I spent 15 minutes early one morning last week talking to IT professionals in Moldova about how accessibility online makes the world a better place for everyone. The opportunity came about thanks to a colleague I worked with at the United Nations who now works for the Swedish Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Moldova. It was part of an initiative her government, and USAID, supported in Moldova regarding Diversitate, Echitate și Incluziune în comunitatea IT (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the IT community), an initiative of Tekwill, organized by Startup Moldova and in partnership with Izarra, TechWomen Moldova and the Moldovan Association of Information and Communications Technology Companies.
Evenimentul reunește antreprenori locali pentru a încuraja și abilita participanții să-și împărtășească ideile fără limite sau frica de a fi judecați dar și să manifeste mai multă atenție privind respectarea normelor și etichetei culturale din regiune – credințe, convingeri, ținută sau obiceiuri.
The event brings together local entrepreneurs to encourage and empower participants to share their ideas without limits or fear of being judged but also to pay more attention to respecting the rules and cultural etiquette of the region – beliefs, beliefs, dress or customs.
Located in the heart of the Technical University of Moldova (UTM), “Tekwill is a 4,000m² hub that has everything one would ever need for ongoing growth, from co-working spaces, tech labs (IoT, 3D printing) and community events.”
Tekwill is built on the belief that to be competitive economically in the years to come, Moldovan startups and innovators must begin adopting and creating industry-disrupting technology today. Therefore, this message was coded into our name; “Tek” – for technology and “will” – for our future. The organization regularly gathers local and international tech leaders to empower the development of Moldova’s startup ecosystem by facilitating results-oriented innovation and collaboration.
I’m very partial to Moldova, having met some wonderful young Moldavians in 2019 hosted by World Oregon (I did a workshop on countering misinformation online). I have always found a very electrifying entrepreneurial, optimistic spirit among young Eastern Europeans, particularly from Moldova, Ukraine and Poland – people ready to innovate, to include, to explore and to create. I so long for the days when we can travel again so we call meet up face-to-face again!
One of the many things I’m proud of in The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook, is that it features an entire chapter on accessibility and diversity. I’ve been advocating for accessibility online since 1994 – and I’m going to keep doing it!
If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site or my YouTube videos and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.
I’m an advocate for accessibility on the World Wide Web. I’m not a web designer, but I am a human, and just as I want every person to be able to easily enter a public building and see a movie, get a passport, buy a meal, enjoy artwork, get medical care, complain to the management, etc., I want every person to be able to access the critical information and services they need via the Internet. Accessibility isn’t just nice to do in a web site design – it’s a sign of respect. It’s a human right. And a site that doesn’t try to be accessible is, to me, a sign of profound disrespect.
Just how distressing and painful an inaccessible web site can be was brought home for me recently: an elderly neighbor needed to put her sweet, beloved 12-year-old dog down. She was heartbroken. It was important to her for this procedure to be done in her own home, so she could be there at the moment of his death – something she couldn’t do in a vet’s office because of COVID-19 precautions. She booked an appointment through a company that specializes in euthanasia for pets at home via phone. Then she went online to pay. Her only Internet access is through her Android phone. She went through the very lengthy online form four times, and four times, she got to the end and there was a frowny face and the words, “Show you are human.” She didn’t understand what it meant. She clicked everywhere she could think of, hit return over and over and, each time, would have to go back and start all over. She was in tears by the time she texted me, begging for help.
I had to make the appointment for her on my Apple laptop, and I was confused by the form several times – it often wasn’t clear which field box went with which field box description. When I got to the end of the form, I was presented with a captcha – that’s what wasn’t working on her smartphone when she was trying to pay. By the end of the process, we were both even more stressed out – we had wanted to focus that day on saying goodbye to a beloved friend, and instead, we were both emotionally drained by an inaccessble web site.
How many older people have been in the same position because of an inaccessible web site? How many people have been urgently trying to make an appointment, pay a bill, get critically-needed information, and have been frustrated and even demoralized by an inaccessible web site? How many web sites have literally made people cry?
If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site or my YouTube videos and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.
A web site for any company based in the USA that is inaccessible to visitors with visual, auditory, or other disabilities may violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), according to a recent federal appeals court decision in Robles v. Domino’s Pizza. This decision includes nonprofits’ websites, according to “Ninth Circuit Ruling Bolsters ADA Website Accessibility Suits: Risks for Nonprofits,” by DC-based law firm Venable.
