Your agency’s Affirmative Action Plan contains a Reasonable Accommodation Policy and Procedure. Please review the policy and procedure in the plan and contact your agency’s ADA Coordinator and/or Affirmative Action Officer for additional information regarding the agency’s ADA and reasonable accommodation policies.

Act in accordance with the agency’s Reasonable Accommodation Policy and Procedure. Contact the ADA Coordinator and/or the Affirmative Action Officer at your agency. Many questions about reasonable accommodations are in the following areas: deaf and hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired and accessibility and alternative formats for events and publications.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing

State policy

All agencies, departments, divisions and units shall ensure that all meetings, training programs, other services and activities and the material associated with them are accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Notification

All agencies, departments, divisions and units shall include the meeting accessibility language, previously detailed in this policy statement, on all items which communicate the scheduling of such meeting, training or other services or activities.

There are sign language interpreters and oral interpreters.

A sign language interpreter is a trained professional who translates the spoken message into sign for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. This interpreter also translates the signed message into spoken language for hearing people. The interpreter is trained in the structure of American Sign Language, the causes and effects of deafness, and the use of body and facial expressions to convey one’s feelings.

An oral interpreter is a professional who enunciates a speaker’s remarks by means of natural lip movements with or without voice. The person is trained in utilizing optimum interpreting skills. This requires the ability to rephrase sentences involving homophones or low-visibility words and the ability to speak clearly.

To schedule an interpreter, contact one of the vendors that is listed in the vendor contract with the state’s Department of Administration. For more information contact the Department of Administration by visiting their Website at http://www.mmd.admin.state.mn.us/ or telephone them at (651)296-2600.  Parts of the Website are password protected so you must work with Fiscal at your agency to enter the site and to arrange a purchase order to cover the cost of the service at the time you setup the interpreter service.

• Sign Language Interpreter Referrals

When you telephone to request an interpreter, be prepared to provide the following information:

        Agency name
        Contact name
        Phone number
        Date(s) interpreter is needed
        Length of assignment
        Location of assignment

A TDD (telecommunication device for the deaf) or TTY (teletypewriter) is a communication device that allows persons who are deaf or hard of hearing to communicate by connecting with another TDD/TTY. TDD/TTY’s have a keyboard and operate off of a telephone line.  Individuals type questions and answers to one another on the device, which are printed on an internal paper printer and a 20-character display located at the top of the machine.

The ______________________________ has TDD/TTY’s installed at various locations.

Each TDD/TTY has an instruction manual located near it. Our office provides training on the use of a TDD/TTY. Contact your office manager if you wish to have training.

All agencies, departments, divisions and units shall include their TTY number(s) on all written material wherever a telephone number is listed. If an agency, department, division or unit does not receive frequent calls from persons using TTY’s, it will use the Minnesota Relay Service number and include the following statement in lieu of a TTY number.

For TTY communication, contact the Minnesota Relay Service at 7-1-1 or 1-800-627-3529.

The following statement meets the established general audience readability standards.

If you use a TTY, you can call us using the Minnesota Relay Service at 7-1-1 or 1-800-627-3529.

The Minnesota Relay Service allows people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech impaired to communicate over regular telephone lines with people who are not communication impaired. The MRS operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The relay number in the metro area is 7-1-1, in the greater Minnesota the number is 1-800-657-3529. When a relay operator answers, give the operator your area code and phone number. Then give the operator the name, area code and phone number of the person you want call. When the person is on the line the operator will type what you say to the TDD-user, and speak to you what the TTY user types.

Relay operators have been trained in ethics, procedure and American Sign Language grammar. They will relay the conversation from you to the person you are calling, but they will not interfere, advise or handle your business for you. All calls are confidential. MRS ask users to be patient with the relay process since it involves phone transfers, computer procedures, etc.

The MRS will not:

• store messages to relay later.
• act as an information referral or directory assistance service.
• be a direct source of counseling or intervention.
• call multi-person “chat lines.”

When using MRS please remember the following:

• Have all information you are going to relay ready when you call. Operators cannot wait while you look up information or telephone numbers.

Decisions on closed captioning should be in accordance with the state policy.

State policy
All agencies, department, divisions and units that develop, use or purchase films or videos will buy or develop them with either open or closed captioning effective 12/31/94. The exception to this policy is: 1) the material will not be used for on-going training; 2) the material will be shown to a specific known audience which does not require open captioning for equal access to the material. Any films/videos which were purchased before 12/31/94 that are not captioned may continue to be used, but will be captioned upon request or as a requested reasonable accommodation.

