Accessibility Committee Update

UUCC’s Accessibility Committee has been reviewing the results from the accessibility survey and begun work on a few of the suggestions. We know it is important to update the congregation so you know your voices have been heard and taken seriously. There are still many more comments that we are looking into and if you do not see something you mentioned in the list below, know that we have it and are considering every comment and giving each one time and space.

Read to the bottom for a volunteer need! The task is simple and once a week.

Progress to date

• Building Doors:
  • We have reported your concerns about the automatic doors not always being turned on to the appropriate parties.
  • Additionally, the doors to the building have been repaired (this was accomplished by Owen Brown Interfaith Center (OBIC) staff before the Accessibility Committee even looked at survey responses; thanks, OBIC staff!).
    
• Coffee hour:
  • We have arranged for more chairs and tables in coffee hour to accommodate more people’s needs to sit.
  • We have also arranged for the doors to outside to be kept open on nice days to provide more seating and a place for congregants to take a break from the stimulation of coffee hour.
• Worship seating:
  • We have arranged for a dozen arm chairs to be scattered among Sanctuary C seating on Sundays, with open spaces next to them–this has been in place for about 6 months now.
    • These seats are intended for people who need arms on the chairs for any multitude of accessibility reasons.
    • The empty spaces near them are for people with wheelchairs, strollers, walkers, canes, or other equipment that need space to exist.
    • We’ve created signs for the seats with arms to indicate that they are priority seating.
• Water fountain: The upstairs water fountain has been fixed. OBIC staff took care of this before our work on the survey began.
• Lighting: OBIC management and UUCC volunteers have been discussing and addressing lighting issues before our work on the survey.
  • You may notice improved lighting throughout the building over time. This is thanks to the OBIC board and staff, and will result in significant efficiency savings.
  • UUCC staff and sound team are looking into the sanctuary stage lighting–there are bulbs out and they are very costly to replace!

You can always email the accessibility team at accessibility@uucolumbia.net if you have questions or concerns.

We could use volunteer help from one (1) congregant!

Staff member Hannah Nelson has been trying to produce a version of the order of service each week that is accessible to people who use screen readers on their devices. Our current version of a pdf does not work for these apps, but is otherwise more accessible in many other ways. Unfortunately, Hannah often runs out of time by the end of the week to get this document prepared and put on the website. Is there someone with proficient skills in Microsoft Word who would be willing and able to do this single, once-a-week task to make our congregation more accessible to those with sight impairment? Email Hannah if you would like to learn more: hannah@uucolumbia.net.