But just as important as the legal aspects, a web site that is not designed to be accessible for people with disabilities – people who use verbal screen readers, people who use screen magnifiers, people with mobility issues that use assistive tech and cannot use a mouse, etc. – locks out potential customers, clients, employees, volunteers, donors, and other supporters. People with disabilities in the USA comprise more than 19 percent of the people living in the country, an even larger percentage than Hispanics and Latinos, who are the largest ethnic, racial or cultural minority group in the USA, making up 15 percent of the population. Law or no law, can any nonprofit really afford to leave out so many, many people?
71% of people with disabilities leave a website immediately if it is not accessible, according to 2017 research conducted by the governance committee of Section508.gov in the USA, as quoted on this 3playmedia website.
The population that needs accessible web sites includes people who don’t identify as people with disabilities. People who wear glasses, for instance. I wear reading glasses and have started using the accessibility feature on my laptop and phone that automatically makes text large – but it doesn’t work with a web site that isn’t designed to be responsive to such settings.
You don’t have to be a professional web designer or developer to produce a basic, content-rich web site. You don’t have to be a professional web designer to produce a web site that’s easy to navigate. You don’t have to know most web design and development terms to produce a web site, like HTML, CSS, Java, ARIA, and on and on.
And that’s been wonderful for many nonprofits, NGOs, charities and other mission-based organizations, as well as small, independent artists like musicians, dancers, singers, poets, sculptors, theater troops, photographers and on and on, as most can never afford to pay a professional web designer or developer.
But you do have to involve a professional web designer or developer if you want a web site to have certain advanced features. And you do have to involve a professional web designer or developer if you want your web site to be fully accessible for all users and all devices (mobile phones, tablets, the voice reader in your car, etc.).
That means, for the vast majority of nonprofits, NGOs, charities and other mission-based organizations, as well as for the vast majority of artists, they cannot have fully accessible web sites for all users, because they will never be able to afford to pay a professional web designer or developer.
That means many people with disabilities who want to donate to, volunteer to, or just learn about a small vast majority of nonprofits, NGOs, charities and other mission-based organizations, can’t do any of these things via these programs’ inaccessible web sites. That means many people with disabilities that want to buy a ticket to an upcoming event, to find out where to purchase a CD or poster or book or whatever, to attend a conference about a cause they care about, can’t do any of those things.
A study from 2019 by the nonprofit RespectAbility found that most foundations and nonprofits aren’t doing enough – if anything – to enable people with disabilities to have the access and accommodations they need to fully participate in the work these organizations are doing – not as program participants, as volunteers, even as donors. The study included a review of nonprofits’ websites and online videos. “Philanthropy-serving organizations don’t know what they don’t know and often haven’t even thought about including people with disabilities,” said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, president of RespectAbility. “Even among well-meaning groups who are engaged in a lot on racial and gender equity overall, disability is missing.”
What do we do about nonprofits not being able to afford fully accessible web sites? Anything?
The only program I know of that tries to address nonprofits that want accessible web sites, that tries to help small nonprofits, NGOs, charities and other mission-based organizations to have an accessible web site, as well as artists – just three to 25 organizations at a time – is the Accessibility Internet Rally, a virtual volunteering and web design/development training event by the nonprofit Knowbility. Otherwise… there’s nothing that I know of that is working to educate nonprofits, charities and other small mission-based organizations about digital accessibility – nor educating corporate donors and foundations about why they should fund such.
Are associations of nonprofit organizations going to explore how to address the inaccessibility of web sites for theater companies, dance troops, homeless shelters, nonprofits helping kids explore science, etc.? Are associations of museums, animal shelters, rural arts organizations, and other specific kinds of nonprofits going to at least discuss this?
Are companies that provide ready-to-use, customizable website templates and drag-and-drop web development platforms/web hosts like WordPress, Weebly, Wix, Square Space, Webflow and Jimdo going to address this, other than having a page on their sites that talk a bit about alt-text? (February 4 update: here is an excellent review of some of these sites regarding whether they are capable of creating accessible websites – spoiler alert: they aren’t).
