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Financial Incentives

Tax Incentives for Businesses that Improve Accessibility.  Two tax incentives are available to businesses to help cover the cost of making improvements that allow access by people with disabilities. The first is a tax credit up to $5,000 that can be used for architectural changes, equipment purchases, and services such as sign language interpreters.  The second is a tax deduction up to $15,000 that can be used for architectural or transportation adaptations.   The tax credit and deduction can be used in combination by small businesses to cover a wide variety of expenditures, including:

• Providing screen-readers for customers or employees with visual disabilities
• Hiring sign language interpreters
• Buying of adaptive equipment
• Producing materials in accessible formats such as Braille, large print, or audio tape
• Removing of architectural barriers in compliance with applicable accessibility standards
• Fees for consulting services (under certain circumstances)
• Removing of architectural barriers in existing structures or
• Removing barriers to transportation access

For more information on-line, link to the PDF version of the full tax incentive packet

Resources for Employers

U.S. Department of Justice. To read the actual text of the Americans with Disabilities Act and find publications on responsibilities and rights under the ADA, go to the ADA Home Page.  For specific resources relating to businesses, check out the ADA Business Connection

U.S. Department of Labor.  For a comprehensive list of resources, links, and publications on a range of subjects from 'Marketing to People with Disabilities' to workplace accommodation laws, go to the Office of Disability Employment Policy home page.  Office of Disability Employment Policy encourages employers and employees to access  www.DisabilityInfo.gov , a cross-government portal on disability.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunities Commission is the organization tasked with enforcing Title I of the ADA.  Information about disability and other equal employment issues can be found at their web site: www.eeoc.gov.  A great guide to employers’ responsibilities under Title I of the ADA is The ADA: Your Responsibilities as an Employer.

The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) is a toll-free information and referral service on job accommodations for people with disabilities located at 1-800-526-7234 or at www.jan.wvu.edu. 

Vocational Rehabilitation offices
            For New Hampshire: http://www.ed.state.nh.us/VR
            For Vermont: http://www.vocrehabvermont.org

Governor's Commissions on Disability
For New Hampshire: http://webster.state.nh.us/disability
For Vermont: http://www.hireus.org

Simple Accommodations for Employees.  Many employers are open to hiring workers with disabilities, but aren't sure where to start. Simple changes can make workplaces more accommodating to workers of all abilities. Whether they realize it or not, most companies already have people with disabilities on staff. The Community Inclusion website can help employers diversify their workforce.

An overview of what employers can and cannot ask job applicants.  For all job applicants, employers must comply with specific aspects of the Americans with Disabilities Act in their application, interviewing and other pre-employment procedures. 
Pre Employment Inquiries and the ADA.

The Employer Assistance Referral Network (EARN) is a national toll-free telephone and electronic information referral service designed to assist employers in locating and recruiting qualified workers with disabilities. EARN can be reached at 1-866-Earn Now (1-866-327-6669) or via its Website: www.earnworks.com 

Financial Incentives for Hiring People with Disabilities.  The Work Opportunity Tax Credit is available to employers for hiring individuals from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Employers can receive a tax credit of up to $2,400 per individual hired. Many people with disabilities meet the criteria for WOTC, including all recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and all clients of state vocational rehabilitation agencies.  If a person with a disability is a recipient of Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) at the time of hire, the employer can receive a Welfare-to-Work Tax Credit for up $8,500 per individual hired. Additional information on these tax credits can be obtained from the U.S. Department of Labor.  Explanations of the tax benefits can be found in the Tax Incentives Fact sheet.

RECOURSE UNDER THE ADA
One of the basic rights of an individual under the ADA is to file a claim of discrimination 
based upon disability. Inquiring about medical history before a conditional job offer or 
screening out a person because of a disability may be considered discrimination. 
Information about filing a claim can be found by calling JAN or at the website: 
http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/howtofil.html  

ADA Resources

U.S. Department of Justice. To read the actual text of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or to find fact sheets, FAQs and other information, go to the ADA Home Page. 

