The National Federation of the Blind (NFB), has produced guidelines that ensure maximum accessibility and usability of Web pages by people who are blind. Click here to review NFB's guidelines.
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PREPARING DOCUMENTS IN HARD COPY FOR PEOPLE WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS
When preparing hard copies of documents for the widest possible audience, a good rule of thumb is to always use a font size of at least 12 point. Two fonts that are easily read by any user are Arial and Sans Serif. Courier, on the other hand, is very difficult for low vision readers to distinguish. Bold type is not recommended because the letters have smaller centers and may appear blurred to low vision readers and because ASCII type does not recognize bold codes.
Always provide a sharp contrast between the typeface and the background and do not prepare documents with watermarks or photographs. Upper and lower case type is easier to read than type set in all capital letters - although a few capitalized words will generally not present a problem. Extra spaces between lines is very helpful to low vision readers, as is the practice of avoiding right justified margins.
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ACCESSIBILITY OF CONFERENCE MATERIALS
The Central Office for Assistive Services and Technology, located in the Conference and Service Center, is an important resource for Regional and National management and employees of the Department. The Office provides DOL employees and guests with guidance, information and technical assistance related to disability issues. The Office also coordinates and provides interpreting services for employees and conference or meeting guests who are deaf or hearing impaired. Other concerns, such as requests for documents in accessible formats (i.e., large print, braille, audio tape), worksite accommodation assessments, training and so on, are handled on a case by case basis. The Central Office for Assistive Services and Technology may be reached at
202-219-7773.
Graphics-based presentations, such as Power Point and Word Perfect Presentations are becoming increasingly popular tools for producing professional looking and captivating presentations that can be displayed as a slide show, on a computer screen or printed as handouts. Graphics-based
presentations projected on a screen are inaccessible to a wide range of people with visual impairments and when distributed on disk, cannot be read by screen reader software.
In order to ensure that a graphics-based presentation is accessible to blind and visually impaired attendees, workplace leaders and other individuals making presentations can provide the information on a computer disk formatted as ASCII text. Given adequate lead time and guidelines for preparing accessible electronic documents, presenters can generally develop two distinct presentations - a graphics-based presentation and a plain text version. Presenters should also be instructed to provide text descriptions for audio clips used in multimedia presentations.
Videotapes used for presentations should be captioned for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing using one of the two types of captioning-Open Captioning: in which the text of a video is superimposed on the actual film footage (e.g., subtitling of foreign language films); or Closed Captioning: where the text of the video is transmitted simultaneously on a separate frequency, and is only visible when viewed on a television or projection system that has a decoder chip. Most new televisions are manufactured with the decoder chip and are described as "caption-ready." Older televisions can be adapted for closed-captioning by purchasing a separate decoder box (available for about $100) which can be patched into the television.
Sign Language interpreters should be provided for participants who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing in order to offer them full and ready access to all aspects of conferences, meeting sessions and other activities. Depending on the cause and age at on-set of hearing loss, the type of interpretation required can vary greatly. The following information may be beneficial in understanding various types of communication modalities and interpreting services needed.
American Sign Language (ASL) - is the language of the Deaf in the United States. It is a unique language in and of itself, complete with its own lexicon, grammar and syntax.
English-Based Sign commonly referred to as PSE for Pidgin Sign English, is a form of manual communication in which characteristics of both English and ASL are combined.
Sign Language Interpreting - is the process by which a spoken (hearing person's) or a signed language's (Deaf/Hard of Hearing person's) message elements are linguistically analyzed and cultural and linguistic transitions are made to produce the message into the target language.
Oral/Oral Tactic Transliterating - is the process by which a spoken English message is heard, then re-phrased into clearly speech-readable form for a Deaf/Hard of Hearing (or Deaf/Blind person who uses speech and speech reading as primary forms of communication) by placing his/her hands(s) on the interpreters mouth/face to "read" the message produced orally.
Tactile Interpreting/Transliterating - is the process by which a spoken language (hearing person) or signed language (Deaf/Deaf/Blind/Visually Impaired) message is produced in a manual form utilizing Sign Language and finger spelling, where linguistic and environmental information elements are analyzed, incorporating cultural and linguistic transitions to produce the message into the target language. A person who is Deaf/Blind/Low Vision (VI) Deaf physically "reads" the communication by placing his/her hand(s) on the interpreters hand(s) and/or mouth/face, tactilly reading the communication rendered through the signs/finger spelling produced.
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PROVIDING INTERPRETING SERVICES
The variables that determine the level of interpreting services needed when making arrangements for a conference include the:
- Size of the conference;
- Duration of the conference;
- Number of sessions and whether they are concurrent or consecutive;
- Subject complexity;
- Number of participants requiring interpreting services; and
- Type(s) of interpreting services requested (i.e., ASL, PSE, Tactile Sign, Oral).
"Staging" issues should be considered in planning various types of meeting forums which will take place during a conference. Five criteria for effective interpreting are:
- Reasonable proximity to the speaker and to the consumer receiving the services;
- A clear visual line of sight from the consumer to the interpreter to the speaker;
- Sufficient lighting (especially during video, overhead or any presentation requiring low-level lighting);
- Sufficient standing room (preferred minimum of 4 square feet for platform interpreting) or seated setting; and
- Ability to hear the speaker or sound system clearly from the designated interpreting location.
Seating should be reserved for participants who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing and Deaf/Blind that provides and unobstructed view of the proceedings and meets the criteria stated above.
For assistance in obtaining and scheduling interpreting services, local area resources may include your State's Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (or agency equivalent), or agencies that specialize in Sign Language Interpreter Services. If you do not know of such resources, your State Vocational Rehabilitation Office may be able to refer you to local resources for Interpreter
services. In addition, The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, a national organization of professional sign language interpreters/transliterators, can provide information on interpreting resources in your area. They can be reached by phone at 301- 608-0050.
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REGISTRATION FORM REQUEST FOR ASSISTIVE SERVICES
Conference registration forms should include assistive service request options to help identify the needs of participants with disabilities and clarify the accommodations which will need to be arranged. The following is an example of language that can be included on a registration form:
ACCESSIBILITY ASSISTANCE:
If you have a disability, please specify which, if any, of the following services and/or formats you prefer to have available at the conference:
Interpreting and other services for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing (please chose one):
Interpreting: ___English ___Tactile
Transliteration: ___ Sign ___ Tactile ___ Oral ___ FM Loop
Other (Please specify):
Materials in Accessible Format: If you are blind or visually impaired please indicate which
format you prefer to use:
___Regular Print ___Large Print ___ Braille ___ 3.5 Floppy Disk ___Audiotape
If you plan to bring a personal assistant (e.g., attendant, interpreter, facilitator, etc.) please
provide the name as it should appear on the name badge. (Registration fees will be waived for this individual.)
Name of Assistant:
Conference planners can more easily accommodate a diverse audience by knowing up-from which accessible formats should be provided. Walk-ins can easily be accommodated by having a few additional copies of the conference binder on computer disks in ASCII text format, and large print and braille versions of selected documents, such as the conference agenda. Because brailled documents are quite voluminous, blind conference attendees will frequently prefer a copy of the agenda in braille, and the remainder of the conference or meeting binder on computer disk in ASCII text format. As an additional accommodation, electrical outlets should be available at the conference site, so that attendees who are blind/visually impaired can plug in laptop computers and browse through the disk copy of the conference binder, rather than having to return to their hotel rooms to review conference materials and select conference sessions.
More frequent breaks, good lighting, and quiet areas for reflection, and "decompressing" are good ways of accommodating conference or meeting attendees with cognitive disabilities, and are beneficial to all attendees. These accommodations will ensure that all participants remain fresh, focussed and productive. Once the conference planner is certain that procedures are in place to make events accessible to as wide an audience as possible, contact key disability consumer groups and keep them informed of all upcoming conferences and events. (This is an effective tool for reaching potential attendees with disabilities.)
The FormerPresident's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities (PCEPD),(now called the office of Disability,Employment policy) has produced guidelines on how to communicate with and about people with disabilities. PCEPD points out that "We must look beyond the disability and look at the individual's ability and capability - the things that make each of us unique and worthwhile."
DISABILITY-RELATED WEBSITES:
General Services Administration Center for Information Technology Accommodation (CITA) - A clearing house of information on making information systems accessible to all users.
Library of Congress: The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) - NLS administers a free library program of Braille and recorded materials list circulated to eligible borrowers through a network of cooperating libraries.
President's Committee on Employing People with Disabilities - Its mission is to facilitate the communication, coordination, and promotion of public and private efforts to enhance the employment of people with disabilities. Operates the Job Accommodation Network, an international toll-free consulting service that provides information about Job accommodation and employability of people with disabilities.
Office of Special Educational and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) - OSERS supports programs that assist in educating children with special needs, provides for the rehabilitation of youth and adults with disabilities, and supports research to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities.
Military Health System - Serves the Federal Community in Washington, DC and the global Department of Defense community in accommodating employees with disabilities.
FCC Disabilities Issues Task Force - Provides information on FCC activities of particular interest to people with disabilities.
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) - A comprehensive research institute, funded by the US Department of Education, to support people with disabilities in independent living and community integration.
Trace Research and Development Center - An interdisciplinary research, development and resource center on technology and disability. Provides useful guidelines for creating accessible Web sites.
West Virginia Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (WVRRTC) - An information resource on vocational rehabilitation and disability issues and the federal agencies that provide support in these areas.
National Center for Disability Dissemination Research (NCDDR) - Disseminates efforts of NIDRR-funded research projects and increases the accessibility of research outcomes for the benefit of their consumers.
National Council on Disability (NCD) - An independent federal agency making recommendations to the President and Congress on issues affecting 49 million Americans with disabilities.
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) - This international industry consortium was founded to develop common protocols for the World Wide Web. W3C sponsors the Web Access Initiative (WAI) which works to make the World Wide Web accessible to people with disabilities. The WAI group has developed accessibility guidelines webpage authors.
National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) - Maintains a free universal web access symbol that may be used to denote that a website is accessible to computer users with disabilities.
Center for Applied Special Technologies (CAST) - A nonprofit organization whose mission is to expand opportunities for people with disabilities through innovative multimedia computer technology. CAST is the developer of Bobby, a graphical web-based program designed to help website designers make their web pages accessible by the largest number of people. Bobby will perform a series of tests to determine the ways in which a website is inaccessible to people with disabilities.
Bobby - Bobby is a graphical web-based program useful in determining the ways in which a website is inaccessible to people with disabilities.
National Federation of the Blind (NFB) - The largest organization of the blind in America. Developed the telephone access system for America's Job Bank, and has produced web accessibility guidelines.
Untangling the Web - Provides a comprehensive list of disability-related Websites.
MedWeb - Provides resources on disabilities of all kinds.
Yahoo! Disabilities Links - Provides links to disability-related websites.
American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) - A leading national resource for people who are blind or visually impaired, the organizations that serve them, and the general public.
Gallaudet Research Institute (GRI) - Research projects in many areas involving deafness and deaf people.
National Association of the Deaf - Its mission is to safeguard the accessibility and civil rights of deaf and hard-of-hearing Americans.
Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf - A nonprofit membership organization established in 1890 to empower hearing impaired people to function independently.
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