Taking Steps: The Center on Human Policy's Work to Enhance Accessibility

By Bonnie Shoultz
Associate Director
National Resource Center on Supported Living and Choice
The Center on Human Policy
Syracuse University

Information and materials from the National Resource Center on Supported Living and Choice, funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, is made available to the world by way of the Center for Human Policy's Web site: http://thechp.syr.edu/. Rachael Zubal-Ruggieri is Information Coordinator for the Center for Human Policy (the Center) and coordinates its Web site.

Zubal-Ruggieri has worked extensively with all of the staff members and graduate students at the Center who prepare written materials, and has a special interest in teaching people with cognitive disabilities to use the Internet. Thanks to her, except for published books, the Web site includes almost everything that has been written at the Center over at least the last decade. These materials can be downloaded at no cost. While Center staff members do not consider the entire site and its materials to be fully accessible to people with cognitive/intellectual disabilities, the site has met requirements for "Bobby AA Approval," indicating general accessibility for people with disabilities. "Bobby AAA Approval" is a future goal for the Web site.

Zubal-Ruggieri reviews the Center's site regularly, using resources developed by the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative¹ (funded in part by NIDRR). In addition to using the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, Checklists, and Techniques,² she has completed the WAI Curriculum³ in order to enhance the accessibility of the Center's Web pages.

For example, much content on the site is in plain text, which allows access to screen readers. According to Zubal-Ruggieri, "Most of our written documents are as jargon-free and straightforward as possible, though not written specifically for people with cognitive or intellectual disabilities. We do want them to be accessible to parents, providers of services, and advocates, including people with disabilities."

Zubal-Ruggieri and Center staff members and students are increasingly focusing on methods for making materials more accessible. One example is providing definitions of terms or glossaries in some documents, such as the Beyond Compliance Information Package (still in preparation), and the information package on Housing For People with Severe Disabilities: A Collection of Resource Materials.⁴

Several fact sheets⁵ have been developed and to date three of these were created specifically for people with cognitive/intellectual disabilities (Fact Sheet on Self-Advocacy;⁶ Fact Sheet: Summary of Self-Determination;⁷ and Fact Sheet: Summary of Internet Terms and Resources,⁸). Other fact sheets were created by Michael Kennedy and Perry Whittico, self-advocates who work at the Center, and by other staff members who regularly work with self-advocates. Additionally, an ADA employment booklet⁹ was created by Center graduate students specifically for people with cognitive disabilities.

One specialty of the Center on Human Policy is supporting self-advocates who want to write, either individually or in groups. A number of Center documents were written by self-advocates with the support of others, including several available on the Web site, such as Materials on Self-Advocacy;¹⁰ A Chance to be Made Whole;¹¹ and Making a Move: Advice from People First Members About Helping People Move Out of Institutions & Nursing Homes.¹² Works by other authors including Nancy Ward and James Meadours, as well as Kennedy, Whittico, and others, have been published in newsletters and bulletins, journals, books, and other Web sites. One example is Jim Sinclair's article "Don't Mourn for Us"¹³ that challenges parents and others to rejoice in the difference of the autistic person they love. It is posted on the Web site of Autism Network International, an autistic-run self-help and advocacy organization for autistic people.

Human Policy Press¹⁴ is an independent press started by the Center in 1974, three years after the Center for Human Policy was established. The Press sells videos, books, posters, media packages, t-shirts and other novelty items that promote positive attitudes toward people with disabilities. A strong voice for the full inclusion of people with disabilities in the community, the Press markets its items on the Web. Zubal-Ruggieri is the manager for the Press and its Web pages, and says, "I asked people who are involved in Web site accessibility to read descriptions of our items, especially people on the WebAIM discussion list,¹⁵ which is specifically for people who create Web pages and want to make them more accessible."

Accessibility of materials and information to people with all kinds of disabilities is important to everyone at the Center. Rachael Zubal-Ruggieri says that she will continue to improve the Web site, converting many of the existing articles into plain text. She hopes to complete an information package on the Internet for people with developmental disabilities. A PowerPoint slide show¹⁶ she developed on this topic is already available. She is also planning to update an article called Making Links, Making Connections: Internet Resources for Self-Advocates and People with Disabilities"¹⁷ and make it available on the Web site.

CENTER FOR HUMAN POLICY ONLINE RESOURCES AND RESOURCE LINKS

1. Web Accessibility Initiative
   http://www.w3.org/WAI/
2. Web Accessibility Initiative Resources (Guidelines, Checklists, and Techniques)
   http://www.w3.org/WAI/Resources/#gl
3. Curriculum for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
   http://www.w3.org/WAI/wcag-curric/
4. Housing For People with Severe Disabilities: A Collection of Resource Materials
   http://soeweb.syr.edu/thechp/houseres.htm
5. Center on Human Policy Fact Sheets
   http://soeweb.syr.edu/thechp/fact_sheets.htm
6. Fact Sheet on Self-Advocacy
   http://soeweb.syr.edu/thechp/fs_selfadvocacy.doc
7. Fact Sheet: Summary of Self-Determination
   http://soeweb.syr.edu/thechp/fs_selfdetermination.doc
8. Fact Sheet: Summary of Internet Terms and Resources
   http://soeweb.syr.edu/thechp/fs_internet.doc
9. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS! Working and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
   http://soeweb.syr.edu/thechp/lawman.htm
10. Materials for Self Advocacy
    http://soeweb.syr.edu/thechp/matonsa.htm
11. A Chance to be Made Whole
    http://soeweb.syr.edu/thechp/pl1st.htm
12. Making a Move: Advice from People First Members About Helping People Move Out of Institutions & Nursing Homes
    http://soeweb.syr.edu/thechp/pfirst1.htm
13. Don't Mourn for Us
    http://ani.autistics.org/dont_mourn.html
14. Human Policy Press
    http://soeweb.syr.edu/thechp/HumanPolicyPress/
15. WebAIM discussion list
    http://www.webaim.org/discussion/
16. So, what's so great about the Internet? (slide show)
    http://thechp.syr.edu/rachaelinternet1/sld001.htm
17. Making Links, Making Connections: Internet Resources for Self-Advocates and People with Disabilities. To receive a draft of this article, please send a request to: razubal@syr.edu

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