The New England ADA & Accessible IT Center.  The New England Center is one of ten regional Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers.  Regional centers are responsible for technical assistance, training, public awareness and dissemination of federally approved materials on the ADA.  In 2001, these responsibilities expanded to include providing those same services in the area of accessible information technology.  This includes building accessible web pages, assuring that distance learning programs are accessible and assuring that technology purchases are those which are best able to work with assistive devices used by people with disabilities.  You can find our more at the New England Center website.  Read answers to frequently asked questions about the ADA.

The Access Board provides technical assistance on complying with the ADA.  Their web site has the illustrated, full text of the ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities (ADAAG).

Adaptive Environments.  Find a list of resources at Adaptive Environments.  This link will open a new browser window that comprises a nation-wide infrastructure to support voluntary compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

FAQs.  Read answers to frequently asked questions about the ADA.

Accessibility Guidance

For a copy of  the ADA Accessibility Guidelines, look on-line at:
http://www.access-board.gov/adaag/html/adaag.htm

The Governor’s Commission on Disability. The Commission’s goal is to remove the architectural and attitudinal barriers that bar persons with disabilities from participating in the mainstream of society.  The Commission’s office in Concord responds with straight answers to requests for information and referrals from persons with disabilities, service providers, legislators, and state and local officials.  In an effort to eliminate barriers, the Commission provides information about the many services, laws, and regulations that affect citizens with disabilities.  The Commission publishes a weekly newspaper column, "Beyond the Barriers", and a newsletter, THE BLUE SHEET, highlighting issues of interest to persons with disabilities and their advocates.  Link to the Governor's Commission on Disability.

The Governor's Comission Accessibility Specialist, Cheryl Killam, can be emailed at: ckillam@gov.state.nh.us

Access in Community-Based Organizations.  The link that follows is to a booklet from the Alliance for Technology Access Web site which describes methods for making your organization more accessible.  Addressed in the booklet are Communications, Facilities, Program, Technology and Web Site.  The Access Aware manual contains detailed information to help community-based organizations welcome everyone to participate in their programs and services. The manual also provides guidelines, examples, ideas and resources to develop, implement and maintain an organizational access plan.  Access Manual for Community Organizations.   

Guide to Accessibility in Houses of Worship.  The Retirement Research Foundation publishes "Accessible Faith: a Technical Guide for Accessibility in Houses of Worship," a 50-page national guide to help religious congregations navigate building-related code requirements for accessibility, identify design solutions for common physical, auditory, and visual barriers, and provide technical guidance on planning, financing, contracting and incorporating access into their houses of worship.  You may download the guide from The Retirement Research Foundation's website, or purchase hard copies for a nominal fee from Partners for Sacred Places.

Access Guild Home. This site offers detailed information and hands-on examples of how to make workplaces accessible to everyone, including individuals with hearing- and vision-related disabilities.
On accommodate individuals with hearing disabilities
On accommodate individuals with visual disabilities

Web site Accessibility

Section 508.  In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act to require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities.   As a result, standards for Web accessibility were developed.  These standards are being used increasingly by the private sector to make businesses’ Web marketing universally accessible.  Link here for more information about Section 508.  Link here for information about the Section 508 standards.

DOJ Guidance on Accessible Web Sites.  The Department of Justice has a new technical assistance document available to provide guidance to state and local governments on how to make their web sites accessible. "Accessibility of State and Local Government Websites to People with Disabilities" includes resource information for web developers. This straightforward and helpful document is posted in PDF for print and PDF for screen, as well as HTML.

How accessible if your Web site?   Get Bobby-approved for free.  This free service will allow you to test your web pages and expose and repair barriers to accessibility.  The feed back provided is in compliance with existing accessibility guidelines, such as Section 508 and the W3C's WCAG.  When your Web site is accessible, you can download the ‘Bobby-Approved' icon for your site, a recognized symbol of accessibility.

Links and Tips for making your Web site accessible from the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies.

Ensure Universal Access to YOUR Web site.  The Littleton Model Community Project is committed to making Littleton, it's sites and businesses, accessible to all people.  As part of that commitment, we are offering a FREE review of your Web site to identify improvements that you can make to its readability.  Improvements make your marketing more accessible to people who have a disability, to search engines, and to the greatest number of web browsers.  For information or to schedule a consultation, contact TechLink NH by email: gil@techlinknh.org or call Gil or Veronicaby at 603-616-6633.  

