Follow-up on conflicts between disabilities

I received the following email which I am posting to the list with 
permission.

Hi Jeanne:

In our last conference call, I suggested WCAG Silver consider addressing 
conflicts or clashes between the needs of people with various 
disabilities.  You asked for more explanation.  I hope this helps.

Universal design often starts with the premise that what one person 
needs is beneficial for others, even if they don't specifically need it 
(e.g. elevator for someone in wheelchair also helps someone with 
stroller, mobility impairment, older person, or someone who is tired or 
carrying something).

Sometimes groups of people with two different types of disabilities may 
also need the same thing for different reasons (e.g. verbal navigation 
can be helpful for those with visual impairment and those with some 
cognitive disabilities).

But it is not always the case that there is shared need or benefit.  
Sometimes the needs of one infringes on the accommodations of another.

The ones I've heard the most about in the brick-and-mortar world are:
-seeing eyed dogs vs dog allergies
-people with need for sound and those with need for silence (could be 
sight impairment vs some forms of autism, for example)
-people with mental health accommodations that conflict (compassion for 
people with unintentionally aggressive approaches vs those who are 
sensitive to that approach)
-need for renovations to accommodate one disability and the renovation 
process or result infringes on another person's disability (e.g. dust 
allergies)

One of the first times this came to my attention in the digital world 
was in a discussion about creating fixed forms to make them easier for 
screen readers to interpret (in "accessible" PDFs).  In contrast, some 
with cognitive disabilities find forms difficult to process, and prefer 
to see simplified versions, and use sorting and other tools to 
personalize them where relevant and possible.

The sound example above from the brick-and-mortar world could of course 
also be relevant in a digital environment.  In that case, the optional 
sound and the Stop and hide criteria would help.

The key approaches that I've heard to deal with these conflicts includes:
-Recognizing that these conflicts exist and being attentive to them
-Providing accommodations for each separately where the needs diverge 
(separating experiences in time and/or space)
-Providing multiple options or customized approaches
-Understanding the conflict can happen on the side of the user as well 
as the creator or employee
-Ensuring that there is a mechanism in place so that when one is unable 
to accommodate a particular need due to necessary accommodations for 
another, that best effort is made, there is open-ended consultation, and 
a referral is made to ensure the needs get met well by another source
-Also understanding that someone may have both types of needs and this 
may overlap (e.g. someone might need a service animal but be allergic to 
dogs specifically, or have visual impairment and auditory sensitivity, 
or they might have dual diagnosis of cognitive disabilities and mental 
health condition), so these conflicts can be complex and layered.

Here's a link to illustrate the division of accommodation in time and space:

"Allergies and fear of dogs are not valid reasons for denying access or 
refusing service to people using service animals. When a person who is 
allergic to dog dander and a person who uses a service animal must spend 
time in the same room or facility, for example, in a school classroom or 
at a homeless shelter, they both should be accommodated by assigning 
them, if possible, to different locations within the room or different 
rooms in the facility." From: https://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm

The best sources of this type of information are probably in the legal 
world.  It would be worth contacting a disability rights lawyer to ask 
them how their advice for dealing with conflicts could translate into 
the digital world.

Best, Cy.

Received on Monday, 16 July 2018 22:29:42 UTC