Code of Conduct

Date Last Updated:

Purpose

Accessible Community is led and staffed by volunteers. Succeeding at our mission to establish and nurture disability-inclusive communities depends on our staff's time, knowledge, dedication, and diversity. As such, we are all committed to creating a welcoming environment where discrimination and harassment are not tolerated and individual rights are protected.

The purpose of this code of conduct is to set clear expectations of behavior between staff in Accessible Community in order to create a positive experience for all participants. This code applies to all leadership, staff, board of directors, and interns.

This code refers to several more detailed policies but key points are included here to promote adoption and understanding.

Principles

Support the Mission

I believe in and support Accessible Community's mission to establish and nurture disability-inclusive communities by helping:

  • small-to-medium size organizations become accessible,
  • people with disabilities find accessible and disability-support organizations,
  • emerging accessibility professionals grow their experience and connections, and
  • senior accessibility experts and organization leaders to collaborate and share ideas.

Mutual Respect and Caring

  • I will respect each individual's unique experiences, needs, and perspective.
  • I will do my best to be transparent and honest; to communicate my needs and keep the best interest of others in mind.
  • I will try to treat others as I wish to be treated.

Value Diversity

Our staff and participants come from all over the world. As a community, we embody different languages, cultures, religions, races, genders and gender identities, disabilities, backgrounds and experiences. I have read and agree to follow the Non-Discrimination Policy.

  • I will respect the diverse nature of our community.
  • I will support an environment that is free of discrimination and harassment for leadership, staff, board of directors, and interns.
  • I will strive to value our community's diversity as it improves the quality of our products and expands our impact.
  • I will approach differences with kindness and curiosity.

Foster Safe Environment

I have read and agree to follow the Harassment Policy. All leadership, staff, and program participants are responsible for fostering a safe environment, free of harassment. No one should be afraid for their physical or mental health while volunteering at Accessible Community. I agree that:

  • I will strive to foster a safe working environment where everyone is accepted and allowed to be themselves.
  • I understand that a safe working environment is not free of criticism or conflict, but I will handle criticism and conflict with respect.
  • I will strive to set an example of appropriate behavior.
  • I will report situations of harassment immediately on becoming aware of them, whether or not there has been a complaint.

Assumption of Best Intent

  • I will start with the assumption that everyone involved in this program has my best interest and the needs of the disability community at heart.
  • When misunderstandings or conflicts occur that do not involve harassment, discrimination or other unsafe situations:
    • I will seek to talk about misunderstandings or conflicts when they arise with the people involved.
    • I will seek outside opinions only after I have tried to resolve the problem with those involved.

Confidentiality and Friendly Professionalism

Accessible Community strives to create a respectful space where people can converse without fear of it being shared outside the community of volunteers.

  • I will be kind and friendly, while setting and respecting personal and professional boundaries and behaviors.
  • I will respect the confidentiality of conversations and personal information.
  • I will ask for permission when I want to share any information more widely.
  • I will not make statements for Accessible Community unless it is part of my volunteer work.

Respect for Intellectual Property

  • I will respect the intellectual property of others.
  • I will make reasonable efforts to protect the intellectual property of all participants and Accessible Community.
  • If I wish to use the materials from Accessible Community that are not under creative commons license, I will contact director@accessiblecommunity.org to request permission.
  • If I wish to use the materials from other individuals or organizations, I will research the copyright, request permission from that individual or organization when appropriate, and cite the work appropriately.
  • I will ask when I am unsure about intellectual property.

Use Technology Responsibly

I have read through and agree to follow the Technology Policy. I agree that:

  • I am responsible for my account.
  • I will not share my personal USER ID and/or password with another person.
  • I will log off when I'm not using my account(s).
  • I am responsible for all information accessed and all changes made using my personal USER ID.
  • I will safeguard personally identifiable information in this system.
  • I will not disclose passwords and other administrative information for any shared administrative accounts to which I am granted access.
  • I will not use any non-public data or technology provided by Accessibility Community for any purpose other than for the business processes of Accessible Community.
  • I will not access, damage, alter, transfer, disrupt or facilitate the disruption of or copy any data, software or any other part of Accessible Community's systems.

Reporting and Outreach for Assistance

  • I will reach out to the Executive Director at director@accessiblecommunity.org if I encounter difficulties.
  • If my difficulties are with the Executive Director, I can reach out to the chair of the board of directors at board@accessiblecommunity.org.