Web accessibility standards.  World Wide Consortium originated the web accessibility guidelines that are the common standard.  These guidelines are being updated all the time as information technology and assistive technologies advance.  Check out the latest guidelines on web site design.  Or download the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines by category.

A great resource for understanding and creating user-centered design for Web and other media is UI ACCESS.

Senior Net:  This Web site provides  people over 50 with information about accessing and using computer technology and the internet.

Planning Accessible Meetings and Presentations

Marketing to People with Disabilities

Only in recent years have advertisers of general merchandise begun to recognize persons with disabilities as an important market segment.  As an example, a U.S. General Accounting Office report states that increase access in keeoing with the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) has increased revenues in the hotel and hospitality industry by 12 percent.

When marketing to persons with disabilities, remember that they have the same range of preferences, perceptions, attitudes, habits, and needs that drive consumer behavior of persons without disabilities. Customers with disabilities have the same requirements as customers without disabilities-- quality products and services that meet their needs, reliability, and competitive market prices. Company outreach initiatives need to convey that people with disabilities are valued as customers.

In developing a marketing strategy, perhaps the most important thing to remember is that people with disabilities are the only ones who really know what they need or want.  The following ideas should be considered in a marketing strategy for consumers with disabilities:

• Keep an open mind about what persons with disabilities can or cannot do, want or need. Advances in technology, rehabilitation, and medicine, coupled with changes in societal attitudes, make many activities previously thought impossible for persons with disabilities possible.
• Recognize the diversity of the disability market. Do not assume that one size fits all. Define why this market sector needs your services or products.
• Test market your products and services with the disability community to measure accessibility and/or usability by persons with different types of disabilities.
• Develop simple modifications to make existing services and products user-friendly to persons with disabilities.
• Include people with disabilities in your product development. Many products geared to meet the needs of persons with disabilities have caught on and been successfully marketed to the public at large (e.g., the electric garage opener).
• Test your marketing approach with people with disabilities.
• Integrate persons with disabilities in your print and television advertising. Use persons with disabilities as spokespersons.
• Include disability community newspapers, magazines, and newsletters in your print advertising budget.
• Become involved with the disability community by sponsoring and/or participating in a national or local event or project.

For more important resources:
New Hampshire Governor's Commission on Disability
(800) 852-3405 (Toll Free)
http://webster.state.nh.us/disability/

Granite State Independent Living
1-800-826-3700 V/TTY
Franconia office: 823-5772

Material for this article excerpted from the U.S. Department of Labor.  More information is available on-line http://www.dol.gov/odep/pubs/publicat.htm.

Universal Design

The Trace Research and Development Center provides information on a wide range of technologies that enhance usability for everything from ATMs to Web Sites.  An interesting overview of the cutting edge of adaptive technology.

General Information

AbleData, providing information on assistive technology, sponsored by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, U.S. Department of Education.

The Center for the Study and Advancement of Disability Policy provides public education, leadership development and training, technical assistance and information dissemination, and conducts action-research and analysis of public policy issues affecting individuals with disabilities and their families.

Links on Disability Issues and Mass Communication

Real Choices System Change Initiative

Articles of Interest

Smaller businesses fail to prepare for disability legislation
09.56 am  18 May 04

Most smaller businesses (SMEs) are unaware of new disability discrimination laws coming in this autumn and risk employment tribunal action as a result.

According to a survey by employment law firm, Peninsula, only 21 percent of 1,500 SMEs polled are aware of imminent amendments to the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

For the first time, businesses with fewer than 15 employees will be covered under the DDA, making it unlawful for them to discriminate against a disabled person when recruiting, promoting, firing or making employees redundant.

Despite this, only 19 percent of respondents said their workplace was disability friendly and 64 percent do not have plans to make the necessary adjustments to comply with the legislation.  

The majority (77 percent) of those surveyed predicted a recruitment freeze or job losses to cover the costs of implementing the new legislation.

By Roisin Woolnough