Virtual Side-Event to the United Nations 17th Session of the Conference of States Parties (COSP17) to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). If you missed this event and would like to see the recording please email: Johanna.Berglein@yai.org and we will email you the recording link.
Disability:IN is the leading nonprofit resource for business disability inclusion worldwide. Our network of over 500 corporations expands opportunities for people with disabilities across enterprises. Our central office and 25 Affiliates serve as the collective voice to effect change for people with disabilities in business. Our team works closely with regulators, legislators, and policy experts to illuminate the business and financial case for disability inclusion in workforce representation and corporate governance reporting at the board and executive level. With Special Consultative Status to the United Nations Economic & Social Council, Disability:IN was recently asked by the International Monetary Fund to provide an Accessibility & Inclusion External Review.
Raising the Floor is a non-profit organization devoted to digital equity with a focus on developing practical solutions for anyone facing barriers due to disability, literacy, digital literacy or aging. Morphic and AT-on-Demand are tools distributed by Raising the Floor free of charge to all users. Morphic makes it much easier to discover and use accessibility features built into computer operating systems (increasing use by orders of magnitude). With its AT-on-Demand, Morphic also allows people who depend on assistive technologies to be able to sit down to any computer at a school, library, community center, tutor lab etc. and have their assistive technology automatically show up on that computer, configured just for them. When they leave, it disappears. For those who don’t have their own computer, this is the first time they can use these assistive technologies (since they otherwise would not be allowed to install the AT they need on any of these computers). AT-on-Demand allow libraries schools etc. to allow any computer access assistive technologies a person owns to be used on their computers at no cost to the school, library etc. We also have a related learn and try tool that allows professionals, families, and users to explore different assistive technologies including trying them - also for no cost. Raising the Floor is now looking for partners to help spread the availability to all places where the lack of assistive technologies on computer is blocking users with disabilities from using them.
MIT School of Engeneering, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AeroAstro) begins at 21:30 min of video recording
The MIT AeroAstro Communication Lab offers coaching and resources for engineers, by engineers. It uses a peer-coaching model, in which specially selected AeroAstro graduate students and postdocs are trained to become exceptional communication coaches: the Communication Fellows. The Fellows work one-on-one with AeroAstro clients, providing guidance for the effective creation of all forms of technical communication. These include journal papers, conference presentations, lab reports, research posters, theses, and job applications. The Communication Lab also produces digital resources on a wide variety of communication topics, including a “CommKit” article and tool for integrating inclusive design into communication products.
https://mitcommlab.mit.edu/aeroastro/
https://mitcommlab.mit.edu/aeroastro/commkit/accessible-communication/
Since 1957, YAI has been committed to offering innovative services for people with developmental disabilities. With a workforce exceeding 4,000 employees dedicated to supporting over 20,000 people, YAI strives to empower people to lead self-determined lives. YAI's neurodiverse team creates Easy Read materials for various organizations. Additionally, YAI is developing training programs for professionals in government agencies and organizations to enhance accessibility of information for people with disabilities, with a particular emphasis on meeting the unique information needs of those with developmental disabilities.
https://www.yai.org/news-stories/more-newsletter/making-information-accessible-one-document-time
Institute for Research and Development on Inclusion and Society (IRIS) - begins at 40:10 min of video recording
The Institute for Research and Development on Inclusion and Society (IRIS) is a Canadian non-profit organization established in 1969 to advance the equality, safety, and inclusion of people with disabilities and other systemically marginalized communities. IRIS works collaboratively across disability communities and other groups to foster and support transformative social development—including the co-design and development of inclusive technologies. Guided by principles of full inclusion and human rights, IRIS carries out research and socially-engaged practice to identify issues and policy options, fosters social innovation to re-imagine inclusion and to design new ways to meet unmet needs, and builds capacity to strengthen leadership within communities for transformative change.
Data Communities for Inclusion: https://datacommunities.ca/
Community-Led Co-Design Kit: https://community-led.design/
Weavly: https://weavly.org/
Jill Houghton is President & Chief Executive Officer of Disability:IN, the leading nonprofit resource for advancing business disability inclusion and accessibility worldwide. Under her leadership, Disability:IN has empowered 550+ leading multi-nationals to advance equality through groundbreaking programs and initiatives including the renowned Disability Equality Index, the most comprehensive benchmarking tool for disability inclusion in business.
Leslie L. Wilson, M.S., has consulted with hundreds of companies across industries and sectors to create disability inclusive workplaces around the world. At Disability:IN she grew the Inclusion Works program from 6 participating companies to 135 major brands and from under 400 new hires of people with disabilities to 384,000 new hires. Leslie leads 800 corporate representatives on the Global Roundtable and Regional Councils in Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America.
Brian has been an educator for over 15 years, teaching adaptive outdoor recreation, chemistry, math, and much more. As the Manager for Science Learning at the MIT Museum, he co-founded a working group that developed tools and strategies for integrating inclusive design into the museum’s work. At AeroAstro, he works to integrate inclusive practices into graduate students’ technical communication & teaching.
Email: bmernoff@mit.edu
Colin Clark has worked for over 25 years as a researcher, designer, and developer of community-led technologies. He is interested in how people without access to conventional technical expertise can create, govern, and sustain their own systems. To this end, Colin has led a variety of inclusively-designed applied research projects including Data Communities for Inclusion, Weavly, and The Accessibility Exchange.
Johanna has a BA in Social Work and a MS in Public Administration. She has over 20 years experience in program development and global advocacy for people with disabilities. She manages YAI's representation on the global stage at the UN and in development projects around the globe.
Johanna is also the team lead in developing a training for professionals on inclusive plain language with a specific focus on accessibility for people with developmental disabilities.
Dr. Vanderheiden is the Founder of the Trace R&D Center, Professor at the iSchool at the University of Maryland, and President of the non-profit Raising the Floor. As a pioneer in the field of Augmentative Communication and assistive technology for over 50 years, features developed by him and the Trace Center are found in every computer and mobile device. From creating the first Web Accessibility guidelines to supporting the WCAG 1.0/2.0 Working Group from its inception through 2013 he is a long-term leader in the field of accessibility.
