Mar/110
Inclusive Workplaces Require Proactive Leaders
Inclusion is rapidly becoming a focal point of most disability training programs. Inclusive workplaces are shown to be more productive and profitably, lending credible testimony to the argument that training programs ought to foster inclusive ideals first and foremost.
Benefits of Hiring Individuals with Disabilities
Typically, the topic of disability employment is approached with compliance in mind. Few organizations proactively seek and hire those with disabilities. Rather, the trends seems to be that organizations hire individuals with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, carefully acting so as to not discriminate among qualified job applicants. New research shows that hiring these individuals adds depth and experience to the workplace that also translates to other benefits. Specifically, these recent studies indicate that workers with disabilities (i):
1) Are dependable as employees
2) Exhibit a lower frequency of job turnover
3) Inspire others to work cooperatively in teams
4) Raise the moral of their peers
5) Represent a large market as both consumers and potential employees
6) Increase productivity and strengthen levels of cooperation among workers
Still, the rate of unemployment among those with disabilities continued to grow through 2010 (ii). A review of inclusion may provide impetus for change, however, as we examine what it means to build a fully functional inclusive workplace.
Principles of Inclusion
Those who advocate inclusion do so on the argument that individuals with disabilities have a right to pursue safe and fulfilling work. Moreover, inclusion holds that employers are morally prohibited from discriminating against these individuals on the basis of disability. Inclusion differs from previous methods of assimilation or integration in its belief that preserving the social functionality and visibility of the individual is of primary importance. Under the model of inclusion, treating individuals with disabilities with pity compromises the individual’s inherent dignity and potential as a community contributor. In short, inclusion can be described as the unconditional accommodation and appreciation of an individual regardless of their ability.
Leaders Needed: Fostering Inclusion in the Workplace
Strong leadership is the most critical element of successful workplaces. It is no surprise, then, that the success of inclusion-focused disability training programs hinges upon the effectiveness of interoffice leaders. Leadership training and seminars are often the best way to prepare individuals to build inclusive workplaces. Those in positions of power must proactively foster inclusion and consider how they are perceived, who they manage, and how motivation can best be created. Additionally, leaders must remember that they are in a perpetual spotlight. Subordinates rely on superiors for guidance and task delegation. In doing so, employees are both consciously and unconsciously affected by the attitudes displayed by their superiors. Thus, leaders must be vocal about inclusion, their goal to create a accommodation in the workplace, and their commitment to help achieve such a lofty end.
(i) http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCAQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ilo.org%2Fwcmsp5%2Fgroups%2Fpublic%2F—asia%2F—ro-bangkok%2Fdocuments%2Fgenericdocument%2Fwcms_149586.pdf&rct=j&q=inclusive%20workplaces%20and%20productivity&ei=a8eHTcygKNH2gAfo_7m9CA&usg=AFQjCNElEsNdRyan8FYgRWiSJ8lp9I_kpw&cad=rja
Mar/110
Disability News: Federal Budget Changes for 2012
President Obama has led America through one of the most challenging economic climates since the early 1900s. While far from recovery, both the President and the American public remain hopeful that the worst has passed. To aid in recovery, the President has described several changes to the Federal budget that will help to spur growth in the areas of education, infrastructure, and innovation. President Obama has remained loyal to his Executive Orders and other heartfelt words that support those Americans with disabilities, and the Federal budget for 2012 reflects it.
Federal Spending in 2012
The Federal budget has been announced for 2012. Disability employers will see several changes in Federal spending; those with disabilities, as well as their advocates and caregivers, will be happy to note the following expenditures:
Increased Budget for Disability Research: The 2012 Federal budget includes over $100 million dedicated exclusively to the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation Research, or NIDRR. The NIDRR actively conducts research initiatives aimed at expanding the inclusion and employment of those with disabilities. Of the $100 million that will be directed to the NIDRR in 2012, $10 million will be designated to further computing intiatives that utilize the Internet to decrease the barriers of accessibility faced by some 20% of Americans with disabilities.
Increased IDEA State Grants: $200 million has been pledged to provide education grants under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This will help public high schools accommodate children with disabilities to ensure all children receive an equal opportunity to learn.
Disability Employment Initiative: The new Federal budget will also designate $24 million to the Department of Labor to construct centers to better help individuals with disabilities find and retain employment opportunities.
Independent Living Program Grants: $103 million of the 2012 Federal budget will provide grants for Independent Living Programs provide independent living services to individuals with disabilities. Additionally, $34 million will be provided exclusively to organizations that provide independent living services to the blind. Most noteworthy, $556 billion will be awarded to investments that seek to increase access to public transportation systems for Americans with disabilities.
Increase Anti-Discrimination Oversight: The new budget provides $18 million in funding to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to aid in enforcing the civil rights protected by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. These two landmark pieces of legislation make it a Federal crime to discriminate against job applicants and employees on the grounds of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, religious affiliation, or gender.
