[Access] Redo of information about Accessibility stuff on UUCE website

[David Gilmartin]

Readers: I hope what follows will make sense to your eyes, and to your  
electronic readers. I've copied and pasted from a Word document into  
my email program. To my eyes, there are a few funny layout things. I  
hope it will be easily readable by everyone. I've revised the document  
to include just what I think we've agreed upon to date. This seemed to  
me to make the most sense, since I started the document as a way to  
help Martha and anyone else know what our accessibility web pages  
would be like. Committee members, especially; let me know if anything  
you read here seems at odds with your recollections and might need  
clarification or change. Thanks.  --David G.

Accessibility at www.uueugene.org

(A summary of the present state of accessibility at the UUCE website. – 
DG)


UUCE Website

(Accessibility on the UUCE website is being developed in three related  
sets of information:)

A.     The UUCE Accessibility Committee Web Pages

             •            Purposes (as approved by the Board of  
Trustees)
             •            Accomplishments (Things the committee has  
done, or assisted in doing, such as the work on making the recent  
Minister’s Installation, or Auction, or Soiree, as accessible as  
possible; improvements in the restrooms, doorsill modifications, door  
handles on inside of sanctuary doors, and trainings in managing the  
sound system.)
             •            Contact Persons/Officers/Members/Other  
Interested Persons
             •            Latest Minutes
•            Archive of past meetings’ minutes and notes

•            Calendar of agenda, times, and places of future meetings



B.      Sets of Guidelines for Providing Accessibility

             (To assist in event planning, accessibility awareness,  
and future property and building accessibility needs, the  
Accessibility Committee is making available a number of different  
guidelines. Reading through them may help you understand the many  
things that have implications for accessibility by people with  
disabilities. The Committee hopes than you will use one or more of  
these guidelines, and let our members know — in detail! — what you  
find helpful, and why. We’ve made guesses and assumptions about  
usefulness, but it will be your actual experiences that will help us  
in improving this section.

             (You may notice that accessibility has three main  
flavors. There’s architectural accessibility, physical details like  
door widths or positioning of electrical outlets. Program  
accessibility has a lot to do with the “where” and “how” of making  
programs and events open to everybody; for example, moving a meeting  
to a wheelchair accessible room if a wheelchair user wants to attend.  
Sometimes accessibility for another person depends directly on you —  
your attitude and behavior: keeping your moustache trimmed to help  
someone lip read what you have to say, or purchasing and using a non- 
scented laundry detergent so a person with chemical sensitivities can  
remain near you and share in your activity.)

             Presently there are three accessibility guidelines, or  
checklists, available here or through links, (and one more in  
development), for your use:

•            UUCE Accessibility Survey (latest rev., 04/01/2008)

•            NOD’s “Guide to Accessible Meetings”

•            ADA Checklist for Existing Facilities

•            Cindy’s checklist for event planners (in development)


C.      Lists and Links to Related Resources

             (Here are materials for your use to deepen or expand your  
knowledge of accessibility through various media. Accessibility  
Committee members and others will annotate the items to help you  
evaluate their usefulness. )

1.            Books, news, accessibility ideas from UU newsletters,  
meditation tapes, etc.


2.            UUCE and UUA Accessibility Resources and Information  
(Examples)

             UUCE Accessibility Policy

             Description of UUCE Accessibility Features

             Recent Improvements to Accessibility

             UUA’s “Disability 101”: www.uua.org/leaders/leaderslibrary/accessibility/disability101/index.shtml

             UUA’s “Disability Etiquette”: www.uua.org/leaders/leaderslibrary/accessibility/disability101/27055.shtml

             UUA’s “Working for Safety and to End Oppression,” www.uua.org/documents/congservices/araomc/safety_endoppression.pdf



3.            Links to materials elsewhere on UUCE website, related to  
accessibility

             (Surely you know that lively discussions and projects do  
not remain compartmentalized. So, a related goal is to help you see  
and find the various ways and places that topics related to  
accessibility are being shared and acted on throughout the whole  
congregation. Many ideas about Radical Hospitality, for example, a  
driving force for the Membership Committee, have implications for  
accessibility. The UUA’s and this church’s work to undo the  
oppressions of racism, sexism, classism, ableism, etc., and move in a  
Journey Toward Wholeness, are intricately connected. The vision of a  
Green Sanctuary includes how people relate in meaningful and  
sustainable community; it is about accessible community in addition to  
being about renewing and sustaining a healthy planet for the next  
thousands of generations of life. Hopefully, this section will help  
you to see — across the entire congregation — how the UUCE is engaging  
with the communities and issues of this time and place.)
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