ACCESSIBLE & INCLUSIVE DESIGN
Overview
Helix Opportunity’s™ design process transcends mere “access” or “inclusion” to create unique and meaningful experiences that all customers can share in together. We have developed a unique approach called Common Sense Design which is based on the fact that every human being is unique, with a distinctive set of sensory and functional strengths, weaknesses, and preferences. We take this into account in every design decision, from the floor layout of a classroom to the color palette of a mobile application.
Common Sense Design
The process begins with defining a Provocative Purpose (the meaningful experience) and then designing ways to deliver that experience to as many human senses as possible: sight, sound, touch, smell and even taste when possible. This creates a powerful connection among customers with your product, environment, or service, as well as with each other. This design approach also creates stronger memories due to the direct involvement of the sensory processing regions of the brain in creating and storing emotional memories.
Common Sense Design prioritizes the goal of providing every individual with the ability to engage using whatever combination of senses and abilities they prefer. We have helped brands, products, and environments fully engage all people, including people with disabilities, in a seamless and fully shared collective experience for over 15 years.
Contact UsAPPRENTICESHIP
Helix Opportunity developed the 1st digital accessibility Registered Apprenticeship Program in the United States. Our digital accessibility Registered Apprenticeship Program is unique in that it is the only formal, structured, and nationally recognized education and training program, in digital accessibility, available that combines the two most common forms of career and occupational learning: classroom instruction with on-the-job training, acting as a global talent pipeline to increase the availability of qualified digital accessibility professionals for any company in the world to hire. What we mean is that, traditionally, companies utilize Registered Apprenticeship Programs for internal recruiting needs, but our program is designed to skill up qualified digital accessibility professionals, with disabilities, and staff them out at employer-partners to fulfill their digital accessibility needs, and ultimately lower the cost of developing, remediating, and maintaining, accessible products, environments, and services.
Digital accessibility Apprentices not only learn digital accessibility skills in the classroom, but their learning is expanded to include hands-on, paid, on-the-job training. Apprentices learn and practice all phases of the digital accessibility occupation in real-world applications. Having a digital accessibility Registered Apprenticeship Program means that the United States Department of Labor has approved and validated that our digital accessibility apprenticeship curriculum meets industry-vetted standards.
Digital Accessibility Developer Apprenticeship
BECOME AN EMPLOYER PARTNER and make digital accessibility a part of the digital transformation of your company, organization, or economy, while providing meaningful employment opportunities to local professionals with disabilities. Employer partners benefit from highly trained accessibility professionals with developer qualifications, at a minimal cost. Deliver on your committment to digital accessibility by leveraging real accessibility professionals with disabilities in your Software Development Life Cycle. Please contact Helix Opportunity™ at info@helixopp.com to learn more about how your organization can participate.
This Digital Accessibility Developer Apprenticeship Program has been reviewed, and approved by the U.S Department of Labor. It is recognized as an industry-driven, high-quality career pathway where employers can develop and prepare their future workforce, and individuals with disabilities can obtain paid work experience, receive progressive wage increases, classroom instruction, and a portable, nationally-recognized credential.
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ACCESSIBILITY PROFESSIONALS
The IAAP recognizes that Helix Opportunity’s Digital Accessibility Developer Registered Apprenticeship Program strategically aligns with the mission, objectives, and goals of the International Association of Accessibility Professionals, and it’s membership. We have entered into a strategic collaboration in a unified approach to developing and delivering, vocational education and training, in digital accessibility career fields that lead to meaningful employment opportunities in the digital accessibility industry.
Helix Opportunity and the IAAP are working together, through this Digital Accessibility Developer Registered Apprenticeship Program, to create a robust, industry-leading academic ecosystem for professional development in digital accessibility careers that will lead to employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.The IAAP and Helix Opportunity share a common vision to drive disability inclusion through accessible and inclusive design best practices and to use ICT to transform every aspect of life for individuals with disabilities and foster ICT-enabled social and economic development. The synergies between us are demonstrated by our shared objectives and beliefs in:
1. Organizational Development, to develop resources and programs by which organizations, corporations, and government entities can learn and grow their accessibility strategies to increase overall access and opportunities for persons with disabilities;
2. Individual Professional Development, to develop and implement activities, including a certification program, that enables professionals working in accessibility and those interested in knowing more about accessibility to influence and implement accessibility within any organization;
3. Community Development, to develop a program to make connections amongst the broader accessibility community and beyond to support existing efforts and growing the numbers within the profession.
-
Employer-Partner Benefits
Cost-effective
Accessibility impact at scale
Accessibility professionals with disabilities
Contingent labor -
Apprenticeship Program Highlights
U.S. Department of Labor Registered, and approved program
242 hours of classroom training
International Association of Accessibility Professionals approved curriculum
California Office of Education approved curriculum
Certification in Accessibility Core Competencies -
Locations
United States and its territories
Latin America and Caribbean
Europe Asia-Pacific
Remote -
Vocational Rehabilitation Services
On Job Training
Job Coaching
Equipment
software
Other services, as needed
Consulting
Brand Development
Branding is your expression of the essential truth or value of your organization, products, and services. There are fundamental differences in how to attract, invite, welcome, and meaningfully engage all customers, especially customers with disabilities. Many brands have difficulty achieving this feat with equity. Simple errors or oversights can be significant obstacles, either practical or emotional, for people with disabilities.
Helix Opportunity specializes in meaningfully engaging and emotionally connecting with consumers with disabilities, without unintentionally stigmatizing them as deviant from the norm. Our approach resonates with consumers with disabilities as buyers, securing loyalty that transforms customers into brand advocates and evangelists.