Are companies and foundations that give money to nonprofits going to quit refusing to fund overhead – and, in fact, give special, additional gifts so that nonprofits can hire professional web site designers and developers to build accessible web sites?
Should associations like the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP), G3ict and/or the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) try to address this – or at least discuss it?
Or do we keep telling people with disabilities that want to donate, volunteer and otherwise support or be involved with nonprofits and artists, “Tough luck, they can’t afford to be accessible to you”?
I have no answers to these questions… if you have ideas or comments, I’d love to hear them. I have asked this question on Quora and my own Facebook page and ended up mostly with recommendations for techniques about how to make a website more accessible, rather than answers to how we elevate this as a priority at mission-based organizations.
In the meantime, if you need to make the business case to your board of directors for fundraising so that you can afford to pay a web site designer with accessibility training to build and maintain your site, here are some resources that can help:
And if you want to encourage your web manager, whoever that person is, part-time, full-time, volunteer, whatever: the government of the State of Illinois provides Implementation Guidelines for Web-Based Information and Applications (formerly Illinois Web Accessibility Standards) and, as a non-web site designer, I find it easier to understand than most other guidelines out there. These guidelines are good to ask your web site designer and manager – no matter that person’s web design skill level, to follow. These guidelines from the state of Illinois also provide links to resources from other organizations:
Knowbility has done a few webinars with TechSoup about accessibility for nonprofit organization’s websites and they are available free online on TechSoup. The most recent was this webinar with Knowbility Executive Director and myself in August 2017. This is a good video for anyone who manages your organization’s website, particularly the non-webmaster webmaster – the person who doesn’t have much training in web design but does have the responsibility to update the site.
It might be out of your nonprofit’s price range, but Knowbility also offers several online courses and onsite (Austin, Texas) training events that can raise the skill levels of your web site master regarding accessibility – they are worth looking into if you are looking for training for the person who manages your web site.
January 28, 2020 update: I encourage EVERY company, not just businesses but also nonprofits and NGOs, no matter your business or mission, to take the 2020 State of Digital Accessibility Survey from IAAP, G3ict and Level Access. For nonprofits and NGOs – choose “foundations & charities” as your org type. If you don’t have an accessibility program, don’t have an inclusion strategy, you should still take this survey – because we need to show that such strategies are NOT widespread (and that they should be!).
January 30, 2020 update: There are various web hosts that have ready-to-use templates that say things like “If your website is hosted with us or you are looking to switch to our nonprofit content management system (CMS), we can add an accessibility widget to make your website more accessible. Our widget will allow visitors to easily adjust settings on your website to meet their unique needs.” Among web accessibility experts, add-on accessibility toolbars are referred to as “toolbar overlays.” I asked a website accessibility expert about this and this was his response: “accessibility overlays are a scam and a lie and do not fix the actual problems” and then he linked to this article from Karl Groves and this website, overlaysdontwork.com. I also found this blog that begins: “Thinking about using one of those plugins or widgets that puts an accessibility toolbar on your website? This article will make you think again… What’s ironic is many of the toolbar companies tout the ‘We won’t touch your website code’ line as a selling point when, in fact, this is what buyers should want and expect.
If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, etc. (I receive no funding for this work), here is how you can help.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) created a web site for the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) initiative called the UNDP-UNV Talent Programme for Young Professionals with Disabilities. It’s a program to recruit people with disabilities to serve as UN Volunteers. Its web site opens with this:
UNDP and UNV commit to leaving no one behind. As part of this commitment, the Talent Programme promotes the inclusion of persons with disabilities into our workplace. The Talent Programme also aims to build a talent pipeline of highly qualified professionals with disabilities who can contribute to the development sector, and to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at national and global levels.
In addition to the grammar problem in the first sentence, the UNDP web site for this initiative leaves lots of people behind: the web site is not accessible for people with disabilities. The web site does not meet even basic accessibility standards as outlined by numerous organizations, including the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The UN General Assembly has designated the Department of Global Communications as the focal point for web accessibility in the United Nations, and this UN web site talks about the UN’s commitment to online accessibility – which, unfortunately, UNV and UNDP haven’t followed for their initiative specifically focused on people with disabilities. How can an initiative that says it promotes the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the workplace exclude those same persons online? As someone who has worked for the UN, I know the answer to this question, but shall save that for another time…
Highly qualified professionals with disabilities absolutely can contribute to the development sector and to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at national and international levels. In fact, they do already – if you don’t know that, you truly are not paying attention.
