Washington State Democrats Disabilities Issues Caucus
Resource Guide for Access
First things first: WHY?
Why take the time and energy to make your party activities accessible?
• One in five Americans has a disability – that’s 58 million of us!
• Access makes things better for everyone
• It’s the law: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Because WE are the party of INCLUSION!
WHAT should you do?
Educate yourself and your organization:
• Understand the basics of the ADA
• Don’t make assumptions; ask and listen
• Learn about disability issues and common access needs
• Include disability in your diversity, equity, or social justice statements
Make events and meetings accessible and welcoming:
• Hold events in accessible venues near public transit and accessible parking
• Make it easy to request disability accommodations: list who/where/when to contact on event notice
• Get sign language interpreters, real-time captions, and assistive listening systems if requested
• Plan and budget for access as part of the event, not as an add-on
Communicate effectively with disabled voters:
• Provide large print option for written materials
• Caption videos on your website and social media
• Check your website and online documents for accessibility and put alt tags on images
Reach out to the disability community:
• Contact disability organizations and share events with their membership
• Include organizations for seniors, veterans, special education, disabled student services
• WSDDIC can help you with outreach!
Include disability rights in your platform, candidate forums and campaign issues:
• Listen for disability issues when doing deep canvassing, and ask questions
• Ask candidates where they stand on disability rights issues
• Include the disability angle in your issue research for endorsement questionnaires
• Nail the GOP candidates on disability rights – it’s SO EASY! (they’re usually wrong)
About language…
People worry about saying the wrong thing or giving offense. Relax!
• Just use common sense and treat people with respect.
• If in doubt, ask what someone prefers to be called (hint: it’s usually their name).
• Avoid euphemisms like “handi-capable” or “differently abled” – even “people of all abilities” is confusing (juggle on a unicycle?). Just say the word: disability.
• Some people prefer person-first language, person with a disability, has autism, and others prefer identity-first language, blind people, Deaf guy, wheelchair user, little person.
o Pro tip: Little person or short stature = dwarf
o lowercase deaf = can’t hear; Deaf = uses ASL, Deaf culture.
• Beware of inspiration porn! Avoid narratives about overcoming and inspiring; stories like that are usually about making temporarily able-bodied people feel good, not about centering the experience and agency of disabled people. Instead, help us Crip the Vote!
A few words to avoid:
retarded
handicapped
suffering/afflicted
wheelchair-bound
midget
Seems like a lot? Never fear… WSDDIC is here to help!
Accessibility Checklists & Resources
Venue & Overall Planning
2018 Washington State Democrats Accessibility Guidelines https://www.wa-democrats.org/sites/wadems/files/documents/AccessibilityGuidelines.pdf
Rooted in Rights: How to Make Your Social Justice Event Accessible to the Disability Community – comprehensive checklist for all aspects of an event
http://www.rootedinrights.org/how-to-make-your-social-justice-events-accessible-to-the-disability-community-a-checklist/
San Francisco Mayor’s Office on Disability – checklists & other resources
http://sfgov.org/mod/planning-accessible-events
Communication Access
Sign language interpreters:
DSHS Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing has good descriptions of different communication resources on its website, and maintains a list of interpreters and interpreter referral agencies: https://www.dshs.wa.gov/altsa/odhh/contractor-wa-state
Nationally, the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf has a directory and lots of explanatory info on the website:
https://www.rid.org/about-rid/about-interpreting/hiring-an-interpreter/
Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART), aka live transcription or realtime captions:
Many people who are late-deafened or hard of hearing do not sign, and prefer CART and/or assistive listening systems. Also helps seniors, people with mild hearing loss, and people for whom English is a second language.
DSHS maintains a list of CART providers as well:
https://www.dshs.wa.gov/altsa/odhh/communication-access-real-time-translation-cart
Washington Court Reporters Association has a membership list (look for CRR or CRC for those who do CART):
http://washingtoncourtreporters.org/
Assistive Listening Systems:
If you are using a PA system, ask the venue or sound contractor to provide assistive listening systems. Get a wireless mic and be disciplined about using it for all speakers and audience members so people with hearing loss can hear. For large events, look for a venue that has a hearing loop installed, or put in a temporary loop.
