“Nothing About Us Without Us” – Inclusive Community Engagement

At the February meeting of the Southeast Michigan Communicators Network, we focused on community engagement from a couple different angles. We started with a robust discussion about virtual engagement using different platforms. This began with a presentation from Marianne Gamboa, Communications Director for the City of Birmingham. We look forward to providing more opportunities to hear from communities using various platforms in this group as more of life moves online.

After diving into some details on the pros and cons of different tools, the group shifted gears to a discussion of how we can work together to ensure that community engagement is inclusive of individuals who get often get left behind in conversations that lead to decisions.

“Nothing About Us Without Us” with PEAC

PEAC is an organization in Ypsilanti that advocates for transportation equity for Michiganders with disabilities. Led by founder and executive director John Waterman, the PEAC presentation team discussed their efforts to make public engagement more inclusive, with specific insights into the experiences of people with intellectual disabilities and cognitive impairments. PEAC’s presentation was based on findings from a study supported by the SEMCOG Planning Assistance Program. Read the Final Report to learn more.

PEAC is working to develop communication skills and tools that connect policymakers and individuals with cognitive impairments and/or autism. This is achieved by empowering and assisting individuals to advocate from themselves at public meetings, such as the Communicators Network meeting.

During our meeting, three PEAC program participants gave introductions and shared personal stories about their daily independent transportation challenges and needs. Presenters also shared insight on travel barriers in Southeast Michigan and how accommodation changes would improve their transportation mobility.

Program Participant, Amanda Salina, advocates for the maintenance of sidewalks and shared importance of clear sidewalks related to her safety, while traveling to work during icy and slippery conditions.

Program Participant, Taria Sims, advocates for lighting in dark paths, sidewalks options for pedestrians and during flooding/hazardous conditions or construction projects, ADA accessible detours that provide pathways for pedestrians.

Program Participant, Shawn Kohsman, discussed how safer bike lane spaces make a huge difference for his ride to work.

All of these personal narratives highlighted changes that can future benefit pedestrian travel.

Working to make local meetings more cognitively accessible

In a virtual environment, PEAC’s work with local governments and departments has heavily focused on making video conferencing more accessible to individuals with cognitive disabilities and/or autism. This support ensures that people with cognitive disabilities and/or autism are able to participate in the public process.

SEMCOG partners with PEAC to connect policy makers, government communicators, community relations officials, and others to have a discussion on transportation. We would like to thank PEAC for sharing their personal stories and for being a part of our Communicators Network meeting.

The following is an excerpt from “Nothing About Us Without Us“

As this project was primarily conducted virtually, our work with local governments and departments focused heavily on how to make video conferencing more accessible to individuals with cognitive disabilities and/or autism.

Captions: these tend to be one of the first things that individuals think of when they are trying to make their meetings accessible. It is very important to choose a platform that can automatically create live captions. People who have difficulty focusing, as well as individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing greatly benefit from being able to read what is happening during a meeting.

Introductions: It is also very important that everyone introduce themselves clearly at the beginning of the meeting and throughout. For individuals with cognitive disabilities, it can be very difficult to follow a conversation that is rapidly switching between individuals, especially if they are using a small screen, so simply stating your name before you speak can really help to slow things down and make the conversation more cognitively accessible.

Describing pictures and/or slides: Another focus was on getting policymakers and planners to actually describe what is happening on the screen. Many people were taught “not to read the PowerPoint” when making a presentation. However, for people who have difficulty reading or who are blind, this can create a barrier. Presenters should describe what they are showing on the screen, whether it’s an image or bullet points, in order to make sure that all participants are able to understand all aspects of the presentation. A good rule of thumb is to pretend that everyone is “calling in” to the meeting and unable to view the screen and then structure the presentation to accommodate that.

Breakout rooms: These are a great way to increase the cognitive accessibility of any meeting. Breakout rooms allow for a dynamic space to be created to allow for further explanation of topic or presentation as well create a space for one-on-one feedback to be provided, so that individuals with cognitive impairments can better communicate with the policymakers without being talked over by the group at large.

Dedicating support staff: Relate to the breakout room discussion, having certain staff dedicated to supporting those who need additional support at a virtual meeting is a must. If someone is clearly having difficulty following along or contributing an opinion, the designated “agent of access” can be ready to make a suggestion to the presenter about how they can speak in a more accessible way, create a breakout room, or add additional moderation to the chat.

Chat: Using this feature should be limited to what is absolutely necessary. Lots of chatting can be distracting to those who have attention deficit disorders or who are using screen readers. However, chat can also be an important tool for those who are unable or uncomfortable with speaking to the group, but are able to type and thus are now able to participate in the discussion.

Simple Language: Simple or plain language is clear, concise, organized, and appropriate for the intended audience. Key elements of this include stating your major point first before going into details, using everyday words or explaining technical terms the first time they are referred to, and use headings, lists, and tables to make reading easier.

Thank you to all those who added to the dialog at the Communicators Network meeting on February 16. Register now to join our next meeting on April 26.