Washington State Designs State-of-the-Art Accessible Web Site to Match Washingtonians with Disabilities to In-Home Care Workers

Home Care Quality Authority (HCQA), a Washington state agency, recently released an accessible Web site designed to help seniors, and people with disabilities, find qualified in-home care workers through a referral registry. HCQA, in collaboration with Brewer Consulting Services, designed and implemented the online referral registry, on the HCQA Website. The referral registry provides eligible employers, and individuals, with access to search for pre-qualified in-home caregivers. "Ensuring equal access to individuals with disabilities was a primary goal of the system development," says Sherri Wills-Green, program manager for the referral registry. "To meet this goal, we closely followed industry standards for accessibility, requiring additional and unique programming techniques to accomplish the task."

Accessible Design a Top Priority

In September 2003, HCQA hired Dye Management Group, Inc. to complete a feasibility study which explored the technical alternatives for building the referral registry. A needs assessment based on interviews with stakeholders, focus groups across the state, and survey information, identified key business requirements including: building a system that is highly accessible, easy to use, customer-based and supportive of disability and adaptive technologies. Based on the feasibility results, Wills-Green wanted to make sure her team developed a Web application that was accessible and made good business sense. She incorporated an accessibility strategy and technical plan that highlighted accessibility requirements. She also included stakeholders throughout the testing process to help ensure the desired level of accessibility was achieved.

The Home Care Quality Authority Board was involved in the design process, specifically to ensure the referral registry would meet their accessibility goals. The Board is comprised of nine governor-appointed members who formerly or currently use long-term care services or who represent various Washington state citizens with disabilities. Board members actively participated in setting operational policies and project development related to building the referral registry. According to board member, Luther Smith, use of the referral register improves quality. "The registry establishes a marketplace for home care services, thereby stabilizing and improving the quality for all," he says. "Employers [who hire care providers] will no longer be stranded without options when a caregiver is suddenly unavailable. No longer will employers or individuals need to run ads in their local newspaper and invite a whole host of unqualified and disinterested persons into their homes for interviews. Individual care providers will now have a means to advertise their skills to a targeted audience of employers," Smith says.

The referral registry is designed to be used by consumers and providers at home as well as professional case managers and registry coordinators in the office environment. The referral registry's primary function, finding matching pre-qualified care providers based on an individual's specific needs and preferences, is based on a variety of criteria including; geographical location, language, personal preferences (i.e. smoking/non-smoking, pets, dietary needs, etc.), personal care tasks, and availability.

HCQA worked closely with Brewer Consulting Services (BCS) to ensure the "referral registry" was accessible to all individuals. Industry standards and tools were used, including "Bobby" certification, the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), and Section 508 federal guidelines during the development process. Accessible design features and options include: skipping navigation to bypass repetitive text, designing page layout compatible with screen reader software, limiting color choices to accommodate color blindness, use of larger text and greater contrast for improved readability, limited use of graphics, screen navigation using the Tab key, and the avoidance of flickering screens and pop-up boxes.

Technical Design Elements

Throughout the development process, Microsoft.Net technologies were used to design a system that could be easily modified and adapted to changing requirements. The design used multiple layers allowing for: better communications, ease in making global changes, streamlined use of logic, defined business process and enforced programming standards. For more in-depth information on technical design, see "Technical Design Elements of the Referral Registry" on the Home Care Quality Authority Web Site.

Future Plans

In April 2005, Wills-Green attended the Washington State Accessibility Symposium. The Symposium focused on the business benefits of integrating accessibility and how to integrate accessibility into technology planning. Topics covered affirmed that the registry design had aptly recognized the value of accessibility in today's world.

All those involved in the development of the referral registry have felt the impact of breaking new ground in state government. "It has been a satisfying and worthwhile experience being a part of building an accessible system that creates the potential for greater choice, self-service options, and equal access for individuals with disabilities," says Wills-Green.