COVID-19: Disability Equality Scotland Produce Information and Guidance in Easy Read It is vital that information about the COVID-19 pandemic is available to the public in a variety of formats to meet people’s varying accessibility requirements. Examples of accessible formats include: Easy Read, audio, British Sign Language, braille, clear print, plain text. At Disability Equality Scotland we produce information in Easy Read, an accessible format that makes written information easier to understand. The Easy Read format uses simple, jargon-free language, shorter sentences and supporting images. We have produced a wellbeing guide, which provides links to useful information on how to maintain good mental
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Blind and partially sighted people still struggle to receive healthcare information in accessible formats, new research by sight loss charity RNIB Scotland has found. “This can put patients at risk of missing treatment as well as being confused or misinformed about their healthcare needs,” report author Laura Jones warns.  “The NHS, itself, puts great emphasis on the cost, in money and time, of missed appointments to over-burdened clinics. So giving patients accessible information makes sense. “More worryingly, as many sight loss conditions are progressive, any delays in treatment could mean unnecessary deterioration in sight.” The report, released today, also highlights
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Participatory Budgeting in Scotland A short video highlighting the benefits of Participatory Budgeting with British Sign Language and subtitles. Participatory Budgeting is about local people having a direct say in how public money is spent. PB in Scotland (with BSL & subtitles) from Annie Cook on Vimeo. For more information about Participatory Budgeting visit: www.pbscotland.scot
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Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) accessible customer communications needs survey The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) wants to improve www.gov.uk.  They are focussing on helping customers with a disability who need the DWP to adjust the way they communicate. The DWP has created a survey about this.  It will only take a few minutes to complete. Survey closes on 9 February 2020For more information, please contact: cat.communicationsurvey@dwp.gsi.gov.uk
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Political Parties Must Do More to Produce Information in Accessible Formats In the latest poll by Disability Equality Scotland, the majority of respondents (85%) felt that political parties do not do enough to make their manifestos available in accessible formats. A manifesto is a publication issued by a political party before a General Election. It contains the set of policies that the party stands for and would wish to implement if elected to govern.  The Electoral Commission published a report entitled “Elections for Everyone”, which highlights the challenges disabled people face during an election and what improvements can be made to make elections more inclusive
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The ALLIANCE “Humans of Scotland” book has launched a version in braille and as an audio book in partnership with Royal Blind. Remarkable in their honesty, the stories are a heartfelt contribution to our understanding of what it means to live with significant challenges from recovering from mental illness and addiction to life after cancer, coping with hearing and sight loss to living with arthritis as a young mum, among many other subjects. The braille book and audio book can be accessed online at www.royalblind.org or by contacting the Scottish Braille Press on 0131 662 4445
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NHS Dumfries and Galloway: Service Introduction Health facilitators in Dumfries and Galloway have produced a short animated film to support adults with an Intellectual disability to access mainstream health services.  View the video below: 
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Blog: Dyslexia-friendly churches guide I’ve written a guide to help churches include dyslexic adults.  It’s available to download here in Word (for reading electronically) and PDF(for printing). It’s for everyone in churches.  It is mostly on how to communicate in a dyslexia-friendly way (in a church context). It’s illustrated throughout, and includes several resources in the appendices. It is published under a Creative Commons License.  This lets you as the reader use any of the material you wish from it in your own resources e.g. on your church website.  You will find details of this on the front cover of
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News: Sainsbury’s and Argos announce national rollout of hidden disability sunflower lanyard scheme Hidden disability lanyards to be available in all stores nationwide from 7 October, following a successful trial earlier this year. Sainsbury’s and Argos have announced the nationwide rollout of sunflower lanyards in all stores, to help enhance the shopping experience for customers with hidden disabilities. Following a successful trial earlier this year, the initiative offers shoppers the option to pick up a sunflower lanyard in store, which has been purposely designed to act as a discreet sign for store colleagues that they may need to provide a
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News: Glasgow graphic novelist pens comic to help kids deal with hidden disabilities Gary Chudleigh has found a creative way to raise awareness of hidden disabilities. Read the full article on the Evening Times website: www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/17843599.glasgow-graphic-novelist-pens-comic-help-kids-deal-hidden-disabilities/
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