Furthering our ability to develop professionally!

Do you ever have difficulty accessing books, journals, oral presentations, continuing education course materials, or the like? Does the specialized software used in your field create accessibility issues for you? Do you have to request assistance to even minimally participate in the professional organizations in your field because the materials, activities, or website aren’t completely accessible, including captioning and security features for registration or contacting the organization? Have you ever had to change jobs or fields because technology was no longer accessible to you or the software would not work with assistive technology? Do you routinely have to pay someone or ask a coworker or friend to scan, read, interpret, or alter information related to your work or professional field so you have access? Have you ever been employed in a disability-related organization because there appeared to be no opportunity for you in your chosen field, even though you had several years of experience doing something else? Have you or someone you know ever had accessibility issues that were a primary factor in any of the following: work at a part-time instead of a full-time position; nine months or more of unemployment; work for less pay or at a lower level than your qualifications merit; dropping out of the labor force; or applying for SSDI? Professional development has moved away from an employer-supported activity toward an individual model. This means that in addition to the many obstacles facing people with a disability in obtaining and maintaining employment, we face another set of issues: Access to the materials and technology to stay relevant, increase our skills, and enrich our own knowledge. Without equal opportunity, the fields in which we can take part will be extremely limited, our opportunities for promotion will be restricted, and our odds of maintaining employment until we reach normal retirement age will decline. If you would like to be part of a web-based group that begins to formulate ideas and take action to address issues such as these, please email us at AccessAge360@gmail.com. We are located in the U.S., but are open to working with professionals in other countries. We may benefit from sharing information and working with international professional organizations. If anyone is proficient in languages other than English and is interested in extending this type of discussion and action to other languages, please let us know. The idea is to increase access for everyone through expanding knowledge about design, alternative text, captioning, and screen readers, advocating for systematic change within and by professional organizations, and helping to shape product design and public policy.