By: Jennie Delisi, Office of Accessibility

Each of us values different types of diversity in our personal lives. You may:

• Eat a diet rich in different vitamins and nutrients.
• Get quotes from several contractors before beginning large house projects.
• Invest in different savings and retirement options.

Why? You want the benefit of the unique properties each option can bring. You find it helpful to get a variety of perspectives and experiences.

“Powered by Inclusion” is a phrase in the 2021 National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) campaign. Can the country power the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic with inclusion? State of Minnesota agencies are living this mission and experiencing the benefits. This month we asked digital accessibility coordinators to reflect on the NDEAM theme.

“How is your agency ensuring that people with disabilities have full access to employment and community involvement during the national recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic?”

Rosie Widell, Digital Accessibility Coordinator, Department of Corrections

The Department of Corrections (DOC) has chosen to be more person-centered. To that end, we have created an Accessibility site for all staff. It has many resources, including information on how to make documents accessible for people with disabilities, whether it’s for:

• People living in our facilities.
• Their family or friends.
• Staff members.

In addition, the Department of Corrections has realized the importance of having a person actively dedicated to digital accessibility across the agency. This is a positive change that speaks well of the agency’s future growth.

Rebecca Oestreich, Electronic Information Accessibility Coordinator, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources revamped its careers webpage in December 2020 to showcase our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. It specifically calls out our commitment to recruiting, hiring, and retaining people with disabilities.

Becky Bernauer, Digital Accessibility and Web Coordinator, Minnesota IT Services Partnering with Minnesota Department of Health

At Minnesota IT Services partnering with the Department of Health, I am reviewing new COVID-19 applications for accessibility. I work with the developers to find and fix accessibility issues prior to releasing the application. In emergency situations, we fix as much as possible in the allocated timeframe. We then continue to make accessibility improvements as soon as possible after deployment.

I work with the Office of Accessibility on some of the products/applications purchased at the state level. We complete accessibility testing and share results with the vendor. For these projects, I:

• Connect with the vendor for consultation as needed.
• Help prioritize identified accessibility issues.
• Assist by providing resources and ideas for correcting the remaining accessibility issues.

Guthrie J. Byard, ADA & Title VI Administrator, Metropolitan Council

The Metropolitan Council is ensuring that people with disabilities have full access to employment and community involvement during the national recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by: 

• Conducting user and accessibility audits of its websites. 
• Requiring document accessibility training for staff.
• Improving virtual access to Council meetings. 
• Initiating an internship focused on improving employment among persons with disabilities. 

Lolly Lijewski, Digital Accessibility Coordinator, Minnesota Department of Human Services

As the digital accessibility coordinator for DHS, I work closely with: 

• Project teams.
• The MNIT at DHS accessibility coordinator.
• The MNIT Office of Accessibility.

This ensures the people we serve and our employees have access to our content and systems. Digital content is how DHS communicates about programs and services it offers. If the people we serve and DHS employees cannot access its content and systems, we fail at our mission. During the pandemic we kept digital accessibility front and center, including:

• DHS and MNIT DHS employees worked together to test the accessibility of Microsoft Teams and roll it out to the agency as a collaboration tool.
• The DHS and MNIT DHS accessibility coordinators tested the accessibility and usability of the Everbridge Emergency Notification system with DHS’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing employees.
• The DHS central web team ensured the DHS web site content was accessible as policies, programs and services changed rapidly.

Office of Accessibility Resources

Want to power your organization with inclusion? The Office of Accessibility has resources that can help.

• Our free Accessible Word Document Training helps people learn digital accessibility basics.
• Improve the accessibility of your online meetings. Review the information and videos provided in Accessible Meetings for All.
• Share HTML accessibility blog articles with your developers.
  • Buttons vs. Links
  • High Contrast Mode and Dark Theme Accessibility Testing
  • HTML Accessibility Learning Ideas from State Employees

And, subscribe to our newsletter! We share ways for your organization to improve access to employment and community involvement.