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Spotlight on ACCESSibility Micro-Learning Series: Information Technologies (INC1-V32)

Description

This video features examples from experts on the latest trends and practical strategies for procuring, designing and implementing accessible information technologies right from the start.

Duration: 00:05:55
Published: May 3, 2021
Type: Video


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Spotlight on ACCESSibility Micro-Learning Series: Information Technologies

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Transcript

Transcript: Spotlight on ACCESSibility Micro-Learning Series: Information Technologies

[Music]

[Visual: The words, "Spotlight on ACCESSibility Micro-Learning Series:" appears with the words "Information Technologies".]

Narrator: Spotlight on ACCESSibility Micro-Learning Series: Information Technologies.

Spotlight on ACCESSibility Micro-Learning Series:
Information
Technologies

[Visual: A panel of individuals sitting on a stage comes into view. On the far left, a man looks towards the man on his right, Jeffrey Stark. To his right sits Sonya Read, and to her right sits Julianna Rowsell. All look toward Jeffrey as he speaks.]

Jeffrey Stark
Accessibility, Accommodations & Adaptive
Computer Technology (AAACT) Program at
Shared Services Canada

Jeffrey Stark: I usually start off by talking a little bit about the fact that when we're talking about accessibility, we're talking about disability, that we often put ourselves in a position where we look at, ah, an "us and them" type scenario.

[Visual: Two rows of icons representing people appear.]

[Visual: Text appears at the top of the screen, above the icons of the people.]

1-in-5 working age Canadians have a disability

Jeffrey Stark: When we look at the statistics it highlights the fact that one in five working age Canadians have a disability.

[Visual: A speech bubble pops out to the right of the second person icon from the left in the top row. Inside the speech bubble is a question mark. A second speech bubble also containing a question mark appears to the left of the second person from the right in the bottom row A third speech bubble appears and pops out to the left of the person on the far left of the bottom row..]

Jeffrey Stark: But then we look around and we say: "Oh, I don't see wheelchairs, I don't see people with guide dogs."

[Visual: The images and background disappear, and a shot of Jeffrey addressing the panel and the audience appears.]

Jeffrey Stark: And I think it's very critical when we look at this, that we look at accessibility, we look at disability as being an "us" thing, not an "us and them" thing. 

[Visual: Sonya Read, address the panel and the audience.]

Sonya Read
Digital Policy at
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Sonya Read: The earlier accessibility is considered in the design and development process, the easier it becomes to implement. Trying to retrofit becomes a very complicated, and sometimes a very difficult process.

[Visual: The words, "Ensuring departmental awareness" appear in white in the upper centre box The word, "awareness" is highlighted.]

Ensuring
departmental
awareness

[Visual: The words "Developing the capacity internally" slides up. The word "capacity" is highlighted.]

Developing the
capacity internally

Sonya Read: As a result, ensuring departmental awareness and developing capacity internally to change the culture around how we do ICT across the government is a really critical component of this.

[Visual: The text disappears. The words, "Understanding the need to engage early" appear in the top left, the words, "engage early" are highlighted.]

Understanding the need to engage early

[Visual: Three icons representing the upper body of a person appear in a row inside one of a rectangles.]

Sonya Read: Not everybody needs to be an expert, but understanding the need to engage early is key, and that can be something that everybody does.

[Visual: The text and images disappear, and a shot of Sonya Read addressing the panel and the audience appears.]

Sonya Read: Also important is a recognition that designing for accessibility supports better access and ease of use for everybody.

[Visual: Julianna Rowsell, addresses the panel and the audience.]

Julianna Rowsell
Accessibility and Inclusion at
Canadian Digital Service

Julianna Rowsell: At the end of the day, it's really about making sure that we listen to community layers for feedback, and that we can iteratively adjust when things change. Because together we can make more accessible and inclusive services.

[Visual: The words "What do accessible" appear at the top, with "information technologies" appearing in a larger font, and the words, "mean to you?" appear underneath..]

What do accessible
information technologies
mean to you?

Narrator: What do accessible information technologies mean to you?

[Visual: The title screen disappears, and icons arranged in a circle appear. At the top is a drawing of a smartphone. To the right and slightly below, are two computer windows, stacked on top of each other. Inside the windows are lighter purple rectangles. To the left and slightly below, at the bottom of the circle, is a drawing of a WiFi signal indicator. To the left and slightly above the WiFi indicator, is a drawing of an open laptop. Above the drawing of the laptop is a drawing of a search typing field, with a magnifying glass at the far right end.]

[Visual: The icons spread out towards the edges of the screen, and a rectangle appears in the middle, with the words, "Accessible IT" inside.]

Accessible IT

Jeffrey Stark: If it has a screen, if you're looking at it, if you interact with it, if it's digital, it is an area of accessible IT.

[Visual: The text and images disappear, and a shot of the panel appears. Julianna Rowsell addresses the panel and the audience.]

Julianna Rowsell: Often you'll hear things like, "accessible ICT will only refer to Web."

