Voice Your Concerns: Accessibility to Digital and Web-Based Resources for Outdoor Recreation
Please join Congressman Kim for a community conversation about high-speed internet access in New Jersey on October 5th at 2 PM.
Hello, Access Nature community.
October has quite the eclectic grouping of disability awareness concerns ranging from mobility, cognitive, intellectual, congenital, and acquired disabilities. October observes several awareness days and month-long causes within the disability world. There is American Veterans Disabled for Life Awareness Day on October 5th, World Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day on October 6th, Down Syndrome Awareness Month, Learning Disability Awareness Month, and Spina Bifida Awareness Month to name a few. One thing that all these individuals from diverse backgrounds will have in common is the desire to have access to vital information; information that could help them discover and enjoy possibilities for outdoor adventures.
We are now in the fall season. The summer heat has passed for cooler temperatures to set in. While there is still pleasant weather for more outdoor recreation as the leaves change, opportunities and focus begin to transition into planning and conversation for projects and goals for the future.
With that, I’d like to advertise an opportunity for the disabled community and allies to be a part of discussions concerning state funding. On October 5th, 2023 at 2:00 PM Congressman Andy Kim’s office is hosting a webinar to discuss the funding coming to New Jersey (this is over $263 million) from the Bilateral Infrastructure Law to enhance internet connectivity and ensure access. This is a great opportunity to express the need for funding, development, and incorporation of accessibility resources and best practices when providing information through web-based and digital mediums.
The webinar will be led by staff from the Commerce Department of New Jersey and the Department of Public Utilities who are generating a plan of how to best apply this funding. One of the focal points is hearing from people within the disability community about their needs as far as digital equity and accessibility.
If diverse and underrepresented communities aren’t heard, they’ll be left out when grants are being developed and funding distributed. So, speak out and be heard!!