Disability training is likely to expand in 2011 and 2012 as many Federal agencies, private investors, and state governments receive Federal funding to increase accessibility and equal opportunity in the workplace. These Federal budget changes reflect a rising concern for inclusion in American society, and further illustrate the Federal government’s steadfast commitment to raising disability awareness and decreasing unemployment among Americans with disabilities.
Source: U.S. President’s Disability Budget, made available at http://www.guerillaadvocate.com
Mar/110
Making Websites Accessible: Color Scheme Planning, Part II
In this final installment of Making Websites Accessible, we will review practical methods of implementing a website color scheme that is readable by both visually impaired users and unimpaired users alike.
Choosing a Color Scheme
To maximize accessibility, anticipate hosting website visitors who have one of the aforementioned conditions. The simplest way to do so is to design a website using a monochromatic color scheme. The scheme should consist of either entirely warm or entirely cool colors. Limiting color selection to a group of either blue colors or yellow colors is an excellent place to start.
Next, choose 3 main colors with which to work, not including black and white. Of the 3, designate 1 to be used as a base or background color. Note: Each of the remaining 2 colors must contrast enough with the base color to be legible when placed on top of one another. Finally, use the second and third color choices to present text and stylistically accent the base or background color.
This is an aesthetically sensitive process. It may be helpful to refer to this Web color palette to get an idea of how color is perceived by individuals with different color vision impairments.
Using Text to Explain Color
The first rule of thumb to follow when designing an accessible website is to never let page elements stand alone. This has been covered in previous Making Website Accessible installments, and the same holds true when planning the color scheme. Web designers must consider that not all users are able to perceive distinct colors. As such, Web designs must avoid using colors to group text items or convey action. For example, a medical website that categorizes local professionals by medical degree should not do so by labeling all pediatricians with red text, all dentists with green text, and so on. Rather, the content should be organized into columns with descriptive headings. This displays the content in a coherent manner without running the risk of rendering the text unreadable by those with vision deficiencies.
Images: Converting Colors
Finally, remember to consider image usage with all of the aforementioned color scheme advice in mind. Just as entire pages may be hard to perceive by users with vision impairment, so too are images. A well-planned site with a user-friendly color scheme needs likewise well-planned image usage. Fortunately, software like Adobe Photoshop makes altering the color scheme of an image simple. First, however, evaluate the images on the website by using this image tool by Vischeck.com. Simply uploading the image will enable you to simulate its appearance for those with Tritanopia, Deuteranopia, or Protanopia (to review these terms, refer to Part I of this article).
Creating an accessible website is a critical component of any disability training program. Implementing the principles of inclusion and disability awareness in web design sends at least two powerful messages. First, it shows employees that their organization is fully committed to fostering inclusion and disability awareness in both the physical and virtual worlds. Second, it facilitates communication between the organization and the ever-diversifying population of the world. Technology has increased communication and information exchange, however, these two hallmarks of technological innovation are rendered useless if information is inaccessible.
Mar/110
Making Websites Accessible: Color Scheme Planning, Part I
In this two part disability education article, we will review a fourth dimension of creating accessible websites: Color scheme. With vision impairment affecting an estimated 8% of American males and 1% of American females, proper color planning takes on great importance when designing a Web page with readability in mind (i). With a touch of proper planning, company websites can be rendered in colors that most all individuals can perceive. Effective color choice rounds out our discussion on website accessibility, providing the proverbial finishing touch to websites that utilize user friendly text, proper image optimization, and video usage, as outlined in our previous Website Accessibility articles.
Introduction to Color Perception
Color perception is the product of the eye and brain working together to make sense of the outside world. Light enters the eye in waves and is absorbed by a series of rods and cones. Specifically, L-cones are sensitive to the red potion of the color spectrum, and thus respond primarily to warm colors like red and orange. M-cones primarily respond to the green portion of the color spectrum, and S-cones respond to the blue.
The cones at the rear of the eye, along with a host of other optical structures, communicate the frequency, contrast, and variance of light waves to the brain. The brain then assembles this information to construct the colorful images we perceive.
Color Blindness
Color Blindness is a condition that occurs when one or more of the cones in the rear of the eye fail to function optimally. This skews the frequency, contrast, and variance in light waves that is communicated to the brain, thereby changing the perception of color. There are three common varieties of colorblindness:
- Protanopia: decrease in function of the L-cones, resulting in decreased sensitivity to the color red.
- Deuteranopia: Decrease in function of the M-cones, resulting in decreased sensitivity to the color green.
- Tritanopia: Decrease in function of the S-cones, resulting in decreased sensitivity to the color blue.
Website Accessibility and Disability Awareness
In addition to making communication possible with a diverse audience, a fully accessible website also facilitates disability awareness among the members of the organization. Educating members of an organization about inclusion and accessibility, both in the virtual and physical worlds, is an essential component of any well rounded disability training program.
Visit the Disabilities Education Blog again tomorrow for Part II of our Making Websites Accessible series as we take a close look at planning website color schemes with visually impaired users in mind.