Design of Physical/Virtual Products & Environments
As applied to the design of physical spaces, the goal of Common Sense Design is to enhance and unify the experience for every person who interacts with the location. Removing barriers is essential but far from sufficient. Everything from traffic patterns to the auditory environment and even the ambient odor has an impact and can be tuned to optimize results. For digital environments and products, we utilize cutting-edge technologies to harness the brain’s neuroplasticity through touch points that deliver bursts of neurotransmitters, such as anandamide, dopamine, endorphins, oxytocin, and serotonin. This neuropsychological design technique can alleviate stress, increase happiness, reduce depression, enhance motivation and focus, increase cognition, facilitate diverse bonding, stave off destructive addiction behaviors, mitigate the onset of PTSD and psychosis episodes, and even reduce sexual harassment. Neuropsychological design techniques are the most powerful influencer of human behavior. Our design methodology focuses on providing unique and meaningful experiences that everyone can share in together, without being unintentionally stigmatized by their differences (functional ability, age, language, culture, background, or perspective).
Design of Business Strategies & Processes
A collaborative, productive, and innovative work environment values the strengths of each person and builds on successes to create a culture where individuals of all backgrounds, cultures, perspectives and functional abilities work better together. By applying Common Sense Design principles to the development of business strategies and processes, organizations are able to achieve Harmony at Work. This brings substantial operational efficiencies, greater employee satisfaction, and the creative nimbleness that leads to true market leadership.
Let's Get StartedTRAINING
Helix Opportunity supports your digital transformation efforts by training professionals to develop, audit, monitor, and remediate products, processes, services, and environments, to ensure that they are accessible to, and inclusive of, all internal and external customer needs.
We leverage our work with the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Accessibility Initiative, International Telecommunication Union, Global Initiative for Inclusive Information Communication Technology, and International Association of Accessibility Professionals to develop. And deliver, industry leading training related to digital accessibility and inclusive design.
All of our training is offered through Helix Opportunity Institute, a division of Helix Opportunity LLC. Please visit our Custom developed, accessible, and inclusive, online learning management system at helixopp.institute to create a free account, browse our complimentary offerings, and sign up for paid learning content. Helixopp.institute is not yet optimized for smartphone visual interfaces.
Find Out MoreAccessibility Core Competencies
Our Certified Professionals in Accessibility Core Competencies Training consists of 100 hours of instructor-led, online, training covering 3 main course topics: Disabilities, Challenges and Assistive Technologies, Digital Accessibility Standards Laws and Management Strategies, as well as Accessible and Universal Design.
This training prepares you for the International Association of Accessibility Professionals Certified Professionals in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) exam. More course details can be found below.
-
This curriculum is U.S. Department of Labor approved based on industry standards.
-
The California Office of Education approved this curriculum meets the requirements of Higher Learning at the University level.
-
This Program is approved for HR (General) re-certification credit hours toward aPHR™, aPHRi™, PHR®, PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR®, PHRi™ and SPHRi™ re-certification through HR Certification Institute® (HRCI®). -
his Program is valid for 100 recertification credits for the SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP®) and SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP®) credentials. -
Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies Curriculum
Disabilities, Challenges, and Assistive Technologies – 30 Hours
Lesson 1 Theoretical Models of Disability
Lesson 2 Disability Demographics and Statistics
Lesson 3 Categories and Characteristics of Disabilities and Associated Barriers
Lesson 4 Assistive Technologies and Adaptive Strategies
Lesson 5 Disability Etiquette -
Digital Accessibility Standards, Laws and Management Strategies – 40 Hours
Lesson 1 Disability Rights and Accessibility
Lesson 2 Legal Framework of Digital Accessibility
Lesson 3 Management Strategies to Support Accessibility
Lesson 4: Management Strategies
Lesson 5: Workflow Strategies -
Accessible and Universal Design – 30 Hours
Lesson 1 Overview of Universal Design
Lesson 2 Universal Design in the physical world
Lesson 3 Universal Design on the World Wide Web
Lesson 4 Universal Design for Learning (UDL) -
Web Accessibility Specialist
Our Web Accessibility Specialist Training consists of 100 hours of instructor-led, virtual, training covering 2 main course topics: Creating and Managing Accessible Web Content, as well as Programming for Web Applications.
This training prepares you for the International Association of Accessibility Professionals Web Accessibility Specialist (WAS) exam. More course details can be found below.
-
This curriculum is U.S. Department of Labor approved based on
industry standards. -
The California Office of Education approved this curriculum meets the requirements of Higher Learning at the University level.
-
This Program is approved for HR (General) re-certification credit hours toward aPHR™, aPHRi™, PHR®, PHRca®, SPHR®, GPHR®, PHRi™ and SPHRi™ re-certification through HR Certification Institute® (HRCI®). -
his Program is valid for 100 recertification credits for the SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP®) and SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP®) credentials. -
Web Accessibility Specialist Curriculum
Creating and Managing Accessible Web Content – 50 Hours
Lesson 1: Overview of Web Accessibility Issues
Lesson 2: Writing Accessible Content
Lesson 3: Designing Accessible Content
Lesson 4: Creating accessible multimedia
Lesson 5: Testing for accessible content
Lesson 6: Common Sense Design
Lesson 7: Content Management System Overview
Lesson 8: How to publish accessible content using a CMS
Lesson 9: Factors for selecting a CMS
Lesson 10: CMS lab
Lesson 11: Aspects of Social Media
Lesson 12: How to publish accessible content on social media
Lesson 13: Social media lab -
Programming For Web Applications – 50 Hours
Lesson 1: Web Development Background
Lesson 2: Web Development Foundations
Lesson 3: Web Development Lab
Lesson 4: Accessibility Testing for Developers
Lesson 5: Advanced topics
Lesson 6: Web Development Frameworks and Libraries
Lesson 7: Review