If this message is clipped, click "View Entire Message" at the bottom of this email. | | Ballots without Barriers Voter's Training | | |
A FREE program on accessible voting & voting rights!
July 7 or 21, 2026
1:00 - 2:00 pm | DNEM Troy Office
Learn how to register, know your rights at the polls, and use accessible voting equipment. Friendly sessions cover the essentials of equal access for people with disabilities, families, and caregivers.
Light refreshments will be provided. Attend and receive a $25 Kroger gift card.
| | Access in Action:
Digital Accessibility Training Series | | |
This FREE training can help you make your emails, documents, slide decks, PDFs, web pages, or social posts more accessible.
Learn the basics of accessible writing and ways to test it with a screen reader. No technical background is required.
This is a six-part progressive series. Start with the first session, then choose the topics you need most.
All classes are held from 10:30 am to 12:00 pm on the Zoom platform. You'll receive a cheat sheet and work on real documents during each session.
1) Accessible Writing Basics
Tuesday, July 7, 2026
Beginner class covers color contrast/reliance, headings, alt text, and links.
2) Accessible Word Documents
Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Covers styles, lists, tables, and the Accessibility Checker.
3) Accessible Presentations
Monday, July 20, 2026
Covers slide titles, reading order, contrast, and captions.
4) Accessible PDFs
Tuesday, July 28, 2026
Covers tagged exports, titles, accessibility tags panel, reading order, accessibility checker, and repair tools.
5) Accessible Web & Social Content
Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Covers alt text, clear titles, clear links, structure, captions, and WAVE testing.
6) Recap & Test It Yourself: Hands-On QA
Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Covers keyboard and screen reader testing.
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Questions about Access in Action?
Contact Amy Maes
AMaes@DNEMichigan.org
586-268-4160, ext. 6604
Please request accommodations at least one week before your first session.
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Equip, Energize, and Empower!
July 14 - 16, 2026
10:00 am – 2:00 pm | DNEM Troy Office
Teens and young adults are invited to join us for an incredible experience! Through creative projects, leadership games, and real-life challenges, you'll build confidence, express yourself, and gain real-world life skills.
The cost is $30.
| | Build financial stability and community for a better life in Huron, Tuscola, Sanilac, and Lapeer counties! | |
Are you feeling stuck and ready for a change in a just-gettin’-by world? Getting Ahead is a FREE 16-session workshop that can help you discover practical strategies and tools to create a path toward the future you want. It's not a budgeting class; it’s a life-changing program!
Starts Fall 2026:
- Sessions will be held weekly in-person for 2.5 hours in Tuscola County.
- Participants will determine the exact dates, times, and location.
- Register now to be a part of it!
Who Can Participate?
- Adults (18+) living in Huron, Tuscola, Sanilac, or Lapeer counties
- People with income at or below the poverty line or who are within the ALICE population
Workshop details:
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Take a one-hour adaptive kayaking lesson designed for individuals with disabilities, ages 8 and older. No prior kayaking experience is required. Life jackets, adaptive equipment, and modifications are provided to ensure a safe, supportive, and enjoyable experience.
Kayaks have a maximum weight capacity of 225 pounds. Due to high demand, a $10 donation is required to reserve a spot in this program.
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Wednesday, July 8, 2026
Reserve a one-hour spot between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm
Stony Creek Metropark, Shelby Township
| | Adaptive Kayaking Sponsors: | | |
Join us for a bike through the park!
July 9 & 30, 2026
Choose a 1-hour time slot between 2:00 and 6:00 pm
Independence Oaks County Park, Clarkston
We have 7 adult-sized adaptive bikes. Pick a bike AND a one-hour time slot.
Helmets are required. We will supply one if you do not have your own.
More adaptive cycling dates are listed on the registration page and flyer.
| | Adaptive Cycling Sponsor: | | Stroke Survivors Support Group | |
A monthly support group for stroke survivors, held at the DNEM Clinton Township office and community locations. The group is a safe space for stroke survivors, caregivers, family, and friends to connect with others who have similar experiences.
Wednesday, July 15, 2026 | 12:00 - 2:00 pm | Fraser
Join us for a garden party at a group member's home in Fraser. Contact DNEM for the address. All are welcome.
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Questions about the Stroke Survivors Support Group?
