Lorna Cameron: Doing more for people this Scottish Learning Disability Week and beyond
As we look forward to Learning Disabilities this week and the theme of digital inclusion, it’s important we find time within our organisations to see what more we can do to improve digital inclusion for those we work with and for. How well do we engage with people when we change our working patterns and services to make sure it won’t lead to people being excluded and what different choices for digital inclusion do we offer people with a range of needs?
We still have a lot to learn which is why Horizon Housing Association is delighted to be sponsoring a full day of activities during the week and helping to raise the profile of digital inclusion and learning from great initiatives and practices.
At Horizon, we promote and specialise in providing accessible, flexible homes and we need to keep accessible, inclusive housing up the national agenda. A key part of this is digital inclusion as we think about what people need now and will need in the future.
The good news is we already do a fair bit to facilitate open channels of communication for people with a range of disabilities. One example is that for over 10 years we have had the ReachDeck accessibility app available to people accessing our website. ReachDeck helps website visitors who require online reading support. Those with print disabilities, such as dyslexia, find ReachDeck particularly useful.
We are keen to do more which is why we’ll be setting up a new group, bringing together organisations and people to discuss and plan improvements to digital inclusion and communication. By connecting people with specialist organisations, for example, we hope to foster real change across Scotland and connect more people with key services and support in their communities.
Learn more about Scottish Learning Disability Week on the Scottish Commission for People with Learning Disabilities' website .