 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Online Information on Employment and Training Opportunities for Disabled PeopleThe Newsletter |
||||
(Published Quarterly)
Table of Contents |
The Information Service is a signposting to existing resources although over the life time of the project ‘new’ information will be added.
We are organising groups of disabled people to ‘test’ the site for ease of use, relevance of information, and accessibility .
The Service has been designed with access in mind, following the guidelines produced by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), although we do not assume that all the accessibility issues have been dealt with.
The site is under constant development and further changes are planned, any comments or suggestions about contents, links, and accessibility etc., are welcome.
The first group of 9 trainees completed their training last July for the NVQ Level 1 ‘Certificate of Telematics’. The organisations involved included MAP, MIND in Manchester, DIAL Denton and the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID).
We currently have two other groups of trainees (totalling 19 people) undergoing the above course at the Manchester Technology Management Centre (MTMC), and are due to finish in October. Some of the organisations involved are the Ethnic Disabled Group Emerging (EDGE), Full Circle Arts, Disabled Living, Manchester Youth Service - Disability Project, New Vale House (Oldham) and the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB).
We are also looking to start other groups independantly of the general sessions due to their difficulties in releasing workers, staffing issues and the use of appropriate training materials etc., for example The Newbridge Centre in Stockport.
The next stage of the training programme is to get the skills 'multiplied' out to disabled people in conjunction with the organisations previously mentioned.
As mentioned above the project is now organising sessions for disabled people to access the Internet directly.
This is being planned in partnership with disability organisations and information providers that the project has formed links with either through the training programme or other activities.
We are also linking with other projects in the North West to run joint sessions around access to services and information.
The aim of these groups is to promote the use of the Project’s Information Service, access issues as well as providing an opportunity for people to learn the skills in using the Internet and emails, though the ‘taster’ sessions.
The information gathered during these sessions will be used to improve our project web site in terms of content and ‘user friendliness. The wider issues of access will also be taken on board and disseminated to other projects.
As mentioned below (User Groups) the project is now organising workshops around the use of the project’s Information Service and the wider issue of access, user friendliness etc.
With more service providers using the Internet as a means of contacting and providing services to the public there is an assumption that people have easy independent access themselves.
The belief is that people can access the Internet from a variety of access points, when in fact this belief should be challenged, especially in relation to Disabled Peoples access.
For further information or if your group are interested in taking part in these sessions then please contact the project for details.
The projects main aim is for disabled people to have independent access to information services etc., and to address the access barriers.
The next meeting of the Forum is on the 8th December in Liverpool (the venue tba) at 10.30am.
One of the main roles of the group is to ensure that accessibility issues are taken on board by projects, information & service providers etc, throughout the NW. As part of this strategy we are aiming to hold a conference in 1999, similar to the one held earlier this year.
We are also in the process of setting up a web site as an information point about our activities and aims etc.
The Forum is supporting the use of the web access guidelines as a starting point to raise the issues around accessibility.
The Forum is open to organisations & projects that are committed to ensuring that Disabled People have equal access to society.
Further information contact from Andy Mitchell, DTF Chair, on 0151 733 7255 or the ‘On-Line’ project.
The project has produced a set of web accessibility guidelines based on the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) own guide. Within these guidelines there is a section about how to test web pages for accessibility, including the use of the Bobby Accessibility checker.
Bobby provides feedback on a web sites access problems and how improvements can be made.
The guidelines are only the basic requirements for access and they will change as the Internet develops, it appears at present that the basic issue of access still needs to be addressed. It is hoped that these guidelines can be used to demonstrate to information providers, using electronic means to convey their information, that they should and can improve their services.
It has come clear that most computing facilities in Universities, Colleges, Electronic Village Halls, and Libraries are not accessible particularly in terms of hardware and software provision. The concept of ‘access’ has been focus on people accessing the building but not necessarily on using computer equipment.
We have produced a ‘draft’ check sheet to assess what an accessible centre should have. This checklist is only a starting point in making facilities universally accessible.
We are currently asking access centres as to whether the checklist makes sense, initially the feedback is that the questions asked make sense and are a good starting point.
Both sets of guidelines will be availabe through the project’s web site or from our office. We welcome any feedback or comments about these areas and will be widely promoting both issues.
The project has been chosen to make a presentation to the conference, under the strand of using telematics to provide solutions to urban problems, for example, fulfilling user needs.
We will be highlighting how the accessibility issues are not being addressed by the wider community. The conference is taking place on the 29th & 30th October in Salzburg, Austria.
During the latest transnational meeting, in Cagalari, Sardinia on the 28th & 29th September, our local partners in Italy, RP Sardinia, publicly launched their training programme as part of their overall project. The training, aimed at establishing co-operatives and self-employment, leads to a recognised European qualification. This training will be free to the people involved (as under the ‘On-Line’ project) and includes work placement.
The overall aim is to develop real work opportunities for people rather than ‘created’ employment, as well as raising the awareness of the issues around Retintus Pigmentosa.
The Spanish partners, CEPES, are holding an employers conference in Madrid, November 19th & 20th, with aim of raising their awareness of employing disabled people and ways in which barriers to employment can be overcome.
Work has started on the agreed outcomes of the transnational work;
Currently the first draft of the transnational web site is available (this can be accessed through the project’s web site), although further changes are already planned.
The transnational partners are making a joint project presentation on the 5th November during the European Employment Week Conference (3rd - 5th November) in Brussels.
Further information at: http://www.employmentweek.com/
Toucan is hosting a conference on the 4th & 5th December for the NW Employment - Horizon/Youthstart projects.
These European funded projects are working either in the area of Disabilities (as ‘On-Line’) or aimed at excluded young people.
The aim of the conference is for projects to share information, identify common barriers and share good practice in increasing the above groups access to training and employment etc.
The above group next meets on the 10th November ‘98 in Bury.
The group is looking at issues and barriers encountered by the projects, and the issues around disabled peoples access to information, training,
| Information Service | Project | TAD | Contact | Sitemap |
Last updated: 6 August 1999
© 1999-2000 Toucan Europe Ltd
webmaster@on-line.org.uk