National Disability Employment Awareness Month 2018

How to use this toolkit:The following resources can assist organizations in planning and implementing National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) activities. Suggested plan for the month of October: One notable Californian, one factoid, and one resource per week.

Official Hashtags:#WorkItCA #NDEAM2018

Social Media Banners:

For DOR and participating organizations in the social campaign for NDEAM, we have created a poster (below are posters for Facebook and Twitter)

National Disability Employment Awareness Month banner for twitter featuring an array of people in different colors with visible and invisible disabilities.

(Twitter Banner)

National Disability Employment Awareness Month banner for Facebook featuring an array of people in different colors with visible and invisible disabilities.

(Facebook Banner)

Notable Californians: example: Do you know California-born chef Christine Ha? She’s the first-ever blind contestant and winner of Gordon Ramsay’s TV show “MasterChef”? Learn more: http://www.theblindcook.com/about/ #WorkItCA #NDEAM2018

Julie Soefer Photography

Photo of Christine Ha, first-ever blind contestant and winner of Gordon Ramsay’s TV show “MasterChef”

Do you know disability rights advocate Haben Girma? She’s the first Deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School? Learn more at http://www.noticeabilities.com/home2/2017/5/9/haben-girma #WorkItCA #NDEAM2018

Photo of Haben Girma, first Deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School

Do you know Vance Taylor? He’s the Chief of the Office of Access & Functional Needs at @Cal_OES, ensuring that people with disabilities have needs met before, during and after a disaster. Learn more: http://www.caloes.ca.gov/executive-team-detail?itemID=25 #WorkItCA #NDEAM2018

Photo of Vance Taylor, Chief of the Office of Access & Functional Needs at @Cal_OES

Do you know Mark Goffeney? He’s an Emmy-nominated musician from San Diego who plays guitar with his feet because he was born without arms. Learn more at http://bigtoerocks.com. #WorkItCA #NDEAM2018

Photo of Mark Goffeney, Emmy-nominated musician from San Diego who plays guitar with his feet because he was born without arms

Do you know Mayor Amanda Folendorf? She’s the youngest member of the Angels Camp City Council and the first female deaf mayor in the country. Learn more: https://www.uniondemocrat.com/localnews/5895650-151/folendorf-youngest-member-of-angels-camp-city-council #WorkItCA #NDEAM2018

Photo of Mayor Amanda Folendorf, youngest member of the Angels Camp City Council and the first female deaf mayor in the country

Did you know? ‘Blackish’ star and author Jenifer Lewis is open about her experience with bipolar disorder and shares her experience in her autobiography. #WorkItCA #NDEAM2018

Photo of ‘Blackish’ star and author Jenifer Lewis. She is open about her experience with bipolar disorder

Factoids:Factoids are meant to raise awareness.Sample Facebook & Twitter Posts:

Did you know: National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) dates back to 1945? Learn more at www.dol.gov/ndeam. #WorkItCA #NDEAM2018

Did you know: Job Accommodation Network (JAN) provides information for employers and individuals to determine effective accommodation? Learn more at https://askjan.org/a-to-z.cfm

Did you know: Job Accommodation Network (JAN) lists many accommodation suggestions for individuals with mental illness. See more at https://askjan.org/disabilities/Mental-Health-Impairments.cfm

Did you know: Individual Placement Support (IPS) can help individuals with disabilities find and keep meaningful jobs. Learn more at https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/August-2017/Work-is-Recovery

Did you know: The Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) supports employers in their efforts to recruit, hire, retain and advance qualified individuals with disabilities. http://www.askearn.org/

California Resources:

Are you eligible for Vocational Rehabilitation Services? Find out at http://www.rehab.cahwnet.gov/Vocational-Rehabilitation.html #WorkItCA #NDEAM2018

Californians with disabilities can find FREE resources for devices that may provide assistance at work. Learn more at www.AbilityTools.org #WorkItCA #NDEAM2018

In California, Independent Living Centers (ILCs) serve people of all ages with any disability. Find your local ILC: https://www.calsilc.ca.gov/independent-locator #WorkItCA #NDEAM2018

Did you know: Young Californians with disabilities (ages 16-28) can connect with other youth AND get resources on employment at https://yodisabledproud.org/resources/index.php #WorkItCA #NDEAM2018

Social Media Accessibility TipsWe encourage you to participate in NDEAM on social media by changing your social media banners and posting suggested social media content. Below are a few tips to help you ensure that your posts are accessible to everyone.

Make sure your profile page includes alternative contact options, like an accessible "contact us" form or toll-free phone number, or an email link to somebody who can assist people with questions.

Write social media posts informally and in plain language. Avoid abbreviations and spell out acronyms.

Use @mentions to tag other organizations on social media and use relevant hashtags on key words and phrases to categorize posts.

For multi-word hashtags, capitalize the first letters of each section of a compound word (#LikeThisExample).

Provide closed captioning for YouTube videos. You can do this automatically, or you can add and edit captions manually.

Add captions to Facebook video posts. Make sure captions are turned on for live videos.

Link to pages with full captions or transcripts of photos, videos or audio. Avoid using emojis, or at least refrain from using excessive emojis in posts. Describe your photos in the caption of social media posts on Instagram. Turn on image description settings in Twitter and compose descriptive text to

make images accessible. Note that this setting doesn’t work for GIFs. Add and edit alternative text descriptions to images posted on Facebook. If possible, test your tweet with assistive technology before posting it.

#WorkItCA Social Media PartnersFacebook Twitter Instagram

California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR)

@CaliforniaDOR @CaliforniaDOR @DORCalifornia

California Foundation for Independent Living Centers (CFILC)

@CFILC.org @_CFILC @CFILC1982

California State Independent Living Council (SILC)

California SILC @CalSILC

California Association of LocalBehavioral Health Boards & Commissions

@CALBHBC