A Day in the Sun - Thunder Media Group & Accessibility

Dear Thunder Customers & Friends,

Our "Day in the Sun" profile this month is very special and one that most I'm sure don't think about when talking about the World Wide Web.

We want to use this months feature to talk about "accessibility" and the Internet. More specifically, Web accessibility which means people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate and interact with the Web, and that they can contribute to the Web. Web accessibility also benefits others, including older people with changing abilities due to aging. Imagine what would happen if you couldn't use a mouse, couldn't hear a video, couldn't see text and graphics or couldn't focus what was on a page?

That's just a snapshot of the issues disabled Web users face, and they are one reason why it is essential to make a website accessible. Disabled users who find it difficult to access a site's content may shift allegiance to a more accessible site. But in addition to being inclusive and good practice, there are also legal reasons why it is essential to design a website with accessibility in mind. In it's first of a kind trial in June of 2017 Winn-Dixie lost a suit from a blind man who under the ADA said he was not able to access their website. The factual findings demonstrated that "Winn-Dixie's website is inaccessible to visually impaired individuals who must use screen reader software. Therefore, Winn-Dixie has violated the ADA because the inaccessibility of its website denied him the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages or accommodations that Winn-Dixie offers to its sighted customers." The court decision required Winn-Dixie to update their website.

We know not everyone is rushing out to do this YET, however it is slowly making its way to every size business, which in a way, we really should be thinking about Web accessibility by default.

Here comes our "Day in the Sun" feature customer, Partners for Youth with Disabilities (PYD) from Boston, Massachusetts. Thunder has had the privilege of working hand in hand with PYD over the last 7 years fine tuning it's relationship and Web accessibility. We most recently participated together in the OpenAir Web Accessibility Challenge, organized by an Austin, Texas based nonprofit organization. OpenAir is a global Web accessibility challenge that pairs nonprofits and Web developers like ourselves to create or improve the nonprofits website. OpenAir increases awareness of tools and techniques that make Internet accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities by training professionals and web developers and designers in accessibility standards. We just completed our first ever 6 week challenge, submitting our new accessible PYD website to the OpenAir judging committee. Sometime in May the OpenAir judges will announce a winner.

The new accessible PYD website has not been launched yet, however, we anticipate being able to do so in the next few weeks which at that time we will share it with you! If you would like to discuss accessibility and your website, please let me know and we can schedule a time to talk!

Thank you as always and we hope you find this featured segment informative and beneficial!

Sincerely,
Stephanie Frank, President
Thunder Media Group, Inc.

Partners for Youth with Disabilities (PYD) was founded in 1985 by Regina Snowden as a one-to-one mentoring program for youth with disabilities. At the time, mentoring was gaining prominence as a key intervention for bolstering life outcomes in at-risk youth, yet youth with disabilities were being systemically excluded from ongoing programs. In PYD’s first year, Regina matched 9 youth with disabilities with adults with a similar disability—and the demand for PYD’s services skyrocketed from there. Over the intervening 33 years, PYD has grown from this humble beginning to an array of award-winning programs that serves over 400 youth with disabilities and trains over 1,200 youth workers every year.

PYD’s mission is to create a world where young adults with disabilities will be able to live with dignity and pride in who they are, and to lead self-determined lives filled with purpose.

PATHWAYS TO INCLUSION

PYD offers a comprehensive e-learning platform that allows you to learn about disability inclusion at your own pace!

The platform includes a disability inclusion self-assessment, online courses, monthly webinars, and networking opportunities with other youth program and workers. Each course takes around 60-90 minutes to complete.

CAMPUS CAREER CONNECT

The PYD eMentoring Platform is fully inclusive online mentoring platform designed by Partners for Youth with Disabilities and Thunder Media. It is available for use by organizations that would like an accessible, online platform to host their mentoring programming.

Initially designed for use by students with disabilities at the University of California, Berkeley, the site features all the important aspects of an e-mentoring platform--private messaging, chat, community forums--with the ability to customize it and add additional features.