My name is Linda Thurston and I serve as the associate dean for research in the college of education and Kansas State University. I have been a member of AEA for 16 years and have been co-chair of the Disabilities and Other Vulnerable Populations TIG.
Lesson Learned:
Have you thought about the potential characteristics of your stakeholders? Are they just a regular bunch of community members? Agency personnel? Teachers and administrators? State legislators? Your regular bunch of stakeholders are likely to have these characteristics: 12 – 15% have experienced rape or other severe trauma; 20% have a disability (depending on ages); 15% have an invisible disability such as a learning disability or mental illness; and 12 percent of the males will probably be colorblind.
Hot Tip:
As evaluators, we know to involve stakeholders at every of our evaluations. How can we be sure we include these stakeholders in our reports and presentations? We need to be sure ALL our stakeholders can access evaluation materials at every stage. We need to consider out websites, the fonts we use, the colors of our graphics, the readability of our reports. Microsoft Office has a readability tool. Here are a few other Rad Resources that I have found helpful in responsive and inclusive evaluation.
Rad Resources:
- Guidelines for creating accessible printed posters (Gilson & Kitchin, 2007) http://bit.ly/11As8Ja
- Presentation accessibility guidelines (Association of University Centers on Disability) http://bit.ly/11h3OeR
- PowerPoint accessibility guidelines & template (American Public Health Association) http://bit.ly/13UOiuS
- Universal Design for Microsoft PowerPoint http://bit.ly/17N7uaP
The American Evaluation Association is celebrating the Disabilities and Other Vulnerable Populations TIG (DOVP) Week. The contributions all week come from DOVP members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org . aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.