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Module 1.3 is adapted from the IRC Inclusive Client Responsiveness Toolkit. (12)
Inclusive responsive information services work to identify and remove systemic barriers (and the risks associated with those barriers) when providing assistance. This means promoting equal rights and participation of the clients you are targeting in a community.
Key concepts to understand:
- Inclusion means enabling people from diverse backgrounds and traditionally marginalized communities to fully participate in collective processes, including decision-making and power-sharing while bringing their whole selves into these processes based on equality with others.
- A ‘rights-based’ approach means that beyond meeting immediate needs of the affected population, you consider the role of your responsive information service in addressing the root causes of exclusion, rather than the needs resulting from the denial of rights. This is distinct from a ‘charity-based’ approach, which pities or aims to ‘help’ people who are seen as dependent or helpless. Instead, a rights-based mindset instead says, ‘society is the problem’, and focuses on removing barriers that block inclusion, rather than ‘helping’ people who are excluded.
- Intersectionality is the way multiple forms of discrimination affect groups of people or individuals. For example, the discrimination of women based on sex and gender is inextricably linked with oppression and marginalization based on other discriminatory systems such as those based on race, ethnicity, religion or belief, health, status, age, class, caste, sexual orientation and gender identity.
- Barriers are factors that prevent a person from having full and equal access and participation in society. Barriers must be identified from the start to ensure accessibility. There are three types of barriers you should consider: environmental (physical and informational), attitudes, and institutions (including financial). See Table 2 for more information on barriers.
- Enablers are factors that can be put in place to support participation in society. Examples of enablers may include providing information through/in accessible channels, formats, languages and locations; raising awareness of staff on the in inherent capacities of persons with disabilities; ensuring that a variety of options are available to access the information service; and ensuring an appropriate and accessible follow-up to the questions received from clients.
- Universal design means designing services, communication, and information to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design. Accessibility is a precondition to inclusion. A universally designed environment allows participation of people with disabilities, older adults, and other marginalized groups. Prioritizing universal design can seem like a significant constraint but will ultimately benefit all clients and is the cheapest approach – retrofitting accessibility is always more expensive.
- Reasonable accommodations are solutions that facilitate accessibility when a person may still face difficulties or specific barriers, despite universal design, to access services. A reasonable accommodation should be effective (the solution is tangible and durable), independent (the client does not require assistance of a third person), safe (does not put the client in danger), and facilitate equality (the service you provide or activity you are conducting can be used easily and without hindrance). See Table 3 for more information on reasonable accommodation.
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Table 2. Types of Barriers
Reference: IASC Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action
| Physical |
Physical obstacles in the natural or built environment that prevent access and affect opportunities for participation. This also includes lack of services or problems with service delivery. |
| Informational |
Inaccessible communication systems. For example, they do not allow persons with disabilities to access information or knowledge and thereby restrict their opportunities to participate. |
| Attitudinal |
Negative attitudes that may be rooted in cultural or religious beliefs, hatred, unequal distribution of power, discrimination, prejudice, ignorance, stigma and bias, among other reasons. Attitudinal barriers are at the root of discrimination and exclusion. |
| Institutional | Laws, policies, strategies or institutionalized practices that discriminate against persons with disabilities or prevent them from participating in society. |
Table 3. The Seven Principles of Universal Design
Reference: CBM Policy on Accessibility
| Equitable use | The design is useful and marketable (make the design appealing to all users) to a wide range of clients. |
| Flexibility in use | The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities. |
| Simple and intuitive use | Use of the design is easy to understand, regardless of the client’s experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level. |
| Perceptible information | The design communicates necessary information effectively to the client, regardless of ambient conditions or the client’s sensory abilities. |
| Tolerance for error | The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions and provide warnings of hazards and errors. |
| Low physical effort | The design can be used efficiently and comfortably and with a minimum of fatigue. |
| Size and space for approach and use. | Appropriate size and space are provided for approach, reach, manipulation, and use regardless of user’s body size, posture, or mobility. |