BBI believes that people with disabilities have the right to self-determined lives and to live in the communities of their choice. With meaningful access to inclusive education, accessible programs, services and technology, and civil rights protections, people with disabilities are able to live in safe communities, enjoy good health, and make important contributions to the workforce and community.
BBI works with and in communities, nationally and worldwide, to improve opportunities for community participation among people with disabilities through three major strategies:
Research and Knowledge Translation
BBI has developed a recognized research and evaluation profile that demonstrates collaborative, cross-sector methods to understand, evaluate, and inform best practices in three domains: Accessible Communities and Services, Civil Rights, and Education for people with disabilities.
Program Development
Program development involves training, technical assistance and pilot demonstrations of programs, services, and technology, inclusive education, and civil rights, which lead to the development of best and promising practices. BBI develops new tools, techniques and partnerships that improve community participation outcomes for people with disabilities.
Areas Of Community Participation
Civil Rights
BBI studies law and policy developments as they impact the rights and responsibilities of all members of society, delivers technical assistance to inform targeted stakeholders of these issues, collaborates within a community of disability rights legal experts to inform good legal decisions under federal and state law, and provides law students with extensive and purposeful research and writing opportunities in support of BBI projects.
Inclusive Communities
BBI studies the accessibility of communities and services with the goal of identifying effective ways to promote full access to community life for persons with disabilities. Focal areas include universal design, the accessibility of public entities, healthcare, online communities and services, and technology.
In the area of technology, BBI studies standards development, and law and policy of accessible information and communications technology (ICT), in partnership with national and international research organizations, such as the Center for Research on Collaboratories and Technology Enhanced Learning Communities (COTELCO), the Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities, NOVA (Norwegian Social Research), and the Centre for Disability Law and Policy at the National University Ireland, Galway. These collaborations seek to advance ICT accessibility by shaping and developing new governing legal standards.
Education
BBI studies best practices in meeting the needs of persons with disabilities enrolled in K-12 and Post-Secondary Education. It partners with other experts to design and deliver model programs for this purpose.
BBI is developing its research and evaluation profile including collaborative, interdisciplinary, and, public-private partnerships to understand best practices and develop and deliver programs and practices that improve inclusive educational opportunities for all K-12 and post-secondary learners in a global economy.