SAIF News
Skill Scotland e-news
An e-newsletter - Skill Scotland e-news is available for disabled learners across Scotland. It keeps learners in touch with news, events and issues around being a disabled person at college or university, as well as features from disabled students about the challenges and highlights that they have experienced. Skill Scotland E-news is sent out around three times a year. At the same time, a Skill Scotland web discussion forum lets people talk directly about issues and their own experiences.
Would you like to subscribe to Skill Scotland E-news? If so, click here: www.skill.org.uk/scotland/enews.asp
Or do you know any students who might be interested in receiving Skill Scotland E-news - do send the link to others!
Factsheet: Writing about disabled people
Greater London Action on Disability has produced an excellent factsheet about the terminology to use when writing about people with disabilities.
The factsheet can be downloaded from GLAD's website at www.glad.org.uk or obtained by contact them at:
Adress: GLAD, 336 Brixton Road, London SW9 7AA
Tel: 020 7346 5800
Fax: 020 7346 8844
Minicom: 020 7326 4554
E-mail:
How to Provide Easy to Read Information
The Disability Rights Commission has an excellent guide to making publications easier to read and understand. It covers why Easy Read is needed and gives plenty of examples of both good and bad practice. You can get the guide by contacting the Disability Rights Commission. Their publication reference is: FOCUS12/ER
Website: www.drc-gb.org
MACS guide to accessible travel information
Valuable for anyone,valuable for everyone -
providing accessible information about travel.
You can read the publication online or download it on MACS website by following this link: Valuable for anyone, valuable for everyone - providing accessible information about travel.
E-mail: |
Access Wall Chart
The Access Wall Chart is a new resource that gives general good practical guidance on access issues for public buildings. It is covering design for parking, entrances and crossings, doorways, toilets and controls.
You can read more about The Access Guide, download a pdf file and order your own free hard copy of the wall chart from this link.
|The Access Wall Chart page at UPDATE'S website|
Accessible Information About Public Services
The latest edition of Open i - a quarterly video magazine presented in British Sign Language (BSL), with speech and subtitles is available from COI Communications in partnership with BBC Broadcast. It is also available in audio format.
The video is free to societies, groups and organisations and covers items about the latest government initiatives, services and information that the editors hope people will find useful. The aim of Open i is to deliver up to date, accessible information so that people can understand the issues and make the most of public services.
For more details, visit their website at www.open-i.gov.uk where you can also order the magazine online.
Does Your Website Leave You Dazed and Confused?
When SAIF published its Standards for Disability Information & Advice Provision in Scotland in 1999, the Internet merited a few brief mentions as a possible method of delivering information and advice. The technological revolution that is the World Wide Web was receiving huge amounts of publicity but at that time it was making very little impact on the every day lives of disabled people throughout Scotland.
Three years later, it is unusual to come across an information and advice agency that is not planning, building or working hard to maintain a website in order to deliver some or all of its services. It is also very unusual to meet someone who has attempted to set up a website and found the process easy or straightforward. In addition, there are many initiatives throughout Scotland that are making access to the web more widespread.
|Making Websites Accessible - Online version|
|Making Websites Available - PDF format|
If You Want to Improve Your Service...
Ask Disabled People!
SAIF published a Guide to User-Led Service Reviews in January 2003. Like the SAIF Standards, the guide is designed to be used by any agency which provides an information or advice service, and is free of charge.
The guide is intended to help agencies put in place a process which measures the extent to which they are meeting the needs of disabled people. Ideally the process will test the success of their implementation of the SAIF Standards, and provide a framework for continual improvement.
The guide is very easily used, just 20 pages long, and suggests a process which can easily be incorporated into broader accreditation and quality management systems. Like all the work and publications of SAIF, it stresses the importance of involving disabled people in the review, planning and development of services.
|Guide to User-Led... - Online version|
|Guide to User-Led... - PDF format|