Notification
The entity using these films/videos will notify the viewing audience and/or their representative, in advance of the showing.  This is to ensure that an accessible format is available upon request and the period of advance notice needed to accommodate the request is sufficient.
All agencies, departments, divisions and units shall identify vendors for film/video captioning, real-time captioning services, and a listing (with location) of closed-caption equipment available within their immediate location.

Any agency electing to use close-captioning shall ensure that decoder equipment is available and in working order prior to the scheduled showing of any video/film.

Definitions
Open-captioning: Written words are visible on the screen without the use of a caption decoder.
   
Closed-captioning: Written words are not visible on the screen without the use of a caption decoder.

The Metro Regional Service Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Division is available to provide technical assistance, training, and/or recommendations regarding captioning access for deaf/hard of hearing persons. 651/297-1313 TTY or 651/297-1316 V.

Close captioning of video tapes should be arranged through the agency’s ADA Coordinator or Affirmative Action Officer.

Blind and Visually Impaired

State policy
All agencies, departments, divisions and units shall ensure that all meetings, training programs, other services and activities and the material associated with them are accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired.

Notification
All agencies, departments, divisions and units shall include the meeting accessibility language, previously detailed in this policy statement, on all items which communicate the scheduling of such meeting, training or other services or activities.

State Services for the Blind and Visually Handicapped will produce materials in Braille. For information about this service contact SSB at (651) 642-0500; Metro TTY (651) 642-0506; or toll free in Minnesota: (800) 652-9000 (voice and TTY). One page of print is usually two pages of Braille.

When sending materials to SSB (2200 University Avenue W., Suite 240, St. Paul, MN [interoffice mail]) you must include a purchase order that you should obtain through your office manager. The cost of Braille is $1.95 cents per page. One or two pages of material can be reproduced in Braille in a one or two-day time period.

The SSB can produce cassette tapes at a cost of $25.00 per tape for a custom recording and the first cassette copy and $4.00 per tape for each additional copy. A purchase order should be obtained through your agency’s fiscal office and sent to SSB, 2200 University Avenue W., Suite 240, St. Paul, MN. Kathy Baker, Tape Librarian, is the contact at SSB and her telephone number is (651) 649-5903 or 1-800-652-9000 in Greater Minnesota.

If the tape will be played in a standard machine, you should indicate 1 7/8’s (standard) on the purchase order. If the tape will be played in a specialized machine for someone who is visually impaired, you should note that on the purchase order.

SSB can duplicate additional copies of a tape at a cost of $25.00 each. If materials are copyrighted, SSB will have to duplicate additional copies. If materials are not copyrighted you may have a cassette duplicated by contacting Kathy Baker.

Digital recording – the original recording using DAISY Digital CDs is $25.00 per CD. Copies of the original recordings are $4.00 per CD.

Large print is generally 14 to 18 point size. You may be able to enlarge material using the copying equipment in your agency. Also, you can have your office manager check with state printing to see if materials can be enlarged at various copy centers or you may go to an outsider vendor.

Before you enlarge materials you should find out what size print is needed by the individual.

You could ask an individual making a request to mail you a sample copy or if he/she had access to a FAX machine, a sample could be sent to you that way.

Events and publications

State policy
All agencies, departments, divisions and units that develop, use and/or purchase written materials for distribution to the public will ensure that each document contain a statement indicating that alternative formats will be provided upon request.

Written notification
The following statement must be included on all new materials and must be added to existing materials when they are reprinted. Preprinted materials in use prior to reprinting shall have a label attached that contains the following statement.

Yes, you are responsible for ensuring that the meeting place is accessible. Use the Off-site Accessibility Checklist found in the ADA Tool Box and complete a survey of the proposed site.

On your notification of the event, include a sentence asking anyone who needs an accommodation to contact you at a voice telephone number or a TDD/TTY number so that you can arrange to provide the accommodation. You may use the following sentence:

If you need an accommodation for a disability (i.e., sign language interpreter, Braille, wheelchair accessibility, etc.), this can be made available upon advance request. Please call ______________ (voice) or _________________ (TDD/TTY) as soon as possible to arrange an accommodation.

If I am going to be speaking at an event, seminar, etc., which is sponsored by another agency or organization, not our office, do I have to make arrangements for reasonable accommodations?

When you send your letter of acceptance to the sponsoring organization include a sentence advising the group that it should notify all who will be attending that reasonable accommodations can be provided and a telephone number to call to make requests for accommodations.

Follow the State policy.

This document can be made available in alternative formats, such as large print, Braille or audio tape, by calling ___________ Voice or _______________ TTY.

The following statement meets the established general audience readability standards.

This material can be given to you in different forms, like large print, Braille or on a tape, if you call _____________ Voice or ______________ TTY and ask.

If the brochures, or other materials are in heavy demand by the public, you should have a few copies of these materials in alternate format on hand.