To: Melanie Eley, Tim Slone,

From: Rose Ewald

Date: April 21, 2020
Subject: Mock-up for UNCG Accessibility Portal
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Executive Summary
This report summarizes the results of my efforts to create a mock-up for the UNCG Accessibility portal,
which will serve as a "one stop shop" for people with disabilities at UNCG, so they can easily find the
information and links to relevant services they may need. An Accessibility portal is considered a best
practice for public-facing organizations. Located on the UNCG home page, it would serve existing and
future students, faculty, staff, alumni, and visitors to the campus, would be easy to find, and is in line
with our efforts around diversity, equity, and inclusion. Analysis of existing disability-related policies and
procedures revealed several deficiencies, gaps in services, and unmet needs. The most urgently needed
items are written policies and procedures for emergency evacuation of people with disabilities, and
clearly identified locations for emergency shelters and areas of refuge or rescue assistance.
Safety Information. The safety and emergency information in the Accessibility portal needs to include
such things as: instructions for how to install the LiveSafe App on Android and Apple phones, maps
showing the location of areas of refuge or rescue assistance for each floor in each building on campus,
and maps showing the location of emergency shelters that are wheelchair accessible. In addition, signs
need to be installed on each floor in each building that 1) clearly identify the areas of refuge or rescue
assistance, 2) provide the campus police emergency number, and 3) clearly indicate the person’s
location (Building, floor, etc.) so they can provide that information to the campus police when they call.
Emergency Procedures. The existing emergency procedures do not address what a person with a
disability should do in the event of an emergency. Written emergency evacuation procedures need to
specify the options available to people with disabilities who cannot evacuate a building, e.g., when to
use horizontal or vertical evacuation, when to use areas of refuge or rescue assistance, and when to
shelter in place. In addition, anyone who is providing assistance to the person with the disability needs
instructions about how to best assist that person to reach shelter or safely evacuate, and how to handle
specific situations, such as deafness, blindness, mobility issues, or use of a service animal. The University
of Kansas Public Safety website has excellent examples of detailed emergency evacuation procedures
that could be used as prototypes to develop something similar for use at UNCG.
Emergency Management. The existing voluntary self-disclosure process for people who have a disability
is fragmented, decentralized, and inconsistent. The Accessibility portal could include an online form to
create a Personal Action Plan that provides emergency management or first responders with specific
information about which buildings the person frequently uses, where they plan to take shelter in each
building, and what type(s) of disability they have. The University of Kansas Public Safety website has an
online Personal Action Plan that UNCG could use as a prototype to develop something similar.
Accommodations/Emergency Preparedness for Event Planning. The existing event planning policy and
procedures do not specify what Event Planners must do to ensure that their event complies with Section
504 and ADA accessibility requirements. They also do not identify the evacuation procedures or other
emergency preparedness information Event Planners must be familiar with in order to ensure the safety
of attendees or participants with disabilities, if an emergency occurred during the event. The University
of Connecticut Disability Services website has accommodation/accessibility checklists for use by Event
Planners. The University of Kansas Public Safety website also has an emergency preparedness form for
Event Planners to complete, which can be submitted to the Emergency Management Office.
Incomplete Items
The policies and procedures for emergency preparedness and safety, as discussed above, are the most
urgent, because UNCG’s current policies and procedure do not specifically address assisting people with
disabilities, and therefore, people with disabilities at UNCG do not have this information. On the
attached Site Map, which shows the menu tabs and the items included on each tab, most of the items
were completed using available information from various locations on UNCG websites.
 Incomplete items discussed above are in bold red font on the Maps, Safety, and Planning tabs.
 On the Maps tab, there are two additional incomplete items: Accessible Facilities, indicating the
locations of accessible bathrooms, doors, and elevators in each building, and Nursing Mother’s
Rooms, showing where they are found in each building on campus. Accessible seating maps for
campus auditoriums, recital halls, stadiums, and sporting fields could also go in this tab
 On the About tab, the Our Location page needs a Google map that shows the location of OARS in
the EUC, without a lot of clutter on the map (Yum Yum’s, BoJangles, CVS, etc.).
 For the Events link on the right side, it remains to be determined where the data would live and
who would update it to keep it current. This link would be established once that is determined.
 For the Alerts link on the right side, this would be linked to wherever the notices are posted for
any repairs or closures that affect accessibility, such as elevators, sidewalks, etc.
 In some places in the Mock-up of the Accessibility portal, which is currently in PowerPoint, there
are items in red font; this information is unknown at this time, and will need to be updated.
 A “Google Translate” option would allow the contents to be displayed in selected languages.

Work in Progress
During my internship, I met several times with a working group consisting of representatives from OARS,
Environmental Health and Safety (EHS), and UNCG Online. The working group was an invaluable source
of information, ideas, and support, and they are continuing to work on pending items.
 An interim, abbreviated Accessibility portal will be operational by May, 2020.
 EHS is developing an accessible interactive map that will include accessible entrances and
bathroom locations for all buildings. The link for this map will be included in the Mock-up.
 EHS is reviewing the University of Kansas Personal Action Plan and emergency evacuation
procedures, and will contact their Public Safety office for more information if needed
 EHS and UNCG Online are reviewing the evacuation procedures and emergency preparedness
information for Event Planners and will contact the University of Connecticut if necessary

Conclusions and Future Directions

UNCG has made significant efforts to eliminate discrimination and is committed to a culture of equity,
inclusion, and diversity. Creating the Accessibility portal is a culturally appropriate and responsive
solution that will help eliminate physical and academic barriers for people with disabilities at UNCG.
Once the Accessibility portal is complete, it could be rolled out by asking faculty to make an
announcement in each class. On an ongoing basis, it could be promoted by including a notice and a link
on every syllabus, similar to what is done now for OARS academic accommodations.
The Accessibility portal can be promoting by OARS and HRL during SOAR, Welcome Week, Fall Kickoff,
Spring Fling, etc, and by the Zeta Phi chapter of Delta Alpha Pi International Honor Society. It can also be
supported by Human Resources, the Office of Emergency Management, and Campus Police having a
notice and a link to it on their respective websites and by having them promote it when they have
interactions with people at UNCG who have disabilities.