As a follow up on the government’s Budget 2017 commitment, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) undertook a cross-country engagement process, Between September 2016 and February 2017, to solicit ideas and perspectives on an emerging Government of Canada approach to improving digital service delivery. This cross-country engagement process gave inspiration for the creation of the Canadian Digital Service, to adopt new ways of serving Canadians.

August 31, 2016

(The following are detailed notes from the CCB and AEBC National Call which took place on July 27, 2016)

Dear program supporters,

On July 27, 2016, we held the national conference call regarding library services.

As a founder, and now retired entrepreneur, I know all too well that growth potential for business depends on the availability of accessible information regarding regulatory and policy changes, and also may be the difference between success and failure. In the beginning, as a person who is blind, the journey of starting and growing a business was a daunting task filled with pitfalls and many information challenges. I encountered more than my fair share of people who could not believe that a blind woman could succeed. I was troubled by the attitude of many people with respect to their consistent belief that blindness prevented me from being successful, which created needless attitudinal barriers.

Technology is the great equalizer when it comes to people with disabilities. Regardless of how accessible the technology is however, it is only as accessible as the underlying infrastructure. If web sites, apps and content are not designed to be accessible, it does not matter if your personal access technology is.

The absence of accessible information, communications and technologies deployed in support of programs and services will often result in inaccessible outcomes.

there are plenty of examples of inaccessible information, communications and technology deployments, but I will provide just a few to make the point.

In the case of Information...

Information is content.

You should be aware that there is no "standard" blog approach. There are no hard and fast rules on how to blog.

The top advice for writing a blog is:

A blog is a valuable asset to our organization. It gives us the opportunity to establish ourselves, it gives us a platform to network with your peers, fellow organizations, and general public and allows allows us to generate buzz in social media.

You ask, what is social media? In short, social media can be defined as interactive platforms via which individuals and communities create and share user-generated content. 

If we can get comments on our blogs, we’ll increase our status as an organization.  The more comments we have, the more clout we appear to have, because people are interested enough in what we are and have to say as an organization, so much that people will take the time to comment  on interesting topics.

As technology continues to travel the tracks on its merry way, we find that more and more, blind kids are struggling to keep up when it comes to being able to enjoy the excitement and fun of modern technology.  With more and more toy manufacturers coming out with nifty ways for kids to learn to read, write, do math, and spell, blind and sight impaired kids need to be given ways to enjoy all of this as well.  Each time I hear those commercials on TV of kids having fun with various learning games, I ask myself how much of this is or can be available to blind and sight impaired kids.

In the normal scheme of things, we feel that it is our kids who need to listen to us but sometimes; we need to listen to our kids.  Whenever we think that they are not paying attention then guess what?  They are and much more than we think.  Whenever we think that they are shutting us out, it is we who are doing it, not them.

There used to be a time not too long ago when it was so difficult to find any company willing to develop web access software that could be used by blind and partially sighted persons to surf the Internet without sighted assistance.  Within the last few years, however, this picture seems to have changed, and, within the last few months alone, I have had both sighted as well as blind and partially sighted persons tell me that more companies seem to be developing software that would make it possible for us to be more independent surfers.

What Did I Learn Today

I am enrolled at Ryerson University, taking part-time distance courses towards a degree in Disability Studies.  I am registered with the Access Centre, Ryerson’s accommodation provider for students with disabilities.  This week, the Access Centre circulated a survey to students in an attempt to evaluate and improve the services they provide.   I thought to myself, here is an opportunity to recognize those things the Centre does well, make suggestions about those services where improvements should be made, and to discuss my views on accommodation versus accessibility.