I have worked with highly-skilled people with a variety of disabilities – as employees, consultants and volunteers, online and face-to-face serving as web masters, editors, researchers, designers and more. It’s not unusual for me to find out someone I’ve been working with for weeks or months is, in fact, legally blind, or deaf, or is a person with limited mobility. We meet regarding what they CAN do, not what they cannot, and I’ve benefitted greatly, personally and professionally, from their expertise and talent.
I emailed representatives of UNV and UNDP in early December, saying pretty much the same thing I’ve just blogged, and I tweeted to UNDP and UNV as well. In my post, I also recommend to UNV and UNDP the nonprofit organization Knowbility to help their web designers and developers to fix this dire accessibility issue on the web site.
I got a reply via email on December 11th from “Erik on behalf of the UNDP-UNV Talent Programme for Young Professionals with Disabilities”:
Thank you very much for your feedback. We are aware of the limitations of the websites and currently have teams working on projects that are focused on making them user-friendly and compliant with accessibility standards. Since we launched this initiative, we have been able to reach a wide range of persons with disabilities as evidenced by increased numbers of candidates registered and of applications. We also provide the option to reach out to us in person in case specific assistance or concerns are needed in the application process. As we are a continuously learning organization, our goal is to strive for a fully inclusive working environment and take every opportunity to improve. We appreciate your patience and understanding. Please let us know if we can further assist you in navigating the site.
So, in other words, they mean to say: the site is working just fine, people are applying for this program, people who can’t navigate our website can just email us and we’ll help them with the process, and being a “continuously learning organization”, we can’t be faulted for not having an accessible web site for people with disabilities for a program designed especially for people with disabilities at the get-go. Don’t bother us.
I really hope that UNV and UNDP will realize how bad this makes the agency and this program look, and choose to RAPIDLY remedy this situation regarding the accessibility of their web site for a program meant to increase inclusion of professionals with disabilities. They made a mistake – no excuses. Let’s hope UNV and UNDP not only fix this web site, but make a future commitment to digital inclusion in all of their web sites – especially those that are supposed to cater specifically to people with disabilities.
If you would like to let UNV and UNDP know what you think of the site and their response, I urge you to email these four addresses:
– You are available to be in Austin, Texas, USA May 15-17, 2019 for AccessU
– You are a skilled practitioner in the field of web and app accessibility
– You are a great teacher
– You want to share practical skills that make the web and other online tools better for everyone
– You find it incredibly difficult to say no to fun
AccessU is the time of year where some of the most amazing instructors in this field get to roll up their sleeves, let their hair loose (here’s lookin’ at you, Denis Boudreau), and dive in as they share their expertise in a hands-on, practical training environment. In addition to valuable networking opportunities and free breakfasts/lunches each day, AccessU instructors receive a complimentary conference badge for Knowbility’s 2.5 day conference from Wednesday, May 15 to Friday, May 17, 2019.
Proposal notifications will be sent by email for each submission no later than February 10, 2019 at 11:59pm CST.
Just want to attend AccessU and soak up the knowledge? Get 2019 tickets at 2018 prices. Sale ends on December 31, 2018, or once the limited seats are gone (only 50 of each ticket type!). Ticket information and pricing at the AccessU web site.
Join experts from Knowbility to learn how accessibility will expand your pool of potential clients, donors, volunteers, staff and other supporters, the message your organization sends when it commits to accessible web site and multi-media materials, and, no-cost practical tips on how you can immediately improve your website’s accessibility. This webinar will help your nonprofit, school, church, or library ensure that its website, podcasts and videos are accessible to anyone who visits such, including people with disabilities and people using assistive technologies.
We’ll cover:
Why online accessibility is critical and how to become an advocate for such within your organization
Steps for simple, immediate, no-cost activities you can do to improve your web site accessibility
Resources to help tech staff and volunteers make your site fully accessible, adhering to federal requirements
Information about OpenAIR – Accessibility Internet Rally
World Tourism Day is September 27 each year, as designated by the United Nations General Assembly, and is meant to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value. The celebration also seeks to highlight tourism’s potential to contribute to reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), addressing some of the most pressing challenges society is faced with today. The lead agency for the day is the UN World Tourism Organization, and the theme of this year’s World Tourism Day is “Promoting Universal Accessibility.”
