Dear UMass President’s Office Colleagues, This email is a follow up to the email you received from President Meehan (below). President’s Office employees must be fully vaccinated by September 13, 2021, which is the first day of the UMPO Hybrid Work Pilot. This vaccination requirement applies to all employees who are classified as fully on-site, regular reporting, or on-site as needed as defined…, Proof of Vaccination, The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) “COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card” that you receive when you are vaccinated will serve as proof of your vaccination. Within the next few days, we will provide direction as to how you can provide proof of vaccination in a manner that is confidential and as convenient as possible. Definition of Fully Vaccinated and Grace Period According to the CDC , a person…, Medical or Religious Exemptions, An employee may request an exemption to the vaccination requirement based on the existence of medical contraindication to vaccination. In addition, an employee may request an exemption to the vaccination requirement based on a sincere religious belief. In both cases, an employee will be required to submit documentation to support the request for an exemption. Employees who secure an exemption may…, Access to Vaccination, The COVID-19 vaccine is now widely available. Listed below is information about how and where you can access the COVID-19 vaccine. If you are not yet vaccinated and need assistance with accessing the vaccine, please contact Jacquie Kittler, who will be happy to assist you. Local Pharmacies (such as CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid) CDC Website Mass.gov Websites The Human Resources Department will…
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As an attorney diagnosed with autism at the age of three, author Haley Moss grew up knowing what it was like to feel unheard or unseen because of the way she communicated. Neurodiversity is a natural, valuable aspect of human diversity, yet one that too often means that people with neurocognitive differences face discrimination and exclusion. Haley's book Great Minds Think Differently:…
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Two of the biggest gaps in digital accessibility include lack of accessibility guidelines around mental health and how to bridge the knowledge divide between advocacy and professional. In this Accessibility Talks event, Albert Kim, the founder of Accessibility NextGen and a W3C invited expert on mental health, will be discussing his digital accessibility journey and the role Accessibility NextGen…
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Access Technology Higher Education Network (ATHEN) is hosting the first ever “ Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) Accessibility: Starting with Math ” virtual conference on February 10th and 11th, 2022. We are striving to create a diverse conference where experts can share their best practices, solutions, techniques, etc. for accessing and creating accessible STEM content in higher…
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Significant progress has been made to drive the finalization of the IT VAR program. The four strategic vendors, CDW-G, GovConnection, WEI, and Whalley have worked hard with UPST and campus stakeholders to secure final contracts and pricing. What do all the changes mean for campuses? Here are the top 3 benefits: Efficiency: Purchases from these VARS satisfy University policy requirements…
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A11yTalks, a monthly virtual meet-up featuring speakers & conversations around digital accessibility, will host “Why We Need More Accessibility Designers” with Anna E. Cook, Senior Accessibility Designer on December 15. Many accessibility defects originate in design, so why do the bulk of accessibility considerations fall to developers and quality assurance? In this talk, we will discuss why…
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Free Webinar on Thursday, December 09 at 2 PM ET The legal landscape of digital accessibility in the United States, and increasingly around the world, provides a strong framework supporting digital inclusion for disabled people in the public and private sectors, in education, and throughout society. The pandemic has made the need for accessibility more urgent than ever, and individual advocacy,…
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Tuesday, February 15, 2022 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM The Great Lakes ADA Center in collaboration with the ADA National Network invites you to register for the upcoming ADA Audio Conference Webinar titled “The Intersection of Race and Disability “ , featuring Timotheus “T.J.” Gordon, Jr, Research Assistant, Institute of Disability and Human Development, University of Illinois Chicago. The lived experience…
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Disability Rights Activist Alice Wong will publish her first memoir on September 6, 2022. Announced on the Chinese New Year, the book is titled Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life . Print books are available for pre-order. Audiobooks will be available for pre-order in a few months. Book description from Penguin Random House's site : "From the founder and director of the Disability Visibility…
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Podcast Episode Inforamtion, Amy tells us that sticky elements are a problem for her as they can hide content and why accessibility overlays don’t help in the latest episode of the A11y Rules Podcast , hosted by Nic Steenhout. The transcript for the podcast is included on the page in html format below the podcast audio clip. , About the A11y Rules Podcast, There is a lot of information about how to make the web accessible. There isn’t so much information about the people working to make the web accessible. Over the years that I’ve been involved with web accessibility, I have met a lot of very interesting people. I wanted to learn more about them, and meet new people involved in one way or another with web accessibility. The A11y Rules Podcast is…
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