May 28, 2020 - Beginning in the winter of 2019, WIOA partners throughout Colorado worked collaboratively to increase knowledge around programmatic accessibility* in the workforce system using funding from a Disability Employment Initiative (DEI) grant. The Colorado project was recently recognized and published on WorkforceGPS as a disability and employment best practice being implemented by a DEI grantee.
The project began to develop when partners in Colorado recognized that workforce centers were focused on ensuring physical accessibility, but were not sure how to strengthen programmatic accessibility as outlined in Section 188 of WIOA. To address this challenge, Colorado WIOA partners, through the Job Seeker Services Alignment Accessibility Team, developed training materials to support WIOA core program partners and help staff members understand programmatic access and have resources for implementation.
The Accessibility Team consulted with Colorado’s DEI stakeholders and decided to train Colorado’s workforce system on this material through an online course. The goal for the training was to provide information related to WIOA Section 188, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Rehabilitation Act. The Accessibility Team also created a Programmatic Accessibility Self-Evaluation Toolkit designed for WIOA partners to evaluate progress on accessibility in their local areas.
Between October 2019 and February 2020, the course was completed by more than 200 professionals in Colorado’s workforce system. In response to popular demand from state offices, partners, nonprofits, and businesses, the online course was made available to the public in March 2020 at the Rocky Mountain ADA Center’s website.
The CWDC was proud to support this project through our Education & Training Steering Committee. Thank you to all our WIOA partners who worked to make this project a reality and improve the capability of Colorado’s public workforce system. Learn more about the project.
*The term “programmatic accessibility” includes providing reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities, making reasonable modifications to policies, practices, and procedures, administering programs in the most integrated setting appropriate, communicating with persons with disabilities as effectively as with others, and providing appropriate auxiliary aids or services, including assistive technology devices and services, where necessary to afford individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in, and enjoy the benefits of the program or activity. 29 CFR 38.13(b)