Making Public Services Accessible and Employing People with Disabilities - Conference
The National Disability Authority (NDA) recently (27th June 2012) held a conference entitled Making public services accessible and employing people with disabilities at the Camden Court Hotel in Dublin on 27th June 2012.
The conference had two different themes for the morning and afternoon sessions, with the morning session focusing on accessible public services and the afternoon session focused on employment of people with disabilities in the public sector.
Some of the main outcomes from the morning session include:
- Since the introduction of the Disability Act 2005, the National Disability authority is looking at accessibility from a wider definition of Universal Design. Universal Design is defined as the design and composition of an environment so that it may be accessed, understood and used to the greatest practicable extent, in the most independent and natural manner possible, in the widest possible range of situations and without the need for adaptation, modification, assistive devices or specialised solutions, by persons of any age or size or having any particular physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual ability or disability.
- Public bodies have a legal requirement to incorporate accessibility in what they do. However, public bodies should look beyond the minimum requirements set out in legislation and be a model for best practice to the wider world, the private sector and the voluntary and community sector.
- The Guidelines for the Preparation of Customer Charters and Customer Action Plans were revised by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in 2011 to help organisations prepare / update their Customer Charters and Customer Action Plans. The revised guidelines address issues such as inclusive consultation processes, liaising with national disability organisations for advice, equality and diversity and physical access to public sector offices.
- The NDA has published an accessibility toolkit to assist public sector staff and this is available through their website.
- A recent survey entitled “National Survey of Public Attitudes to Disability in Ireland identified that the attitudes to people with disabilities as deteriorated in Ireland.
For further information on the conference click here.
