Focus on ALFA - Accessible Work Life for All

In Sweden, Equal focuses on diversity in work life. Its objective is a work life without discrimination and inequality, and characterised by diversity. A non-discriminative work life utilises every-one's skills and potential, irrespective of gender, age, ethnicity ethnic, sexual preferences or impairment.

Between 2002 and 2005, 46 Equal partnerships will be carried out in Sweden, all of them strongly committed to achieve sustain-able change within society. The Development partnerships are always cross-sectoral involving NGOs, the public sector, the industry and labour market organisations.

In Equal's action III, the analytical and opinion-forming work will be organised in theme groups also including researchers and politicians.

The managing authority for the Equal program in Sweden is the Swedish ESF Council, http://www.esf.se/.

The ALFA Project
It is more difficult for people with disabilities to find work than for the rest of the population - a fact causing a great waste of re-sources for society. One major cause is the lack of knowledge on how workplaces should be made accessible. Prejudice and preconceived ideas also contribute to the fact that disabled people are not seen as a natural part of the workforce.

The ALFA project has a unique concept: to develop models making workplaces accessible for all.

ALFA co-operates with projects from the United Kingdom, Fran-ce, Spain, Portugal and Italy to develop a European model of integration. Our focus lies on sharing experiences and creating contacts for a European labour market where the key words are diversity and tolerance.

Accessibility
We see accessibility as four integrated parts, each one equally important to achieve an accessible environment or situation.

Physical accessibility - the buildings, out-door environment and means of transportation must be designed in such a way that every-one can move in an easy way. Certain stipulated demands must be fulfilled concerning for instance height, breadth and inclination. It is also important that the workplace is adapted so that people with invisible impairments such as allergies are able to work.

Psychosocial accessibility, attitudes - is a matter of interaction - of the understanding, awareness and knowledge needed to achieve non-discriminating workplaces. For instance by giving people time to speak, adapting the length of the meetings, avoiding the use of strong perfumes or smoking at entrances. People shall not have to ask for shown respect - everybody should be able to participate in work life.

Informative accessibility - information must be designed in such a way that it can be used by all. This implies, among other things, that written information and other text documents must be avail-able in a range of alternative media.

Communicative accessibility - people's opportunity to hear and participate in discussions are based on that they have the opportunity to communicate. Sign interpretation, hearing loops and good acoustic environment create possibilities for participation. For instance, websites and intranets should obviously be designed in such a way that all workers can access them.

Competence Centres
ALFA is going to create regional competence centres for accessibility throughout Sweden. Specially trained persons with disabilities will be attached to these centres them as consultants to convey knowledge and skills about work life accessibility. The consultants together with the competence centres will be key in influencing and supporting the companies' accessibility work.

Internet platform
The ALFA project has created a virtual Internet platform for knowledge sharing and creation of new knowledge about work life accessibility. It is user-friendly for people with disabilities, and plays an important role in the project's opinion-forming work for an accessible work life for all. Apart from being a traditional website, it also works as a communication tool for the project participants.  

The media's description of people with disabilities affects their chances to find work. This is why ALFA, together with leading Swedish media companies such as Swedish Radio and Dagens Nyheter, a daily newspaper, runs a partnership aiming at improving competence in terms of disability. Another partner is the University of Gothenburg, whishing to add disability issues to their journalism curriculum.

Better informed journalists are able to convey a more varied-nuanced picture of people with disabilities, and thus influence union representatives and other parties on the labour market to see this group as a workforce in its own right.

We are the ALFA Project
The Swedish Disability Federation
The Hadar Foundation
The City of Stockholm
ETC Produktion AB
The City of Gothenburg
The Royal Institute of Technology
The Swedish Handicap Institute

For more information, please contact:
Our coordinator: Erik Särrnell erik.sarnell@hso.se

Websites:
National http://alfa.etc.se
Transnational   http://http://www.tie3.org