Accessible Tourism for all is about the creation of environments that can cater for the needs of all of us, whether whether we are traveling or staying at home. May that be due to a disability, even temporary, families with small children, or the ageing population, at some point in our lives, sooner or later, we all benefit of universal accessibility in tourism.
Which is why we want to call upon the right for all of the world’s citizens to experience the incredible diversity of our planet and the beauty of the world we live in.
Tourist information needs to be designed based on the principles of Universal Design in order to maximise its ease of use by as many people as possible and in varied environmental conditions and situations. This applies equally to print media, graphics and digital communication formats. No one should be excluded from participating in tourism activities because of poorly designed information tools and systems, as this also implies being excluded from the opportunity of living an independent life.
I am SO pleased to see this emphasis from a United Nations agency! Accessible design for web sites and smart phone apps is a very, very big deal with me – and if you need help with accessible design, there’s no better place to look than the Austin, Texas-based nonprofit Knowbility!
And in case you are wondering why I care so much about this particular day: I’m an avid traveler. I want to use my privilege to see different parts of the world, whether that’s something around the globe from me or in the next county. Travel gives me hope in humanity, because of the incredible kindness I experience. Travel gives me a sense of wonder, because of the incredible natural beauty and human-made marvels I see. Travel gives me a sense of brotherhood with all humans, because of the various representations of history I encounter. I want all people to get to experience this, particularly women. And the economic benefits to local communities regarding tourism are real and something I very much want to support.
Also see Adventure tourism as a tool for economic & community development by me! This is a resource for those that like to explore developing countries / low infrastructure environments, as well as offering more about why I make travel a priority in my life.
That chapter, and the entire book, provide detailed advice regarding:
the benefits of having online volunteers representing a variety of socio-economic levels, neighborhoods, ages, cultures and other demographics
the benefits of accommodating a diversity of volunteers (an accommodation you make for one particular group often ends up benefiting ALL volunteers)
how to use language in such a way as to accommodate and welcome a variety of volunteers
how to adapt online tools to accommodate different online volunteers, including those that may have physical disabilities
how to accommodate online volunteers with learning and emotional disabilities
how to recruit for diversity; and
how to track progress regarding diversity among online volunteer ranks.
The chapter on accessibility and diversity is referenced throughout The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook , because Susan and I did not want anyone thinking it was a chapter to take or leave.
I became an advocate for accessibility and diversity in volunteering and in computer and Internet use in October 1994 when I attended the annual meeting of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility at UC San Diego. There was a panel discussion called “The Meanings of Access,” and remarks during that talk, particularly by Deborah Kaplan, then of the World Institute on Disability, changed my life forever. I came to a realization of two things I’d never had before: accessibility is a human right, and accessibility brings me in contact with awesome people I would never meet or work with otherwise. I became an advocate right then and there.
In 1997, I got funding from the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation for the Virtual Volunteering Project to explore how to make online volunteering as accessible as possible, and that same year, blew my mouth off at a conference in Austin, Texas about how disappointed I was that the panelists I’d just listened to, talking about the digital divide, never once mentioned people with disabilities, resulting in one of the greatest personal and professional relationships of my life, with Sharron Rush, who was also in the audience and later formed Knowbility, a nonprofit that promotes accessibility in technology tools and technology careers.
In 2008, I read “InVolving LGBT Volunteers,” published by The Consortium of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered voluntary and community organisations, based in London, the United Kingdom, and that solidified my understanding that making accessibility and diversity a priority in any program is about benefits for everyone in that program, not just people with disabilities or people who are from minority or under-represented groups. This publication is referenced in The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook, and remains one I return to frequently when preparing lectures or workshops about volunteer recruitment.
I have tried to put into practice all that I’ve heard about regarding virtual volunteering, including accommodations for a variety of people as volunteers and recruiting specifically to create a diverse volunteer pool. I won’t say I’m always successful, and I won’t say trying the methods we promote in the book is always easy, but I will say that it’s made my work experience oh-so-much richer and interesting, and it’s always been worth trying.