(i) http://www.preventblindness.org/eye_problems/colorvision.html
Mar/110
Making Websites Accessible: Effective Video Use
Welcome back to the Disabilities Education Blog series on website accessibility. This third installment will review the rising popularity of Web-based video while presenting ways in which company websites may utilize this medium to reach a diverse audience of users. Disability training programs that focus on increasing website accessibility extend their initiative beyond the physical workplace and into the general public, yielding an exponential return unachievable by programs that remain focused on internal aspects of business only.
Video: The New Text
The conceptual origins of the World Wide Web may be traced back as early as the 1970s. The Internet, as we know it today, was first proposed by Robert Cailliau in 1990 as a way to share information across a system, or web. This information was predominantly text-based at first, earning the name HyperText.
As technology evolved, the rate at which information could be shared across the Web increased. This paved the way for more robust information sharing, eventually creating the image and video rich World Wide Web we know today. Though the Web has evolved, the vision of its founders is still very much alive: To pool human knowledge, experience, and culture.
Accessibility: Intelligent Video Usage
Video usage is exciting, engaging, and valuable for both businesses and their customers. With proper planning, websites may feature video without compromising accessibility for their diverse audience of visitors. Consider the following when implementing video in order to ensure website accessibility:
Keep videos short in length: There are three major reasons to keep videos short. First, the average attention span of a website visitor is very low, hovering around 2 or 3 seconds. With a world-wide array of options, Internet users are very quick to jump from webpage to webpage. Short videos are most likely to keep visitors captivated. Second, recent research indicates that a majority of persons with disabilities do not use broadband or other high speed Internet connections (i). Short videos are small in size, load more quickly than large videos, and give those with a slower Internet connection speed the ability to download and view the video. Finally, short videos may be more comprehensible for those with ADHD and other learning disabilities.
Use an intuitive video thumbnail: The video thumbnail is the still image that is embedded into the webpage. This thumbnail should communicate several things to the user. First, it should look like a video. Often times this is a non-issue, as the video thumbnail typically resides within a video player. However, adding a Play icon and text that reads Click to play video may help visitors recognize that the thumbnail belongs to a video and not an image.
Never let movies stand alone: Always complement movies with simple text titles and descriptions.
Feature movies with Closed Captioning: Always include Closed Captioning when featuring movies on the Web. The current population of Americans with hearing impairment has grown to over 35 million people and shows signs of continued growth (ii). Featuring videos without Closed Captioning makes website content inaccessible to this sizable portion of the U.S., sacrificing the opportunity to communicate with what is known to be the fastest growing segment of the population.
In keeping this vision alive, it is important to consider that sharing the human experience across the Web requires making that information accessible. Inaccessible information cannot be shared and undermines the mission of the Internet altogether. Accessible information, by contrast, helps bring to fruition the mission of the Web by facilitating the sharing of information among an eclectic world of individuals.
(i) http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_17355637?nclick_check=1)
Mar/110
Making Websites Accessible: Image Optimization
Welcome to the second installment of Making Websites Accessible. In this article, we will examine how training for disability involves structuring assets, like company web pages, to facilitate interaction with a diverse audience. Specifically, we will examine how to use images in clear and coherent ways without sacrificing creative design. Organizations will find this guide helpful in presenting ideas through the Web to a diverse audience. These businesses are smart to adopt accessible website design practices to increase their exposure to job prospects, existing customers, and new customers alike.
Accessible Websites, Part II: Image Optimization
Proper image use is a critical element of company websites. Images help businesses to express their brand message, company vision, and move visitors to desired areas of their website. Historically, businesses have long leveraged the power of visual elements to communicate specific details about their product or service. Traditional advertising, for example, is built on the idea of moving a customer to purchase through creative imagery and slogan usage.
When using images on the Web, consider the following:
- Image size: Studies show that individuals with disabilities are less likely than those without disabilities to afford high speed Internet (i). Use images that are simple, small in size, and easy to load in order to ensure equal access to each page.
- Using the Alt tag: The Alt tag, or alternative text attribute, is an element within the HTML code of the page. This line of text accompanies Web page images, providing a line of text that describes the illustration. Visually impaired visitors use programs that read these lines of text aloud, giving them auditory explanations of what is being displayed.
- Using the Title tag: The Title tag is another element within the HTML code of the Web page. This line of text is best constructed as a description of a particular image, video, or hyperlink. When the user hovers their mouse over the tagged element, the Title tag appears. This enhances user experience by helping visitors to understand images, videos, and links that may not be intuitive at first glance.
- Describe images with complementary text: As a general rule, never let an image stand alone. Always use complementary text to explain the image. For example, companies are smart to include the text About Our Company, or something similar, alongside or underneath images that link to a Company Page or About Us page.
- Avoid abstract image usage: Abstract graphics, artwork, and other illustrations can be very aesthetically pleasing. However, they may also create confusion. Rely on simple images that are easy to identify. Also use complementary text to further describe the image, as noted above.
In short: Online image usage is not going anywhere. In fact, images will likely become more prominent as high speed Internet becomes more readily available to the general public. In this way, businesses that invest in disability training initiatives the encompass online accessibility stand to gain a competitive advantage moving forward.
(i) http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_17355637?nclick_check=1
