Integrating Accessibility Into Your Organization: Getting Started

Description

Many organizations have had to rethink how they conduct business in the last few years. With the rise in hybrid programs and events, there is an opportunity for organizations to engage new audiences.

People with disabilities represent a billion-dollar sector of the population and are a crucial part of this audience engagement. This means the organization’s marketing, communications, programming, and fundraising need to be accessible. This presentation examines barriers to accessibility and how efforts get sidetracked by the assumptions, stereotypes, and mindsets we have about whom we are addressing. We will delve into characteristics of the three accessibility stages and identify practical, simple ways to integrate accessibility practices into your everyday work.

Participants will learn

• How to define accessibility and other terminology 
• How to name reasons why accessibility needs to be prioritized. 
• About barriers to accessibility. 
• To identify the accessibility stage of your organization and begin to think about ways to get started. 

Who this is for

• Staff involved in marketing, communications, programming, and fundraising work for organizations
• Those interested in improving accessibility throughout organizations

Presenter Biography

Elizabeth Ralston is a consultant who guides organizations in the strategic development of an accessibility roadmap, with an emphasis on equity and inclusion. She has over 25 years of experience working with nonprofits, government agencies, and academic institutions. She has a Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan and a certificate in Nonprofit Management from the University of Washington. Elizabeth’s expertise is in maximizing organizations’ success through program development, strategic communications, and event implementation, all with an eye on accessibility. She is a published writer, engaging educator, and a seasoned storyteller committed to amplifying the voices of marginalized communities. 

Elizabeth is also the Founder of the Seattle Cultural Accessibility Consortium, a grassroots effort to help arts and cultural organizations improve accessibility for their audiences. Her creation of the Consortium emerged from deep listening to the arts and disability communities about the gaps in accessibility. She brings a unique perspective to her work, through her lived experience with a disability. 

As a deaf woman who uses cochlear implants to hear, Elizabeth faces accessibility challenges every day. Her hearing loss never stopped her from achieving her life goals. As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi, Africa, she saw first-hand the powerful impact a person can have on others’ lives. She has devoted her life to public service ever since.