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FTW Project on Facebook

Monday, December 5, 2011
The Freedom to Work Project is on Facebook. Check us out!

Integrated Employment Toolkit

Monday, December 5, 2011

The Office of Disability Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor, has developed the Integrated Employment Toolkit to provide valuable information as individuals, community employment agencies, policymakers and others pursue employment as the desired employment goal for youth and adults with disabilities.

The Toolkit offers a collection of resources, reports, papers, policies, fact sheets, case studies, and discussion guides from a variety of sources to accommodate the full range of users and increase capacity and understanding about the value and potential of integrated employment. It is organized by different audiences or perspectives. Within each audience, there are key, commonly-asked questions to guide the user to the appropriate materials.

To view the Toolkit, click on this link to the
ODEP website.


From Business Sense - Worforce Diversity Includes Disability

Monday, December 5, 2011
Workforce Diversity Includes Disability

If you've ever seen a poster or brochure about topics such as child safety seats or drunk driving prevention, you might already be familiar with Kenny Allen's work. A graphic designer in Washington D.C., Kenny is part of a prolific team that produces publications, websites and other materials to promote road safety.

Kenny works for a Federal contractor to the U.S. Department of Transportation's national Highway Traffic Safety Administration. His employer - a minority-owned business that graduated from the Small Business Administrations Business Development Program for small, disadvantaged businesses - is expressly committed to diversity in its workforce, and Kenny is one reflection of this core value.

Although often thought of in terms of race or ethnicity, diversity actually encompasses a wide range of individual differences, including disability. This intersection is the premise behind Add Us In, a U.S. Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) initiative that aims to assist small businesses - including the rapidly increasing number of those owned by diverse individuals - to employment people with disabilities.

Kenny, who has osteogenesis imperfecta and uses crutches to walk, didn't originally envision a career in graphic arts, although he did enjoy drawing as a child. After earning a degree in business, he first worked in database design. He later "lucked" into a position in graphics, and it ended up offering a good way to mesh his technical and creative interests, he says. Ever since, it's been his employers who have gotten lucky - with a skilled, dedicated employee who adds to the diverse range of viewpoints they need to succeed.

Website Accessibility: It's a SNAP!

Monday, December 5, 2011
If you want information about a topic, where do you go? These days, the answer is likely "online." Every minute of every day, millions of people across the globe turn to the Internet for quick access to information. Without a doubt, the way we seek information has fundamentally shifted in recent years.

As a result, so has the way we do business. In fact, for many small businesses, online systems provide the foundation for commercial operations, allowing them to compete and succeed nationally, or even internationally, on a level unimaginable not long ago.

But, whether they realize it or not, many of these enterprises are not accessible to one segment of the population - people with disabilities. Just as businesses are no longer limited to brick and mortar, accessibility today encompasses more than architectural features. If a company's website is not accessible, it's essentially closed to people with certain types of disabilities, such as visual and cognitive impairments.

Now, improving website accessibility is a SNAP! The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) recently released tips for designing accessible websites as well as an easy-to-use self-assessment tool, called SNAP! Together, these resources can help business owners and website designers and managers, understand barriers to online accessibility and work through the most common issues.

To access the two resources noted above, click on Job Accommodation Network.

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