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Americans with Disabilities Act Resources

The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s Americans with Disabilities Act webpage provides staff access to the agency’s ADA resources. Please use the links below to learn more about FSSA’s ADA notice, user tester group, and relevant employee and visitor policies.

Accessibility and Nondiscrimination Notice

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and other applicable civil rights laws, FSSA does not discriminate against a qualified individual based on race, disability, religion, sex, or national origin in the receipt of or participation in services, programs, or other activities made available to other similarly qualified individuals.

Upon request, FSSA will provide appropriate aids, services or other reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with a disability to the best of their ability. Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service to equally participate in any program, service, or activity from FSSA may contact the ADA Coordinator with the Office of Healthy Opportunities at ada@fssa.in.gov. Please submit requests for to the ADA Coordinator at least two business days prior to when you will need the aids, services or other reasonable accommodations.

FSSA also strives to maintain a website that is compliant with all digital guidelines and is open to feedback. To provide feedback, file a complaint, or request assistance please contact the ADA Coordinator at ada@fssa.in.gov.

Please note, FSSA is not required to take any action that would fundamentally alter the nature of its programs or services or provide an accommodation that would impose an undue financial or administrative burden.

Accessibility Tool Kit

The Accessibility Tool Kit is a combination of policies, guides, and notices created by the Office of Healthy Opportunities in partnership with the Indiana State Personnel Department, FSSA Human Resources and other divisions. The purpose of each document is to equip employees and visitors with information to make well-informed decisions and provide equal access. All documents are reviewed and updated on an annual basis when applicable.

You can access policies in the tool kit below :

User Tester Group

FSSA welcomes volunteers with disabilities to provide feedback on improving FSSA’s accessibility for internal and external web content. The ADA defines a disability as a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. A person who has a record or history of having a disability, or an individual who is perceived as having a disability is also covered under this definition.

FSSA’s user testing group will improve how our agency communicates and provides services for persons with disabilities. We want to make sure that our staff and people who look for services from our agency can understand information from our webpages.

What will participating group members do?

Participating members will be asked to review webpage(s) and documentation as content is updated. During this review, members will provide feedback about their user experience when using assistive technology to read and interact with the information. Some questions for this review can include:

  • Is the content easy to locate?
  • Can you understand the information included?
  • Are you able to interact with the webpage to apply for or access services?
  • Is all the information accessible and compatible with assistive technology?
  • Are there additional concerns with how the information is presented?

What type of testers is FSSA looking for?

FSSA needs testers who have disabilities and use a variety of assistive technology. Common types of assistive technology used includes, but is not limited to:

  • Screen readers
  • Magnification programs
  • Captioning
  • Knowledge of American Sign Language
  • Familiarity with documentation written in plain language

How much time will it take?

The ADA Coordinator meets with the user tester group virtually on a bi-monthly basis for approximately one hour to provide an overview of the process for their review. During this meeting, the ADA Coordinator will share instructions for how group members should submit their feedback when reviewing any documentation or webpage. Members will complete their review independently. Duration for this independent review can range from 30 mins to 2 hours. The User Tester Group will continue to meet and review documentation on an ongoing basis until web content accessibility guidelines have been met by FSSA. Participation in the group is voluntary and members can leave at any time. New members may join the group at any time.

Please fill out this form if you are interested in providing feedback in a tester group setting via an electronic platform. Please contact the ADA Coordinator at ada@fssa.in.gov if you have questions.

Glossary

  • Accessibility barriers: architectural design of a building (e.g., stairs, doorways, hallway width, layout of room, etc.) which present additional barriers for people with disabilities.
  • Assistive Technology: refers to software programs, or software components of AT that require downloading third-party programs on FSSA computers. These types of software help people with disabilities perform their job duties and tasks. Other types of assistive technology will be covered in future policies.
  • Auxiliary aids: tools that help individuals with hearing, vision, or speech impairments effectively communicate with others. Auxiliary aids and services can include qualified readers, taped text, audio recording, braille and large print materials, or other methods of making audible, written, and visually represented information accessible to individuals.
  • Barrier removal: Removing or addressing architectural barrier removal where such removal can be carried out without much difficulty or expense.
  • Disability: the ADA defines a disability as a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. A person who has a record or history of having a disability, or an individual who is perceived as having a disability is also covered under this definition.
  • Reasonable accommodation: under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a reasonable accommodation is a modification or adjustment to a job, work environment, or the way things are usually done during the hiring process. These modifications enable an individual with a disability to have an equal opportunity to successfully perform their job tasks to the same extent as people without disabilities. Accommodations can be different for each employee and should be based on their individual needs.
  • Service animal: A dog or miniature horse that has been task trained to mitigate an individual’s disability or disabilities.
  • Emotional support animal: Any species of animal that is prescribed as a type of treatment to offer support for a disability. These animals are not task trained and are solely present for comfort and companionship. They are not considered service animals by the ADA and relevant laws.
  • Therapy animal: An animal that has undergone some behavioral training to obtain the certification to enter specific locations such as schools, medical facilities, and courtrooms to provide comfort to others. These animals do not perform tasks for the handler related to a disability and are not considered service animals by the ADA and relevant laws.
  • Web content accessibility guidelines: guidance describes how state and local governments and businesses open to the public can make sure that their websites are accessible to people with disabilities as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
  • User: a person who uses, manages, or operates an object or thing, usually machinery, technology, or other products.
  • User tester: a person who evaluates the usability, functionality, and their overall experience engaging with documentation, web content, product, or feature.