National Association of the Deaf has a good description of assistive listening systems, as well as other info:
https://www.nad.org/resources/technology/assistive-listening/assistive-listening-systems-and-devices/
Let’s Loop Seattle has lots of info about loops, a listing of looped venues in WA state, and a list of installers:
https://loopseattle.org/
Documents and Alternate Formats, Large Print Documents
Many people with low vision need large print. You can generally format your own documents in large print yourself: use a sans-serif font, bold, at least 18-20 points, line spacing 1.5, and print single-sided.
American Council of the Blind: http://acb.org/large-print-guidelines
Braille Documents
Many blind people prefer Braille to online formats. Some library systems that have Braille embossers will allow members to Braille short documents. This list of Braille producers includes several in Washington state.
National Federation of the Blind: https://nfb.org/braille-transcription-resource-list
Website Accessibility
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) – Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0)
These internationally-accepted guidelines are the standard compliance with the ADA and will make your website usable and accessible to everyone. Lots of info here: http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag.php
Accessible Online Documents
Many blind people use screen reader software to read aloud the information on a computer or mobile screen. This requires the website and document content to be accessible and compatible.
Minnesota IT Services Office of Accessibility, information and tutorials on accessible documents:
https://mn.gov/mnit/programs/accessibility/
WebAIM: Web Accessibility in Mind is a useful site with info on training, technical assistance: http://webaim.org/
Captioning
Zoom, Microsoft Teams and other videoconferencing software now offer auto-captions in most packages. Sign up and activate this feature. National Center for Accessible Media, a nonprofit R&D center with lots of useful info: http://ncam.wgbh.org/
YouTube and Facebook Pages now have an auto-caption option. Set your video to activate this feature.
ADA and Outreach Resources
General ADA Information and Legal Requirements
• ADA info from the Federal government, with regulations, guidance and technical assistance docs https://www.ada.gov/
• Northwest ADA Center – answers ADA questions, provides training, and knows local resources:
http://nwadacenter.org 800-949-4232
• Disability Rights Washington – information, legal advocacy, resources
https://www.disabilityrightswa.org 800-562-2702
Outreach to disability organizations
• WA State Independent Living Council – statewide network for Centers for Independent Living. CILs are the grassroots advocacy organizations of the disability community and played a crucial historical role in organizing and lobbying for access. List of all CILs in WA and counties served, and resource list of disability organizations: http://www.wasilc.org/Index.htm 800-624-4105
• APRIL – Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living, focuses on challenges unique to people with disabilities in low-resource rural areas: https://www.april-rural.org/ 501-753-3400
Disability Rights: Policy and Platforms
Include disability rights in your platform, candidate forums and issues.
When doing deep canvassing, listen for disability issues – they are personal and individual, and people often don’t connect them to politics. Some examples of the disability angle in public policy issues:
• Healthcare: 14% of adult Medicaid recipients are people with disabilities; disability activists from ADAPT were key in protecting Obamacare; need mental health parity in insurance
• Housing: incentivize accessible housing & affordability; 25% of homeless have severe mental illness
• Police and community: nearly 2/3 of officer-involved shootings include some form of disability as a factor along with race - Eric Garland, Sandra Bland, Freddy Gray, Charleena Lyles
• Education equity: ensure full funding for special education; school choice is a disability issue because charter schools often don’t comply with law to include kids with disabilities
• Transportation: prioritize accessibility of public transit; require taxis, Uber and Lyft to provide wheelchair accessible vehicles; strengthen accountability & responsiveness of paratransit services
• Civil rights: protect ADA enforcement on federal level; support community-based personal-care services; promote ADA offices in local government and access to all government resources; oppose sub-minimum wages for disabled people
Research: National Council on Disability – independent Federal agency for disability policy leadership, great research reports on a variety of topics, helpful staff: https://www.ncd.gov/ 202-272-2004
LAST BUT NOT LEAST: How do you pay for access services?
Washington State Democrats do not have a central fund for access and accommodations. LDs, CDs and County organizations should budget for accommodations themselves. We should discuss within the party how best to provide funding for communications accommodations like ASL interpreters and CART.
Washington State Democrats Disabilities Issues Caucus – January 2018, updated April 2021
Contact us: WSDDIC@gmail.com
Visit us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wsddic/
Join our discussion group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1791632151153784/
This document is available in large print and accessible electronic format (Word), and other formats upon request. Please contact us!