Powers Pyles Sutter and Verville principal Bobby Silverstein makes the case that ICT accessibility is a gateway civil rights issue and that universal design will improve employee productivity across the board.
Transcript:
Hi, I’m Bobby Silverstein. I’m a principal in the law firm of Powers Pyles Sutter and Verville. I’m also the former staff director and chief counsel to the US Senate Subcommittee on Disability Policy, and I was in that capacity when we worked on the Americans with Disabilities Act.
I think the one area that we now need to focus on, and it’s been referred to by folks at the Department of Justice as the gateway civil rights issue, is ensuring that websites, online systems, and other forms of information and communication technology are fully accessible to people with disabilities. And it makes sense if we care about the fact that there are a range of functional abilities in all of us. By ensuring universal design that works for everybody, it will make all employees more productive. Not just those people with disabilities.
[narrator speaking] For more information on the Partnership on Employment & Accessible Technology and TalentWorks, please contact www.peatworks.org/talentworks or e-mail us at info@peatworks.org(link sends e-mail).
