Jodi Mattes Trust for accessible digital culture

Our vision is of a world in which disabled people enjoy full cultural equality. In this world disabled people hold both equal access to information and cultural experience through and within digital media, but also equal opportunity as participants, creators, co-creators, artists and employees in the cultural sector.

Our mission is to promote the cultural equality of disabled people through the use of accessible digital media; the provision of accessible information and learning content; the involvement of disabled people in the process of creation, design and evaluation of digital media.

AIM 1 - promote good practice
We will contribute towards a cultural sector that is knowledgeable and skilled in order to widen cultural participation of disabled people.

AIM 2 - raise awareness
We will raise the profile of digital inclusion for disabled people through the Jodi Awards and communication online, at events and in print media. 

AIM 3 - promote cultural rights of disabled people
We will promote the the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with a Disability, article 30.

AIM 4 - become sustainable
We are a small trust with a part-time member of staff (1 day per week, 2008-2011). We will undertake every effort to achieve long-term sustainability and growth to fully meet our potential.

The Jodi Mattes Trust was created to ensure the long-term survival of the Jodi Awards. While they continue to be a core activity, we now also wish to foster engagement for the cultural equality of disabled people and challenging the sector to do more for the cultural rights of disabled people.

New plans for 2011-2014 include:

• Publish collaboratively evolved guidelines for museums and heritage sites about quality uses of multi-media for deaf and hard of hearing people (2012), visually impaired people (2013) and people with a learning disability (2014).                                                                                          
• Nurture the emergence of a global community of interest and build skills though collaborative seminars and conferences:14 November, New York, with Museums Access Consortium and Metropolitan Museum:

15 November, Washington, with Smithsonian Museum
16-19 November, Atlanta, with Museum Computer Network
1 December, Swansea, with National Museums of Wales
6-8 December, Rotterdam, with DISH 2011 (Digital Strategies for Heritage)
June 2012, Lille, 1st International Conference "Deaf Audiences and Technology", with Signes de Sens.

• Matthew Cock, Head of Web, The British Museum (chair)

• Ross Parry, Senior Lecturer / Programme Director - Digital Heritage, Department of Museum Studies Leicester University (treasurer)

• John Vincent (secretary), Networker, The Network – tackling social exclusion in libraries, museums, archives and galleries