Here are two questions regarding volunteer engagement I am seeing a lot through various channels… but not seeing many answers to:
Where can young children – children under 13, even as young as 6 – volunteer? What kinds of activities can they do and exactly where can they do these?
and
Where can people with diminishing mental abilities, or with mental disabilities, volunteer? What kinds of activities can they do and exactly where can they do these?
The first set of questions come from parents, as well as children under 13, on various online discussion groups, like YahooAnswers.
The second set of questions come primarily from volunteer managers – from those in charge of recruiting and involving volunteers at an organization – and are often the result of a long-time, beloved volunteer becoming less and less capable of helping, and requiring so much supervision and assistance that the organization feels the benefits of involving the volunteer are far below the costs. Or, that volunteer becoming verbally abusive, or saying inappropriate things to other volunteers, as a result of their diminished mental capabilities. But I’ve also seen the question asked by siblings, parents and other caretakers of people with mental disabilities.
I’m very disappointed not to see organizations that are supposed to have the promotion of volunteerism as the central focus of their mandate jumping in to answer these questions. Where are you, Points of Light Foundation? Hands On Network? Why aren’t you out there on various online fora, such as YahooAnswers, addressing these tough questions about volunteering?
Anyway…
I’m not at equating children and people with diminished mental capacities. These are two VERY different groups. But they do have one thing in common: they require much more planning, support and staff time to involve than adult volunteers. Hence why I’m discussing these two groups at once here in this blog.
The reality is that it’s more efficient, economical and immediately beneficial for most nonprofit organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and charities to involve adult individual volunteers who can successfully complete a project, from start to finish, with minimum supervision. Also, most organizations do not have the money, staff, time and other resources to create volunteering opportunities focused primarily on fulfilling the needs of various types of volunteers, rather than creating volunteering activities that are focused primarily on fulfilling the needs of an organization (I’ve said this about microvolunteering as well!). For most organizations, volunteer engagement is primarily about fulfilling the organization’s mission, not fulfilling the wishes of volunteers.
If you think nonprofits, NGOs, charities and others should involve everyone who wants to volunteer, no matter the volunteers’ ages or abilities, then consider this: no matter what your job is, no matter what sector you work in (for-profit, government, nonprofit, whatever), could YOU come up with a safe, fun, meaningful hour-long activity for a 10 year old child to do in your office twice a week, or a two-hour weekly activity for a dozen 10 year olds to do in your office, and do you have time to supervise that child or those children during that activity? What about creating similar activities for someone who has severe short-term memory loss? If you could not do it in your own job at such-and-such corporation, why do you expect nonprofit organizations to do so?
Just as creating one-time, short-term group volunteering activities for adults is difficult, creating volunteering opportunities for children, or for people with diminished or diminishing mental abilities, is also difficult. Should a nonprofit, NGO or charity be spending time and resources to involve these groups? In some circumstances, yes.
First, think carefully about what is in it for you, the organization or program, to create opportunities for either of these groups. What benefit are you looking for?:
measurable results regarding participant or community awareness of a particular issue, program or your organization. Could the volunteering activity help children understand a particular issue? Could the activity help parents or family issues understand the issue more fully?
cultivation of donors who would be interested in funding this part of your organization’s program. The staff time to create opportunities and support these volunteers, the materials needed by volunteers, etc. all need funding. Are there foundations, corporate philanthropy programs, government agencies or individual donors who would be attracted to funding the resources required?
activities that fulfill your organization’s mission. The volunteering experience results in activities that reach part of your organization’s mission. For instance, if you work with seniors, particularly those with diminished mental faculties, then involving these seniors as volunteers would be a part of your mission. If your organization is focused on children under 13, then involving those children as volunteers would be a part of your mission.
I wrote a page on creating one-time, short-term group volunteering activities, and it includes a long list of activity suggestions. Some of those could be adapted as volunteering activities for children, or for people with very limited mental capacities – but not all of them. And to be honest, I’m stumped on creating voluntering activities for either of these groups.
