Assessing the accessibility of your organization
Abstract
This effective practice outlines a strategy for assessing the accessibility of your organization, including tools to gauge staff sensitivity, perform task analysis, and determine the physical accessibility of your site. Excerpted from Youth Volunteer Corps: Training Manual for Working with Youth Volunteers Who Have Disabilities, a manual designed by youth, youth development professionals, and persons with disabilities to provide Youth Volunteer Corps affiliates with a background on disability issues to integrate all volunteers, regardless of ability, into Youth Volunteer Corps.
Issue
Bringing youth with disabilities into community service projects should be conducted in the same spirit as it is for those without disabilities.
Action
How accessible is your program for participants with various types of disabilities? Several factors must be taken into account, such as architectural or environmental barriers to access. Sometimes the most difficult obstacles to surmount are attitudes of prejudice and stereotyping.
Conducting an initial assessment
Physical site evaluation
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accessibility Guidelines
- Access Measurement Tools (available in manual)
- ADA Accessibility Stick
- ADA Site Evaluation Survey
- Additional assistance
- Regional Disability Business Technical Assistance Centers
- Independent Living Centers
- Corporation for National and Community Service
Staff sensitivity evaluation
- Administer the Scale of Attitudes towards Disabled Persons (available in manual)
- Administer the Disability Quotient Questionnaire (available in manual)
- Discuss staff's past history and experience with disabilities — allow staff time to reflect on their own experiences. Some individuals may have a "hidden" disability such as heart disease, arthritis, or learning disability; others may have friends or family with acquired disabilities.
Project development
- A specific plan should be implemented to fully integrate youth volunteers with disabilities into the program. Each project designed should keep in mind the diversity of young people who will be delivering the services.
- Sometimes a project is already developed when volunteers sign up for service. Under a more dynamic approach, volunteers are brought together to make their own decisions regarding which community issues they want to deal with and how.
- Any plan should include careful consideration of the involvement and capabilities of disabled youth and adult volunteers.
- Staff must ensure that organizations sponsoring projects are fully aware of the responsibilities of hosting a team of young people. These responsibilities extend to making sure the sponsoring organization has complete information about the size and capabilities of its team and plans enough activities for the entire team to be involved for the duration of the project. Knowledge of performance expectations, reliability and special needs are very important.
- Sometimes being overly cautious or protective can occur with the "best of intentions." It is important to know that this can have a negative effect on the youth volunteer. Special treatment, particularly when it is not requested, can chip away at the volunteer's self-esteem, feeling of inclusion, and relationship with other youth.
- Some staff members may never have met or spoken with a person who has a disability. One way to provide staff with personal experiences in meeting, listening to, and talking with a number of people with disabilities is to contact the speakers' bureau at a local independent living center and request a presentation.
Task analysis can be very helpful in selecting, training, and accommodating youth with disabilities, as well as improving the overall efficiency of a community service program. This analysis should be done in accordance with the ADA's requirements.
The first step is to make a list of the tasks. Answer the following questions about each task:
- How is the task performed?
- What methods, techniques, and tools are used?
- How often is the task performed?
- Are less frequently performed tasks as important to program success as those done more frequently?
- How much time is allotted to perform the task? Is a consistent pace required?
- Why is the task performed?
- How is success measured?...on a process basis?...on an outcome basis?
- What happens if the task is done wrong?
- What aptitudes are necessary? (Aptitude refers to the potential to learn and accomplish skill.)
- What knowledge is necessary? (Knowledge refers to the level of general or technical information.)
- What skills are necessary? (Skills refer to the applied ability through training required.)
- How much physical exertion (i.e., lifting, standing, bending, reaching, twisting, crawling, etc.) is required?
- What happens if the task is not completed on time?
- What are the environmental conditions? (e.g., hot, cold, dusty, wet, etc.)
- How much mental exertion is required?
- How much emotional exertion is required?
This analysis also helps to determine if any accommodations are necessary. Accommodations might include additional assistance to the youth, a physical change to the work site, or a restructuring of tasks or working hours.
Citation
White, Glen W., Katherine Froehlich, and Veronica Knight. (2000). Youth Volunteer Corps: Training Manual for Working with Youth Volunteers Who Have Disabilities. Youth Volunteer Corps of America.
Outcome
Inclusion of youth with disabilities should encompass all individuals, no matter what type of disability they have. Youths with various types of disabilities should be represented among the volunteer membership, including those with mobility impairments, sensory disorders, cognitive disorders, or other disabilities.
Youth volunteers with disabilities should be considered full members of the volunteer team. All youth volunteers should be encouraged to share their experiences and voice their ideas. When youth with disabilities are taught to express themselves, they build greater self-confidence and broaden the perspective of their fellow youth volunteers.
Posted On
September 18, 2001For More Information
Source Documents
Related Practices
Related sites
Life Span Institute at the University of Kansa
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