About
Information on this page:
Accessibility
The first priority for this site was to ensure its accessibility.
The site adopts the specifications and standards published by the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C].
Every page of this site is checked using the W3C Markup Validation Service, before it is published to the internet.
You can learn more about W3C by following this link.
Cascading Style Sheets [CSS] are used for the site, ensuring a common - and accessible - layout across the site for various communication mediums, including:
- aural
- Braille
- embossed
- handheld devices [PDS and mobile phones]
- projection
- screen
- TTY
- TV, and
- presentations.
There are several CSS profiles, this site uses CSS Version 3.
For those who use their browsers [Firefox, Windows Internet Explorer, Safari etc.] without changing the default settings, this site uses CSS to lay each page out in a consistent way: the navigation pane appears to the right of each page, with links to other pages on the site, and a panel beneath the links contains the site search box and W3C validation symbols.
Those who adapt the settings of their browser - or use different technology - to make the internet more accessible, can use the site just as easily. If you prefer a plain page with text navigation links in a line, you can... all you need to do is set up your browser to suit your needs, rather than use my CSS.
If you would like to learn more about changing accessibility options in your browser, the developers web site should offer the information that you need. For example, Microsoft has a page on Internet Explorer Accessibility.
Please note
Somewhat strangely, whilst the CSS used for this site passes the W3C validation process, you will find that the W3C validation results list 14 'warnings'; this is less than a third of the warnings that W3C's home page generates using their own CSS validation service!
As this site produces no warnings for anything other than print and handheld versions of CSS, you can be assured that the site is completely accessible.
The Site
What is the purpose of the site?
This site was first published in 2004, as a means of keeping disabled Britons - and our representative organisations - informed about progress in negotiating a new UN human rights convention in favour of disabled people.
Since the UK signed the Convention - on 30 March 2007 - the site has been extended in an effort to increase awareness of human rights and disabled people's access to them. Not all of the items on the site - particularly 'In the News' - obviously relate to disability, but human rights apply to all, so human rights issues of general importance to all are also included on the site.
How often is the site updated?
Except for the few weeks I take away from work during the year, every day.
Some pages change more often than others though; for example, the 'In the News' section is updated every weekday and the Blog almost as often. By comparison, the human rights and FAQ pages, for example, have remain unchanged for months; this is because the information remains accurate and does not need updating.
Basically, please do not be put off by the fact that the home page, for example, has not changed since your last visit, I can guarantee there will have been plenty of changes to the site.
You may wish to create your own link to the RSS feed for the Blog, which will allow you to quickly identify the pages that have changed.
[Inter]National nature of the site
This site was initially created as a resource for disabled Britons and UK-based NGOs, this is particularly relevant to the views expressed on the site and the issues that are highlighted on it.
However, having seen the extent to which people from various parts of the globe are making use of the site - and the UK Government's commitment to supporting disabled people's struggle for human rights internationally - I am trying to broaden its appeal...
Is the site censored?
No, but a combination of legal and insurance liability does limit the material that can safely be published.
The alternative would be to submit every word intended for the site to a legal team, before publication...
Such legal and insurance constraints may be difficult to understand - particularly if you do not live in the UK - but they tend to act as an inevitable, if informal, 'censor' [see this George Monbiot article for further information]. They have also led to streamlining the material available on the site and the need to concentrate on providing information, rather than a means to let off steam!
Despite the restrictions described above, ODI does not - nor do its officials request - the power to censor or approve the content.
Is there anywhere else I can find out about the Convention?
Absolutely, and the 'links' page on this site provides information about some valuable (free) resources.
There is one site that you should visit regularly: the UN Enable web site.
You will find that this site is an excellent resource on the Convention - and wider UN efforts in the field of disability - which has grown substanitally over the past few years. Please note that because of the enormous interest in this site, you may have some difficulty reaching it from the links in this site; please do not report these difficulties to me, as the problem is due entirely to the sheer volume of visitors trying to access the site. Because of the time difference, readers in the UK may find it easier to visit the site in the morning, before North America wakes up!
Finally, bear in mind that organisations representing people with particular impairments — the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry or the World Blind Union, for example — also offer excellent sources of information and advice about issues of particular concern to the various groups that make up our diverse movement; once again, the 'links' page of this site is the first place to look for such resources.
Navigation
The site has been designed so that you can reach every page with no more than three clicks of your mouse.
The site has been divided into 7 sections:
- Home
- Blog
- Contact
- Information
- In the News
- Resources
- Site Map
All seven sections appear in the navigation pane to the left of each page.