Not every organization is going to be able to address any of those three bullet points – and, therefore, is not going to be in a position to create volunteering opportunities for either of these special needs groups. What I advise those organizations to do:
For those that ask about volunteers with diminished mental capacities – for instance, an organization that finds a long-term volunteer can no longer undertake any of the volunteering opportunities at the organization, could a placement be found elsewhere? Is there a community theater that could involve him or her to hand out programs before a performance? Could the volunteer help serve refreshments at an event – just putting cups filled with a liquid, not doing any of the fillings of the cups him or herself? And does the family of this person understand that a family member will have to be with the volunteer at all times? Or is there an organization in your community that helps people with diminishing mental capacities that you could introduce the volunteer to, that could give that person meaningful activities to engage in – like going to community events in a group? Does this volunteer attend events by a community of faith (a church, temple, mosque, etc.), and could that community be called on to help in this situation?
What other advice do you have for parents seeking volunteering activities for young children, or nonprofit organizations that are going to have to let a volunteer go because of diminished mental capabilities? Leave your answers in the comments. What I’m particularly interested in: how did you go about letting a long-time volunteer go that you had to let go because of his or her diminished mental capabilties, and what did you learn from that expereince that you would like to share with others?
Captioning a video, or offering a transcription of a video or podcast, should be a priority for your organization.
Why?
Many people that don’t have time to watch that video or listen to that podcast DO have time to read the transcript.
Many people are in an environment that would not allow them to listen to a podcast or online video (their surroundings are too loud, they would disturb people around them, they can’t use headphones or ear buds for some reason, etc.).
Many people want to quote from a video or podcast in something they are writing (and if that’s online, that quote will often link back to the original broadcast).
A person may just need very specific information, and a text search makes that information oh-so-easy to find.
Some people prefer reading to listening or watching (I’m one of those people); they are much more likely to access your information in text form than a video or audio.
And, of course, so people with hearing impairments can access the information.
In short, you greatly increase the number of audience members for a video or podcast, reaching more potential donors, volunteers, clients and others, by captioning a video or offering a transcription of a video or podcast.
At minimum,
Any video or audio training materials you have should be captioned and/or transcribed.
All PSAs you want to be distributed widely should be captioned and/or transcribed.
Videos and podcasts that are part of your service delivery should be captioned and/or transcribed.
Think you don’t have the resources to caption or transcribe a video or podcast? You do: volunteers. There are online volunteers who would love to transcribe your audios and videos. These volunteers may have speech recognition/voice recognition software that they can use to convert spoken words to text, or they may be willing to listen and type. Either way, you will want volunteers checking up on other volunteers’ transcriptions and captioning, to ensure information is rendered correctly.
Keep such volunteer transcribing assignments small: you might have trouble finding a volunteer to transcribe a two-hour-long panel discussion, but it might be much easier to find someone to transcribe just a 10 minute excerpt. If a video or podcast is particularly long, you could divide the transcribing or captioning job up among several volunteers. You might even be able to find a volunteer who would happily lead up the entire project for your organization – leadership volunteering opportunities are highly sought by many people these days!
Recruit these volunteers from among your existing volunteers and their networks, via your web site, via VolunteerMatch and AllforGood if you are in the USA, Idealist and whatever resources are available in your country, or, if you are in a developing country or your NGO or nonprofit is focused on such: the UN’s Online Volunteering service.
December 21, 2017 update: I recently created a five-minute pitch video for the OpenAIR hackathon – the Accessibility Internet Rally – for Knowbility, a nonprofit based in Austin, Texas (I’m in Portland, Oregon). I also used the YouTube captioning tool for the first time ever – I couldn’t believe how easy it was! If I can figure it out, anyone can – including online volunteers you might recruit to caption all of the videos your nonprofit has on YouTube already.
A reminder yet again that The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook provides detailed advice on creating assignments for online volunteers and for working with online volunteers, including volunteers that are going to transcribe or correct the transcriptions of your videos or podcasts. The book also has detailed guidance for using the Internet to support and involve ALL volunteers, including volunteers that provide service onsite, for ensuring success in virtual volunteering, and for using the Internet to build awareness and support for all volunteering at your program. Tech tools come and go, but certain community engagement principles never change, and those principles are detailed in this comprehensive guide. You will not find a more detailed guide anywhere for working with online volunteers and using the Internet to support and involve all volunteers. It’s co-written by myself and Susan Ellis.
Tags: volunteering, volunteers, community, engagement, volunteerism, volunteering, online, micro, microvolunteering, virtual
Knowbility’s
