Eppley’s National Center on Accessibility (NCA) program continues to busy working with public agencies and private organizations around the nation. Recent work with U.S. Forest Service on accessibility, along with continued work training professionals on the fundamentals of accessibility in the outdoors, parks and recreation are being offered in TN, and VA. The NCA has always offered training, technical assistance, and site assessment that supports accessibility in outdoor recreation settings since its founding in 1993 tailoring its work to the needs of agencies and groups of professionals.
An emerging trend among agencies and accessibility training and assessments is related to the way in which agencies typically ‘partner’ or collaborate in programming and site management efforts, making common knowledge and operating practices a challenge. In addressing this need, NCA has begun tailoring the Regional Accessibility Workshops to meet the needs of those collaborative efforts. Recently in Tennessee, and soon in Virginia, NCA staff designs and conducts multi-day trainings organized by a host agency and open to other nearby parks and public lands entities. This approach maximizes NCA’s reach in supporting efforts for universal design, compliance, and programmatic access. The program, rooted in the mission of NCA and Eppley, helps agencies that host training in their location meet their needs, neighboring agency needs, partners need, and promotes accessibility collaboration across agency and geographic lines. Contact the Eppley NCA staff to find out more about coordinating a scheduling an Accessibility Regional Workshop for your agency, at your location.