attending a local support group for people who had lost loved ones. The support group facilitator always gave out lots of articles and other clippings that the other support group members said were very helpful, but Emilio was unable to use them because he had a visual impairment, and the facilitator never made any copies available in large type. Discouraged, he stopped attending the support group.
Some accessibility accommodations are simple, some are complex, but all are important and add diversity to your organization. We hope that this section will give you enough information to get you started on making your organization or initiative more accessible and enough links and resources to help you find out more when you've finished with this section.
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY INCREASING ACCESS?
Increasing access means creating an environment that can be used by all people, including those who have disabilities. When we talk about accessibility, people often assume we mean making a building or other space accessible to wheelchair use and don't think beyond that. True accessibility, however, means giving thought to many different types of disabilities and how you can change things within your organization or initiative to make the people who have them feel welcome--not just the physical structure of your office or meeting spaces, but the attitudes and communication styles of people within your organization or initiative.
So when we talk about increasing access, we mean doing it by:
- Changing attitudes within our organization or initiative;
- Changing the way we communicate with others, and
- Changing physical things, such as the structure of the spaces we use and the formats in which we present information.
More.
Access Checklist, Examples, Tools & PowerPoint.