Accessibility Deep Dive: Barriers, Integration, and Virtual Spaces
Developed by Elizabeth Ralston, MPH
How do you integrate accessibility into all parts of your organization?
The Accessibility Learning Series is intended to jumpstart your accessibility journey and offer a road map to integrating these practices within your organization. Understanding barriers to implementation is critical for moving forward.
This series is created for people from organizations who deliver programs, events, and learning opportunities to people from all walks of life. You will receive worksheets, Powerpoint slides, and practical action steps you can start implementing right away. Sessions will be engaging and interactive- you will get to meet others working on accessibility too!
This series was developed by Elizabeth Ralston, who has more than 25 years of public health, nonprofit, program development, and strategic communications experience. Elizabeth is passionate about advocating for accessibility and uses her lived experience as a person with hearing loss to demonstrate tangible evidence of the benefits of accessibility.
You are encouraged to register for the full series to experience the full collection of knowledge and tools; you may register for just one of the sessions if you prefer.
All sessions will have automated captioning through Zoom.
Session 1
October 12: 9 am PST/12 pm EST
Everyday Ableism: How it Shows up in Our Daily Lives
Being an ally to people with disabilities requires understanding one’s own implicit bias around disability and the perceptions and realities of disabled experiences. Knowing the roots of ableism is critical to the process of dismantling the views that harm people with disabilities and hold them back from achieving their full potential. This will also promote a welcoming and inclusive workplace culture.
Session 2
October 26: 9 am PST/12 pm EST
Integrating Accessibility into Your Organization: A Primer
Many organizations have had to rethink how they conduct business in the last few years. With the pivot to a virtual world, there is an opportunity for organizations to engage new audiences. People with disabilities represent a billion-dollar sector of the population and are a crucial part of this audience engagement. This means the organization’s marketing, communications, programming, and fundraising need to be accessible.
This presentation examines barriers to accessibility and how efforts get sidetracked by the assumptions, stereotypes, and mindsets we have about whom we are addressing. We will talk through practical, simple ways to integrate accessibility practices into your everyday work.
Session 3
November 9: 9 am PST/12 pm EST
Creating Accessible Virtual Programs, Events, or Meetings
This presentation reviews the three components of planning accessible virtual events: Pre-Planning, During, and After the event. You will learn the benefits of making your virtual events accessible and how the inquiry process helps to inform the planning process. We will cover practical things you can do to make your session welcoming and inclusive to all who attend.
Are you intrigued? Come to this FREE engaging Kahoot! session with Betty Ng, CEO of Inspiring Diversity and Co-Founder of TAIQ and Elizabeth Ralston, MPH, Accessibility Consultant:
Accessibility: Integrating the A into DEI Initiatives
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts at organizations often do not consider the importance of accessibility for people with disabilities. In this fun and engaging session, we will set the stage for understanding why this is critical to building an inclusive and welcoming culture for employees. We will explore and discuss biases, terminology, benefits as well as solutions related to accessibility in DEI initiatives. You will also get a preview into Elizabeth’s Accessibility Learning Series here!