If you select the 'Information', 'In the News' or 'Resources' pages, you will find that additional pages appear in the navigation pane, under these main headings.
There is also a 'bread-crumb trail' at the bottom of every page, this provides links to the home page, the main section you are in and, assuming the main section page has additional pages linked to it, the name of the page you are on.
So, for example, this page would show the following 'breadcrumb' trail:
Home > Information > about >
If all this sounds too complicated, there is a site map on the site and another provided by the FreeFind search facility...
Site search
The 'Site search' facility on the left of each page - below the navigation links - allows you to search for references to specific words or phrases on the Human Rights and Disability web site.
The results of your search will be shown in a page on the FreeFind web site; if you decide that none of the links on the page are what you are looking for, you will have to use the 'back' button on your web browser to return to this site.
The search result page also provides two excellent resources:
- a link to an index of individual words used on the site, and
- a site map.
Please bear in mind that the site search database is updated every Friday, so there may be a short delay whilst search items entered earlier that week are included in the search items.
Site owner
The site is owned and maintained by Dr Richard Light, the person nominated to represent disabled Britons (by organisations of disabled people) on the UK delegation during negotiation of the UN Disability Convention.
Since negotiation of the Convention was concluded - in 2006 - I have been retained as an adviser to the Department for Work and Pensions, the government department whose officials are working on the UK's ratification of the Convention.
And you are?
I am a disabled human rights activist, campaigner and researcher who has been involved in the disability movement for 20-years.
After acquiring my impairment - aged 29 - and losing the career that I had enjoyed since leaving school, I read for a law degree before obtaining a PhD under the supervision of Professor Mike Oliver (the 'father of the Social Model').
I have written - and spoken - regularly about disability studies, human rights, public policy and similar issues (including access to healthcare, bioethics, nanotechnology, employment, campaigning and social justice) for over 15-years.
From 1998 until 2002 I was the Director of Research at Disability Awareness in Action, an international disability and human rights network, where I was privileged to work with colleagues in all regions of the world.
Over the past six-years, a combination of the effects of my impairment and the time required to work on the Convention has meant a return to home-based, self-employment.
I was awarded an O.B.E. for 'services to disabled people' in the 2007 New Year's Honours and RADAR's 'Person of the Year Award', for 'contribution to international human rights', in 2006. In both cases, whilst humbled by the honour, I see them as acknowledging the sacrifices made by my family, who have spent far too much time with an absent husband/father and doing without all sorts of things provided by fathers with 'proper jobs'.
Outside work, my main interests are music and rugby.
Who pays for the site?
The site was originally made possible with financial support from the UK Department for Work and Pensions [DWP].
DWP continues to contribute to the cost of maintaining the site. I meet any additional costs and donate my time to increasing the material available on the site (don't worry, I am not seeking sainthood, I am not a lover of day-time television and you have to have some reason to get up, don't you?).
The site is privately owned but provided as a public resource.
Legal
1. Linking to this site
There is no need to write for permission to link to this site.
The sole purpose of the site is to make information available and, if you think that the site would be of interest to your visitors, please provide a link to it.
Please note, however, that you must not deep-link to, frame or use other techniques to enclose any part of the Human Rights and Disability web site.
2. Rights
All intellectual property rights, including copyright, in the content accessible on the Human Rights and Disability web site, including text, pictures or any other form are the property of Dr R J Light , by whom all rights are hereby reserved.
3. Use of the site
The web site and its content may only be used for personal, non-commercial use.
Personal use permits you to retrieve and display site content on a computer screen, screen readers or other technology that increases access to the site for disabled people. You may print, but not photocopy, one copy of individual files on paper and store files in electronic form on disc, but not on a server or other storage device connected to a network where other users can access material saved from this site.
Except as set out above, visitors to the site may not download, copy, reproduce, modify, store, archive, show in public, redistribute or commercially exploit any part of this web site without the prior written permission of Dr R J Light.
4. ‘Fair comment’
Every endeavour is made to ensure that the information contained on this site is both fair and accurate.
If you feel that anything on this site is unfair or inaccurate - to you or the organisation that you represent - please let me know immediately (there is a "Contact Me" link at the bottom of this and every page on the site).
5. Limitation of liability
Links to relevant articles and reports on external web sites are provided as a public service.
The owner of this site is not responsible for the content of any external site, including those for which links have been provided from this site.
The provision of a link or reference to an external article, report or web site does NOT indicate or imply agreement with the views expressed therein or confirm the accessibility of that site.