Breaking Down Barriers: Accessibility for Disabled Constituents
Time & Location
About the Event
Audience: MPs
Are you an MP, unsure of how to use basic accessibility tools to reach your disabled constituents? Join us from 09.30am until 11.00am on 17 May for our Breaking Down Barriers course to make sure that all of your communications and events are as inclusive as possible. The course will cover:
- Definitions and ways to think about disability
- How to implement alt text, audio description, subtitles, and easy read features
- How to reach disabled non-internet users
- How to make in-person interactions and events more inclusive to disabled people
Helping Westminster Skills Centre with the delivery of the session will be Disability Rights UK and the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB):
Kamran Mallick, Disability Rights UK
Kamran Mallick is the Chief Executive at Disability Rights UK. Formerly, he was the Chief Executive at Action on Disability, the Hammersmith-based disability organisation, where he worked for 13 years. Kamran serves on the boards of Lyric Hammersmith, Wheels for Welling, and Lloyds Bank Foundation. Kamran was included in the top 10 of the Shaw Trusts Powerlist 100 - Most influential disabled people.
Robin Spinks, RNIB
Robin is the Senior Innovation and Technology Relationships Manager at RNIB where he leads on the development of innovative strategic partnerships with the technology sector globally. He has worked in the disability space for twenty years including working with NGOs, the private sector, and governments in Africa, South Asia, and the Caribbean. Robin is active on various innovation strategy boards where he provides expertise and a deep community understanding of the needs of disabled people. Robin is also currently Vice-Chair of the World Blind Union (WBU) Technology Committee.
Who this course is for:
This course is open to MPs from any political party. We will also run a staffer session - about a month after the MP session. This will cover similar subject matter, but will be more in-depth, to ensure MPs and their staffers understand how best to engage with disabled people, can achieve full accessibility in all their output, and have the space to plan and experiment with the necessary measures such as technology.
The Scheme of MPs' Business Costs and Expenses recognises courses for parliamentary staff that concentrate on parliamentary work as a 'claimable cost' which can be reclaimed from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA).