Disability Access Consulting (DAC)
DDP offers fee-for-service Disability Access Consulting work. This program is available to community organizations, businesses, and institutions who would like in-depth support to improve staff training, accessibility in their programs, physical space, communication tools, and internal operations.
Drawing from our intersectional approach and expertise in grassroots organizing, our DAC staff insight from their lived experiences and professional learnings to clients identify and meet a range of needs. Our deliverables include speaking engagements, training and workshops, and additional tailored design work.
Our services challenge audience members to reimagine disability as a source of power and innovation, while providing concrete strategies for dismantling ableism in their own spaces and institutions.
"Staff have raved about the DDP training–from how much new information they learned to how well Dessa and Ani presented the information. Staff who have had previous disability training also shared that this was by the far the best (content + delivery) they had experienced. The training left a huge impact on our team and has helped us to think about the ways in which ableist language, attitudes and behaviors are overlooked in the way we move as an organization."
- Felicia Thomas at Detroit Justice Center, November 2022
Trainings
Foundational Series Includes:
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Anti-Ableism 101
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Institutional Change
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Tailored Presentation
Anti-Ableism Workshop: This is a two-hour Zoom workshop designed to provide critical insights into disability justice. This interactive session will explore foundational concepts including ableism as an intersecting system of oppression, disability as a cultural and political identity, models of disability, and accessibility.
Institutional Change
This workshop comes after our foundational Anti-Ableism training. Institutional Change is about thinking how might organizations and culture perpetuate ableism or push for full inclusion.
Training Presentations:
These presentations are great for a lunch and learn or ERG group conversation. Our speakers provide insight from their lived experiences and professional learnings to personalize and expand on the topics below. Many of the examples used are based on case studies from Detroit Disability Power’s projects and collaborations.
Accessible Communications: A hands-on workshop teaching practical skills for creating accessible content, covering digital accessibility, image descriptions, and plain language. The training emphasizes realistic implementation strategies while helping organizations develop sustainable accessibility practices aligned with their capacity.
Tailored workshops & presentations: Specific sessions aimed at supporting your staff dive deeper into how accessibility intersects with your organization's areas of interest and operation.
Consulting
We offer hourly consultations at a standard rate for organizations who need general support identifying or moving on accessibility related goals or support on existing projects.
Short-term Consulting
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Provided input on accessibility guidelines for events like a large conference, spaces such as nonprofit offices, and internal processes on policies that impact disabled people.
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Site visit to venue or small business to help identify accessibility features and recommend improvement in physical space and operations.
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Consulted on updating homes by meeting with developers, and contractors on designing beyond ADA standards to create truly accessible living spaces for aging residents.
Long-term Consulting
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Collaborated with multiple organizations to launch big projects with accessibility at the center of decision making.
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Developed a 4 part learning series for training residents, property managers and developers on universal and accessible design.
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Acted as the subject matter expert to assist scope, implement, and deliver a range of home improvements to aging & disabled Detroiters for entry and exit modifications & supportive bathroom equipment.
Most larger scopes of work will have flexible consultation hours included. Some examples of this work include organizational assessments and interviews with key staff members, topic specific sessions, and coaching on best practices and change management.
Accessible Housing Resources
In collaboration with the City of Detroit Housing Revitalization Department, we developed housing resources aimed to educate residents with disabilities about their housing rights and to provide property managers and developers resources to understand how to best serve residents with disabilities.
The Know Your Rights Brochure outlines legal protections, accommodation processes, and complaint procedures for residents with disabilities. This is also available in large print.
The Housing Accessibility Checklist helps residents identify safety improvements needed in their homes and connects them with trusted contractors. This is also available in large print.
The Tips for Accommodations & Modification Requests for Housing Providers assists property managers in creating consistent, fair procedures for handling modification requests.
The Best Practices for Leasing Accessible Units guide helps property managers effectively market to and engage with the disability community.
The Plain Language Leasing Benefits Guide provides property managers with accessible communication tools including simplified forms, leases, and community guidelines.
The Disability-Friendly Development Guide equips developers with inclusive design principles and community engagement strategies for creating truly accessible housing.
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