Departmental ADA Coordinators Academy Session II A April 5, 2016 Effective Communication: The Basics Presented by the San Francisco Mayor s Office on Disability
Today s Learning Objectives: Define effective communication under the ADA and how it applies to people with disabilities. Learn about communication methods that ensure your Department s compliance with ADA requirements. Discuss ensuring disability access in information dissemination and learn some quick tips for compliance. 2
What is Effective Communication? Under the ADA, effective communication means that a person with a disability can: 1. communicate with 2. receive information from 3. convey information to City departments & contractors as effectively as a person without a disability. 3
Effective Communication Requirements Under Title II of the ADA CCSF is required to ensure effective communication with all people with disabilities: Job Applicants Program Participants Clients parent, spouse, or companion that is involved in the process Members of the Public seeking information about programs, services and activities. 4
Where is Effective Communication required? Customer transactions & meetings Information dissemination Brochures, maps, schedules & other print materials Websites & other online information Signage, electronic boards & information kiosks Public Events & Community Meetings 5
Effective Communication Methods: Alternate formats - Braille, large print or electronic versions. Auxiliary aids - Assistive Listening Devices, readers, scribers, text to speech or screen reading software. Auxiliary services - American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters & Real-Time Captioning (CART) providers. Accessible IT & Electronic Media - Accessible websites, smart PDFs, captioned videos formatted to work with Assistive Technology. 6
Who Gets To Decide? When we provide an auxiliary aid or service we must consider: 1. the nature, length, complexity, and context of the communication AND 2. the person s preferred method(s) of communication. We must give primary consideration to the aid or service the individual with a disability has requested. 7
UNLESS We can demonstrate that the requested method will be a: Fundamental Alteration to the nature of the program, service or activity OR Undue Financial & Administrative Burden In most cases the Undue Burden would typically not be considered for the City and County of San Francisco. We must take into consideration the budget and resources of the entire entity, which in our case is the entire CCSF not just the individual department, program or contract. 8
Effective Communication Auxiliary Aids and Services for People with: Hearing Disabilities (Deaf, deaf & Hard of Hearing (HOH)) Visual Disabilities 9
Hearing Disabilities (Deaf, deaf & Hard of Hearing (HOH)) Deaf Is used to reference a specific, self-defined cultural group with a common history and language Primary language is ASL and may not always communicate comfortably in English Essential elements of Deaf culture are the use of ASL and a common sense of pride in overcoming adversity deaf Refers to severe to profound hearing loss Regards hearing loss solely in medical terms Typically does not associate with the Deaf community but identifies with hearing people Hard of Hearing Refers to mild to moderate hearing loss Typically communicates through spoken language May balance being apart of the hearing culture and Deaf culture 10
Communication Methods for People with Hearing Disabilities Assistive Listening Devices CART and Captioning Sign Language Interpreting Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) 11
Communication Methods for People with Hearing Disabilities 12
Assistive Listening Devices (ALD) Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs) are amplifiers that bring sound directly into the ear for a person who is hard of hearing. Types of Assistive Listening Devices: 1. FM (Frequency- Modulated System) 2. Infrared 3. Induction Loop 4. Personal amplifiers 13
CART and Captioning Effective communication services for people who are HoH and deaf are: Communication Access Real-time Translation (CART) which is also referred to as Real-Time Captioning Open and Closed Captions via Television or World Wide Web 14
Caption Example: Video and Audio Tip 1: All videos and audio should be captioned. Tip 2: Relying on automatic captions on YouTube is not effective communication. Tip 3: If video or audio is not captioned at the minimum you should provide a transcript. 15
Sign Language Interpreting There are a number of sign language systems but ASL is the most common. Types of Sign Language Interpreting: 1. In person 2. Video Remote Interpreting The interpreter must be qualified. 16
What does a qualified interpreter mean? Someone who can : sign to the individual who is deaf what is being said by the hearing person & voice to the hearing person what is being signed by the individual who is deaf. The message must be conveyed effectively, accurately, and impartially, through the use of any necessary specialized vocabulary. Certification is not an ADA requirement but most interpreters pursue a certification through the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID). 17
What Is Video Remote Interpreting (VRI)? A system that uses videoconferencing technology equipment, and a high speed Internet connection to provide qualified interpreting services when an in-person interpreter is not available. Just-in-time access to an interpreter for a Deaf person is not a luxury, it s a civil right. VRI should NOT replace an in-person interpreter for longer and more complex conversations! 18
