High Tech Web Site To Promote Return to Work Activities

Kenneth S. Apfel, Commissioner of Social Security, announced June 21 the launching of a new web site-The Work Site-which contains important information and support for disability beneficiaries, employers, service providers, advocates and others whose goal is to help those persons with disabilities work.

Persons with disabilities face serious challenges when attempting to enter the workforce. Assistance programs are often complex and poorly coordinated, forcing individuals to piece together information and to develop work strategies on their own. They often find that employers are reluctant to hire persons with disabilities, which can discourage them from looking for work. Young people with disabilities, especially those who are leaving school and preparing to work, lack role models and mentors to guide them. The Work Site, developed by the Social Security Administration's (SSA's) Office of Employment Support Programs is designed to be an important information source.

"The Work Site will help to eliminate the barriers that persons with disabilities face when they attempt to enter the workforce," commented President Bill Clinton. "The Social Security Administration is bringing employers, advocates and services together in this new economy to provide meaningful assistance for individuals with disabilities."

The web site is fully accessible to people with disabilities. This is significant since fewer than 5 percent of all Internet sites are accessible to people who are visually impaired or hearing impaired or have limited dexterity. The Work Site is built to serve the information needs of its five principle customers and provides the information in easy to understand terms.

"The Work Site puts important, but often hard-to-find information in one easy-to-access location," noted Commissioner Apfel. "Social Security beneficiaries who want to work and those who want to help them will benefit from this new service."

The five principle customers are:

1) Social Security Disability Beneficiaries who will find basic information about the agency's return-to-work programs, including an explanation about Social Security work incentives such as the PASS program (Plan to Achieve Self Support) and information on State vocational rehabilitation agencies and programs and the availability of employment services from private organizations. In addition, the site provides links to other Federal web sites that contain useful information that could influence an individual's decision to work. Beneficiaries can link directly to Internet job search sites such as "America's Job Bank" (Department of Labor) and "USA Jobs"(Office of Personnel Management);

2) Employers who will be able to read about tax incentives for hiring people with disabilities, learn about employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and get useful information about work-site accommodations. Employers will also have access to Project Able, the SSA resume bank for people with disabilities who are looking for jobs;

3) Advocates who will be able to take advantage of the site's information services that list state partnerships, research activities, obtain current information about SSA contracts and grants, and post information about events that would be of interest to the disability community;

4) Service Providers who will have access to information about participating in SSA's vocational rehabilitation programs and becoming business partners through the Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program; and

5) Youth with Disabilities who will find information tailored to them and their parents. A "Celebrity Gallery" section will feature profiles of youth and adult Social Security beneficiaries who want to share their accomplishments and messages of success.

"The Social Security Administration is committed to bridging the Digital Divide for our beneficiaries with disabilities," commented William Halter, Deputy Commissioner of Social Security. "We must all pool our information and resources to empower individuals with disabilities who want to contribute their talents to the workforce."

Go to http://www.ssa.gov/work to take a look at The Work Site.
 

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Federal Communications Comission Adding Services

The following was announced June 19
By William Kennard, FCC

We wrote the rules to ensure access to the virtual world and then created an Enforcement Bureau to make enforcement of those rules a priority.

A few months ago, we built on the pioneering work by Bob Segalman here in California by adopting rules on speech-to-speech relay. Thanks to Bob's pioneering work, all Americans will have nationwide speech-to-speech relay within a year.

But we didn't stop there.

In February, we adopted rules that require Spanish-to-Spanish relay services, and that, as you know, is especially relevant in this state.

We said that telecommunications relay services should not be limited to simply one kind of service. We expanded our definition of TRS to include video relay services (VRS) and speech-to-speech services (STS), and we recognized that new services like Spanish-to-Spanish can open the network to millions of Spanish-speaking Americans, many here in California.

We also made sure that Americans have access to emergency information. We said that if you are deaf or hard of hearing, you will have access to the life-saving information that every other American takes for granted. You will know what to do in the event of an earthquake, flood or fire.

We have also taken the first steps on video description for blind Americans. Our goal is to do for video description what we have done for closed captioning: make it second nature. Make it an accepted part of the way people use television.