Disability.gov

Disability.gov was a United States Government inter-agency web portal that provided access to comprehensive information about disability-related programs and services from 2002-2016. The site contained thousands of trusted resources, updated daily, from the federal government, educational institutions, non-profit organizations and state and local governments.[1]

Disability.gov
Disability.gov as it appeared on January 5, 2016
OwnerFederal government of the United States
URLdisability.gov
CommercialNo
Launched16 October 2002 (2002-10-16)

Disability.gov offered information for the more than 50 million Americans with disabilities. It was also a reliable resource for parents of children with disabilities, employers, workforce and human resource professionals, veterans, military families, caregivers and other community members. The site offered resources on ten key subjects: benefits, civil rights, community life, education, emergency preparedness, employment, health, housing, technology and transportation.[1]

History

Originally launched in 2002 as DisabilityInfo.gov,[2] the site was created by the head of disabled employment, Roy Grizzard,[3] following an Executive Directive made in August 2002 by President George W. Bush as part of his New Freedom Initiative,[4] and was launched by United States Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao in October 2002.[5]

The portal reached the one million visitor mark and over 20 million 'hits' by June 2003.[2] It subsequently won a number of awards: the Web Content Managers Best Practice Peer Award;[6] the American Association of Webmasters (AAWM) 2006 Gold Award for outstanding design and quality of content;[7] and the e-gov Institute's Knowledge Management Award for "delivering high value to citizens in a knowledge management solution."[8]

The site was relaunched as Disability.gov on July 27, 2009.[9] The redesigned site is easy to navigate and includes social media tools to encourage visitor interaction and feedback. Visitors can sign up for personalized news and updates, participate in online discussion and suggest resources for the site.[1]

Disability.gov and its associated social media accounts were sunset in December 2016 and are no longer available. Disability.gov currently redirects to a page of disability related-resources available from the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP). Federal resources on disability and employment can be found on the website of the Campaign for Disability Employment (CDE) at https://www.whatcanyoudocampaign.org/index.php.

References
  1. "Disability.gov Offers Social Media Tools, Upgrades to Complement Information From 22 Federal Agencies on Disability-Related Programs and Services" (Press release). U.S. Department of Labor. July 27, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
  2. "Department of Labor's DisabilityInfo.gov Records More Than One Million Visitors and Over 20 Million "Hits" From 136 Countries" (Press release). U.S. Department of Labor. June 9, 2003. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  3. Heintz, Nadine (June 2003). "Disability's Deep Costs". Inc. 25 (6): 30. ISSN 0162-8968.
  4. Bush, George W. (August 27, 2002). "Memorandum on Development of an Interagency Disability Web Site". Administration of George W. Bush, 2002. U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  5. "Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao Unveils DisabilityInfo.gov" (Press release). U.S. Department of Labor. October 16, 2002. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  6. "DisabilityInfo.Gov Wins Web Content Managers Best Practice Award" (Press release). U.S. Department of Labor. September 28, 2005. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  7. "DisabilityInfo.Gov Receives American Association of Webmasters Gold Award" (Press release). U.S. Department of Labor. May 17, 2006. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  8. "DisabilityInfo.gov receives e-gov Institute's Knowledge Management Award" (Press release). U.S. Department of Labor. April 3, 2007. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
  9. Beizer, Doug (27 July 2009). "Disabilities information Web site gets Web 2.0 upgrade". Federal Computer Week. 1105 Media, Inc. Retrieved 25 December 2009.
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