See you in 5 minutes! 19
Visual Disabilities Myth Busters Myth: People who are blind are seeing nothing at all. Only about 18% of people who are visually impaired are classified as being totally blind and the majority of them can differentiate between light and dark (American Foundation for the Blind, 2015). Myth: Most people who are blind read Braille. Fewer than 10% of the 1.3 million legally blind people in the United States read Braille, and just 10% of blind children are learning it (National Federation for the Blind, 2015). 20
Communication Methods for People with Visual Disabilities 21
Communication Methods for People with Visual Disabilities Assistive technology Large Print Braille 22
AT & IT What Does It All Mean? Accessible information technology (IT) refers to electronics and infrastructure that is used to access information. Accessible IT may include telephones, fax machines, copiers and website architecture. Assistive technology (AT) refers to items or software people with disabilities use to access electronic information or accomplish tasks. AT may include, switches, pointers, or special software such as text to speech or speech to text. Remember that accessible IT makes AT usable! 23
Tips for Accessible Print / Electronic Materials Large Print size 18+ Use sans serif font (Arial or Tahoma) Brightness and Contrast/ Color Minimize use of color. Avoid color combinations with little contrast. Avoid red, green, and orange. Do not put everything in CAPITAL letters 24 Do not use text boxes, including headers & footers
Accessible PDFs If the word document is created with accessibility in mind then the PDF file will be accessible too. Make sure that essential information that is included in an attached PDF is in the body of the email. 25
Alt Text in Word Documents & Emails Images &Tables Use alternative text for all images (photos, clip art, charts, shapes, SmartArt, etc.). Use alternative text to describe the table. 26
Step 1: Use your computer mouse to right click on the image; then select Format Picture from the dropdown menu. Alt Text Example Step 2: Select Alt Text from the drop down menu; then type the title and image description. 27
Captions in Word Documents & Emails Images &Tables Captions can be used like a heading or an alternative to alt text. 28
Step 1: Use your computer mouse to right click on the image; then select Insert Caption from the dropdown menu. Caption Example Step 2: Assign label & numbering or select exclude label from caption; then add the caption text, click OK. Step 3: The caption will display under the image. 29
Hyperlinks in Word Documents & Emails Hyperlinks Use meaningful text to provide a clear description of a website link rather than just the URL or click here. 30
Step 1: Click on the Insert tab (or use you computer mouse to simply right click); then select Hyperlink. Hyperlink Example Step 2: A popup window will appear; enter the website address and how you want the text to display. Click OK. Step 3: Once you click OK, the hyperlinked text will display in your email. Tip: If you think people will be printing the document and you want them to have the URL, put it in parentheses after the link, but don't hyperlink it. 31
Additional Resources Mayors Office on Disability - Effective Communication (http://sfgov.org/mod/effective-communication) City and County of San Francisco Web Accessibility Guidelines (http://sfgov.org/web-accessibility) GSA Government-wide Section 508 Accessibility Program - Create Accessible Electronic Documents (http://buyaccessible.gov/content/build/create-accessible-documents) U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Section 508 elearning Courses (http://www.section508.va.gov/support/) Microsoft Accessibility (https://www.microsoft.com/enable/) Adobe Accessibility (http://www.adobe.com/accessibility.html) 32
Summing It Up Every program, service, activity funded by City money (directly or through contracts) has effective communication obligations. When it s time to decide about what method is effective the person with the disability s choice is given Primary Consideration. Financial reasons are almost NEVER a viable legal defense against denying effective communication regardless of contract or department size. The best way to ensure communication access is to build redundancy throughout our processes from the design stage (websites, brochures, email templates etc.). Remember communication access is customer focused, open government information sharing! 33
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VRI Demonstration Susan Morgan, LanguageLine Solutions 35
Auxiliary Aids and Services Demonstration & Discussion Shannon Simonson, The Hearing and Speech Center of Northern California 36
Thank You! For more questions & information contact: Joanna Fraguli, Deputy Director for Programmatic Access Tel: 415.554.6750 or Joanna.Fraguli@sfgov.org Heather Kittel, ADA Grievance & Intake Coordinator Tel: 415.554.6060 or Heather.Kittel@sfgov.org Donna Adkins, Programmatic Access Specialist Tel. 415.554.6703 or Donna.Adkins@sfgov.org 37 San Francisco Mayor's Office on Disability www.sfgov.org/mod
Coming Up Session 2B Beyond Interpreters: An In-Depth Look at Effective Communication & Community Conversation Tuesday, April 19, 2016 2:00 p.m. 4:30 p.m. 1155 Market Street., 4 th Fl. Conference Room 38