My social justice project is to provide an equitable visitor experience for the disabled community at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (an educational institution and a museum. On this page you will learn about readings, resources and environmental scan.
1. Readings
Kaufman-Scarborough, C., & Baker, S. M. (2005). Do People with Disabilities Believe the ADA Has Served Their Consumer Interests? The Journal of Consumer Affairs, 39(1), 1–26. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23860124
This paper examines whether people with disabilities believe the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has served their consumer interests and improved marketplace accessibility from their perspective. The key findings are:
Respondents who are aware of the ADA are more likely to perceive positive changes since its enactment, but most still believe it has not made a difference.
Respondents attribute access problems both to their disabilities and environmental factors. Improvements in facilities, attitudes, media portrayals, and advertising inclusion are related to greater perceived accessibility.
Respondents who perceive fewer access problems spend more time shopping and in other marketplace activities. Transportation difficulties, negative attitudes, lack of money, and lack of assistance are barriers.
Greater life satisfaction is related to perceiving more marketplace access, more frequent marketplace participation, and feeling less prevented from activities by one's disability.
The results indicate the ADA has served consumer interests but more still needs to be done in areas like raising awareness of rights and improving attitudes and inclusion. The consumer response model incorporating medical, social, and marketplace perspectives provides a framework for further research.
Hutchinson, N. G. (2001). Beyond ADA Compliance: Redefining Accessibility. American Libraries, 32(6), 76–78. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25645950
This article discusses going beyond basic ADA compliance to make libraries truly accessible to people with disabilities. It profiles the Montclair Public Library's efforts to serve the estimated 9,000 residents in its community with disabilities. Key points include:
- Physical access through an ADA-compliant building is just the first step. Equally important is access to resources, services, and programming.
- Montclair conducted extensive research to develop a plan to eliminate barriers with technology like screen readers, materials like large print books, expanded offsite and telecommunications programming, workshops, and dedicated staff.
- Implementing such comprehensive access required substantial funding ($35k first year). Grants were secured by demonstrating community need and a well-researched plan.
- Guidelines for other libraries include: assessing disability needs in their area, researching equipment using multiple criteria before purchase, having a detailed plan and budget before seeking funding, partnering with disability organizations.
- Though awareness of disability needs has increased over the decade since the ADA, barriers still arise from lack of experience with disabled patrons, tight budgets, and incomplete building modifications. Activists pressure change.
Overall the article argues physical access must be matched with equal access to resources. Comprehensive planning and funding is key to creating libraries allowing independent use by all.
2. Resources
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in everyday activities. The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability just as other civil rights laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion. The ADA guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to enjoy employment opportunities, purchase goods and services, and participate in state and local government programs (ada.gov).
Beyond giving the basis for disability accommodations for businesses and organizations the ADA website doesn't provide any remedy for the disabled community. It provides articles and other information on the disabled community and their experiences in the public realm of employment, government, etc.
Disability Rights and Resources is an organization locally here in Birmingham Alabama that provides resources for disabled individuals to live an independent life, this includes housing, employment, and life skills. In addition they will help the disabled community modify their homes and vehicles to accommodate their disability.
The Disability Rights and Resources does not have anywhere on its website that says that it assist businesses and/or museums with their ADA compliance. I think that they gave us a courtesy as our neighbor and former partner in programming when they conducted a walk through of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. The organization does have services that assist the disabled community with understanding Information Technology industry and seeking a career in IT. The MAP program is designed to give students the basic knowledge and understanding of the Information Technology industry and the many pieces that work together to provide IT in various ways. Participants can gain Information Technology MAP Certification that signifies to a company the attainment of the competencies received (https://www.drradvocates.org/resources/).
3. Environmental Scan
Lakeshore foundation
This organization is mainly a rehabilitation and disability athlete training facility that specializes in PARA Olympic training and helping those who have had injuries get physical therapy and rehabilitation. The organization is directly involved in the training of Para Olympic medalists.
The Lakeshore Foundation is mainly an organization that helps the disabled community with physical activities and advocacy. The organization has resources that assist teachers and physical educators in adapting physical activities for youth of all ages and grade levels.
The Lakeshore Foundation has a history of helping the disabled community. I do not see any intersectionality where a particular demographic of disabled people are highlighted or acknowledged. The rehabilitation component of the organization also has varying offerings that support efforts for individuals to recover and maintain physical health.
The vision, mission, and values are as follows:
Vision: A world in which every person has the opportunity to achieve a healthy, active, independent life.
Mission: To provide opportunity for individuals with disability to live a healthy lifestyle through physical activity, research, advocacy and health promotion.
Values: Passion, Creating Opportunities, Integrity, Changing Expectations
The Lakeshore Foundation is a very detailed organization. It consists of a board of directors, an advisory council, junior board, executive leadership, and the staff. The senior leadership team consist of the president and CEO, the chief operation and financial officer, and the chief of development and strategic partnerships. The organization employees 111 people who only four are members of the disabled community.
A study conducted by a network of 9 cultural institutions in Denver using John Falk's Visitor Identity-Related Motivation Typology model to understand what motivates people to visit museums. The 5 motivation types in Falk's model are: explorers, facilitators, professional/hobbyists, experience seekers, and rechargers.
The study found that:
Different cultural institutions attracted different dominant motivation types. For example, rechargers were most common at the Denver Botanic Gardens while facilitators dominated at places like the Butterfly Pavilion and Children's Museum.
The Denver Zoo saw facilitators as the dominant motivation, with 63% of visitors surveyed identifying as wanting to spend quality time with family/friends or support the learning of others in their group.
The Denver Zoo has used the findings to shape staff training, marketing, free day programming, and its mobile app to better meet its primarily socially-motivated audience.
Overall, the model provided a useful lens for institutions to understand visitors and make more strategic decisions around programming, marketing, etc. It also gave institutions a shared vocabulary and approach to understanding visitors.
List of References
Hutchinson, N. G. (2001). Beyond ADA Compliance: Redefining Accessibility. American Libraries, 32(6), 76–78. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25645950
Kaufman-Scarborough, C., & Baker, S. M. (2005). Do People with Disabilities Believe the ADA Has Served Their Consumer Interests? The Journal of Consumer Affairs, 39(1), 1–26. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23860124
Trainer, L., Steele-Inama, M., & Christopher, A. (2012). Uncovering Visitor Identity: A Citywide Utilization of the Falk Visitor-Identity Model. The Journal of Museum Education, 37(1), 101–114. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41705813