Contact the RecConnect Team
REC-IT@DNEMichigan.org
586-268-4160
| | Have fun playing games outdoors and making new friends! It’s a great chance to relax, laugh, and spend time with others in a friendly, welcoming space. | | |
Thursday, July 23, 2026 | 1:00 - 2:00 pm
James C. Nelson Park, Troy
| | Join us for a variety of free adaptive outdoor recreation experiences, plus a hot dog picnic! | |
DiversAbility Day - Harrison Township
Thursday, August 5, 2026 | 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Lake St. Clair Metropark
| Activities include face painting, track chairs, adaptive archery, adaptive cycling, adaptive golf, and pontoon boat rides. | | | |
DiversAbility Day - Clarkston
Thursday, August 13, 2026 | 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Independence Oaks County Park
| Activities include adaptive archery, adaptive cycling, track chairs, adaptive kayaking, and pontoon boat rides. | | | | DiversAbility Day Sponsor: | | Register for a DNEM Community Activity | | |
Disability Network Eastern Michigan (DNEM) is a Center for Independent Living (CIL), proudly serving Huron, Lapeer, Macomb, Oakland, Sanilac, St. Clair, and Tuscola counties. If you reside outside of these counties, we’re happy to assist you in connecting with the CIL that serves your area.
To register for DNEM activities, you will need a RecDesk calendar account.
| | | | To help with the registration process, we have created these two videos: |
Questions about RecDesk?
Contact the RecConnect Team
REC-IT@DNEMichigan.org
586-268-4160
| | The AI Tools Quietly Making Accessibility Easier | | |
Last month, we talked about how AI tools need accessible content to do their best work. Today, we are showing how AI is making accessibility work a lot less painful.
For years, accessibility had a reputation. Fair or not, it was the part of a project that got cut when the deadline got close. Captioning a video took hours. (Captions are the words of what is said, shown as text on the screen.) Writing alt text for a 60-image slide deck ate up most of an afternoon. (Alt text is a short written description of an image that a screen reader can read out loud. A screen reader is software that reads a screen out loud for people who are blind or have low vision.) Checking a site for color problems meant clicking through it with a tool open.
AI has not erased that work. But it has cut the boring parts down to size.
Here are a few places it really helps:
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Captions and transcripts. Tools like Otter and Descript can make a transcript as you talk. So can the built-in captions in Zoom, Teams, and YouTube. (A transcript is a written copy of everything said.) None of them are perfect. (More on that next month.) But they get you a usable first draft in minutes, not hours. Add a quick human check, and you are done.
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Alt text suggestions. Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and design tools like Figma now offer AI alt text for images. Treat it as a starting point. Fill in the “why it is here,” which AI cannot guess. You will save real time on long documents.
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Plain-language rewrites. Drop a paragraph into Claude, ChatGPT, or a tool like Hemingway. Ask for a plain version at a sixth-grade reading level. This helps people with thinking and memory disabilities. It also helps anyone reading in a second language. It works well for policy text, technical docs, and legal wording.
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Color and contrast. Tools like Stark and axe DevTools now use AI to suggest better colors, not just flag bad ones. (Contrast is the difference in lightness between text and its background. Enough contrast makes text easy to read.) Instead of “this does not pass,” you get “try this instead.”
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PDF tagging. Adobe’s AI now does most of the hard work of adding structure to PDFs. That means headings, reading order, and table tags. (This hidden structure lets a screen reader move through a PDF in the right order.) Work that used to take an afternoon now takes a few clicks and a review.
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Code suggestions. AI coding helpers will write accessible HTML if you ask. A prompt like “give me a modal with proper focus management and ARIA” gives you a surprisingly solid start. (A prompt is the request you type to an AI tool.)
Here is the thread through all of these. AI is great at the repeated, slow parts of accessibility work. Those are the parts most teams skip when time is short. By taking them off your plate, AI frees you up for the part only a human can do. That is making real choices about what your users actually need. That is the dream, anyway.
Next month, we will look at where it falls apart.
| Have Questions about AI and Digital Accessibility? | |
Contact Amy Maes, Access and Advocacy Services Director
| | Disability Network Eastern Michigan has a team of Community Information Specialists ready to assist you in finding resources. We can support inquiries about advocacy, accessibility, housing resources, transportation, high school transition, community transition services, veteran services, and more. Call us! | | |
Oakland and Macomb County:
586-268-4160
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Thumb Region:
810-987-9337
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Accommodations: Please contact DNEM with accommodation requests.
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DNEM Summer Hours
May 22 - September 4, 2026
Monday - Thursday: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm
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Do you need support now?
Or are you worried about a loved one who may need crisis support?
| | Your Consumer Experience Defines Our Success | | It is our pleasure to serve the community as we believe people with disabilities should have the same options, and control over choices in their own lives as do people without disabilities. We hope you will share your experience with us, allowing us to connect with others who will benefit from our services. Please take a moment to provide a Google review. | | Disability Network Eastern Michigan is committed to promoting independent living by breaking down barriers and opening paths towards personal choice through resources, advocacy, information, support, and education. | | Follow our social media pages to remain up-to-date with everything happening at DNEM. | | | | |
