Clift Notes: Memphis Advisory Council for Citizens with Disabilities

Clift Notes: MACCD looks for accessible media

On Wednesday, February 7, 2018, Sandi Klink and I attended the first meeting of the Memphis Advisory Council for Citizens with Disabilities (MACCD) held in 2018.  It was my first meeting since being elected as chairperson for the council in November.  

I knew I had big shoes to fill which were left by our previous chairperson, Gary Smith.  But I had prepared myself as much as possible.  

The agenda was written, reminders sent, and the weather was looking fairly cooperative, unlike in January when we had to cancel our first meeting due to snow and ice on the ground.  I even had cake to celebrate Gary’s retirement from working with the state and my first agenda item was listed as “Let them eat cake.”

Some of the things discussed were the committee reports and assigning of committee chairs. 

Housing and Community Access Chairperson: Gary Smith

Education and Employment Chairperson: Stephanie Jones

Transportation chairperson: Deborah Carter

Disability Awareness chairperson: Carlene Leaper

The council identified and discussed the process used to ensure that future social media videos and pictures are accessible to all persons with disabilities.  This includes any meetings of the City Council that are streamed live on the internet.  

This project will be headed up by the City of Memphis Information Systems department and be included in the ADA self-evaluation planning.  A potential completion date has not been given, but the council will continue to monitor progress.  Deaf Connect have asked to be a part of the evaluation process as it moves forward to finding a solution.  Possible solutions are captioning and live sign interpretation.

 

The next meeting of the MACCD is scheduled for Wednesday, March 21, 2018 from 2:00-4:00 PM at City Hall in the fourth floor Conference Room.  All meetings of the council and its committees are open to the public.  To become more involved or for more information please contact Christina Clift at (901) 726-6404 or e-mail christina@mcil.org.