Local Service Directories

Emergency Preparedness

For the millions of Americans who have physical, medical, sensory or cognitive disabilities, emergencies such as fires, floods and acts of terrorism present a real challenge. The same challenge also applies to the elderly and other special needs populations. Protecting yourself and your family when disaster strikes requires planning ahead. Discuss these ideas with your family, friends and/or your personal care attendant, or anyone else in your support network and prepare an emergency plan.

Disability.gov’s Guide to Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Recovery ›

State of New Jersey Emergency Management Resources ›

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ›

Sample Emergency Plan ›

Performing Arts Readiness Guide ›

New Jersey Cultural Alliance for Response (NJCAR) ›

County Offices on Aging

An Area Agency on Aging (AAA) is designated in each of New Jersey's 21 counties to serve as the primary entity responsible for developing comprehensive, coordinated systems of community-based services for older adults.

AAAs also serve as Aging & Disability Resource Connection (ADRC) lead agencies in their county, ensuring seniors, adults with disabilities and their caregivers have easy access to information and long term services and supports.

The role of the AAAs includes:

State of New Jersey Department of Human Services ›

Marketing Tips For Engaging People With Disabilities (PwD’s)

Think about people with disabilities as you would any diverse, minority constituency you’re interested in engaging within your marketing strategies.
Think of disability and accessibility under marketing, community services, audience engagement - not only legal requirements, laws, compliance, etc..
Look to establish relationships and alliances with disability groups.
Try to find programming that would be of interest to a specific disability community and target as a way to introduce them to your institution.

Americans With Disabilities Act National Network

Through its ten regional centers, the ADA National Network provides information, guidance and training on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Our services are tailored to meet the needs of business, government and individuals at local, regional and national levels.

Visit the website.

Disability.gov

Disability.gov is the federal government website for comprehensive information about disability-related programs, services, policies, laws and regulations. The site links to thousands of resources from many different federal government agencies, as well as state and local governments and nonprofit organizations across the country.

Visit Disability.gov ›

Sample Letter of Agreement and ADA Checklist (Tour Rider)

For touring companies or organizations that use facilities other than those they own, it is stongly recommneded that you provide a letter of agreement, rider and/or ADA checklist to the landlord or manager of the venue in which the programming will take place. If your services are contracted, presented or part of a larger production/festival/exhibit, you are still responsible for advocating and requesting accessibility services for your artists and the patrons who will particpate in you event.

Patrons with Hearing Loss

Based upon the last US Census and stats from the Center for Disease Control, there are approximately 800,000 citizens who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing in New Jersey.

There are multiple programs and services cultural organizations can offer to ensure that patrons who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing can fully participate.

Assisted Listening Systems ›

To Borrow Assisted Listening Equipment ›

Captioning ›

Advance copies of Scripts/Synopsies/Printed Self Guided Tours ›

Service Animals ›

ADA Planning Tips

We encourage you to refer to the suggestions below before beginning your ADA plan outline.

ADA Planning tips ›

For additional information ›

Access Resources/Service Directories

Welcome to our compilation of general New Jersey resources for those who welcome patrons with disabilities. Please use the following list of links to browse sections of this page.

Cost Estimates for Services ›

Audio Describers ›

Braille Transcription Resource List ›

Directory of CART Reporters/C-Print Captionists/Operators ›

Directory of Sign Language Interpreters General List ›

Kennedy Center Tip Sheets ›

Knowbility--Website and other Technology Resources ›

Open Captioning and CART ›

Resources for Connecting with Residents of New Jersey Who Are Vision-Impaired ›

Sign Language Resources ›

Testing for Web Accessibilty ›

County Disability Agencies

New Jersey currently has a network of 17 County Offices for Disability Services that work to advance independent living for people with disabilities by providing a wide range of services.

Their Mission is to:

· Encourage the development of Offices on Disability services in all 21 counties;

· Maintain a network and cooperative forum which will ensure that appropriate services are made available statewide;