[Visual: A drawing of a printer appears. A white rectangle forms around the paper tray on the left, and the control panel on the top. From the white rectangles, lines expand out, ending in white dots.]

[Visual: Another white rectangle forms around the bottom paper drawer, with a white line expanding out to the right from the rectangle, ending in a white dot.]

Julianna Rowsell: It can be something as simple as when you're procuring a printer, that you actually know to ask for the accessibility features that enable that printer to be more accessible.

[Visual: The white dot extending out from the control panel expands into a larger rectangle, inside which a zoomed-in view shows the edge of the of the control interface. A sticker with Braille on it appears in the corner of the control interface.]

Julianna Rowsell: It might just be a small adhesive thing that goes onto the interface, that has Braille on it.

[Visual: A pink icon representing a person appears.]

[Visual: A line extends out to the right of the person, and at the end of the line, the Braille for the word "copy" is followed by a dash, and the word "copy". Beneath, another line extends out to the right, ending with Braille and the word "Scan." Beneath, a third line stretches out to Braille, and the word, "Email."]

Copy
Scan
Email

Julianna Rowsell: And then suddenly, people who can read Braille have another way to interact with that device, and can know which button is copy, which one is scan, which one says I can email it to me. So they can actually benefit from the features of using that device.

[Visual: The images disappear, and Julianna addresses the panel.]

Julianna Rowsell: So there are steps that every single public servant can take right now to improve ICT accessibility.

[Visual: A drawing of an open laptop appears to the left. Branching out from the laptop, lines connect to each person in a group of icons to the right, representing a group of people loosely grouped in a large oval, with one figure in the centre.]

[Visual: The lines disappear, and the word "Accessibility" appears below the laptop. A line stretches down from the laptop to the word "Accessibility." Three more lines branch out from the bottom of the word, moving over and branching into multiple lines that connect to each of the people of the right.]

Accessibility

Sonya Read: Accessibility in so many ways is about inclusivity, about allowing people in the workplace, and just in general in society to be full participants in kind of, how we engage with them digitally.

[Visual: The text and images fade out and text appears, "What advice on accessibility would you give to" with the words "managers and IT professionals" in a larger font.]

Narrator: What advice on accessibility would you give to managers and IT professionals?

What advice on accessibility would you give to
managers and IT
professionals?

[Visual: The text slides to the right. The words, "Don't design for persons with disabilities" appear, with the word "for" highlighted.]

[Visual: The words "Design with persons with disabilities" appear, with the word "with" highlighted.]

Sonya Read: Don't design it for persons with disabilities, design it with persons with disabilities.

Don't design for
persons with disabilities

Design with
persons with disabilities

[Visual: The text and background disappears, and Sonya Read addresses the panel and the audience.]

Sonya Read: Not a consultation but a real collaboration and a co-creation is kind of key, and do it right from the very beginning.

[Visual: A X and Y axis graph appears, with the words, "Project Timeline" at the bottom. The graph fills with thick horizontal lines. The two lines at the top are white, and start at the far left, reaching to the third thin white marker line on the graph. Where the second white bar finishes slightly overlaps the starting position of the first blue bar below. Two more blue bars stretch out beneath that, the first one recaching across two more marker lines, and the second one is shorter, but finishes at the same spot. The third blue line starts where the other two stop, just slightly overlapping. Beneath the last blue line, a pink line starts where the last blue line leaves off, and stretches across, ending at the last white marker line stretching vertically. In the middle of the pink bar, the word "Accessibility" appears.]

Project Timeline

Accessibility

Julianna Rowsell: Move accessibility to the left. Move it earlier in your cycles.

[Visual: The pink bar rises up above the blue and white bars to the top of the graph, as the other bars slide down. The pink bar then slides over to the far left, and all the other bars now below shift right.]

Julianna Rowsell: Move it earlier in your conversations.

[Visual: The pink bar grows bigger, stretching all the way across the graph.]

Julianna Rowsell: When you're looking at what type of product or service you're going to create, think about it there.

[Visual: The graph disappears. The text "What should" appears, with the words "IT professionals" in a larger font and the words "know about accessibility?".]

What should
IT professionals
know about accessibility?

Narrator: What should IT professionals know about accessibility?

[Visual: The graphic disappears, and the title, "Having IT professionals look at their work enables:" appears.]

[Visual: The words, "Workplace Engagement appear in white beneath the title.]

[Visual: The words, "Workplace Participation" appear beneath "Workplace Engagement."]

[Visual: The words, "Accessible Services" appear beneath "Workplace Participation."]

Sonya Read: Having IT professionals look at the work that they're doing is a fundamental enabler for workplace engagement, for workplace participation, for the accessibility of the services that we deliver, is really, really important.

Having IT professionals look at their work enables:

Workplace Engagement
Workplace Participation
Accessible Services

[Visual: A speech bubble with a question mark inside pops up and grows above the words "Accessible Services," extending out to the right and partially covering "Workplace Participation." The words become slightly out-of-focus.]

Sonya Read: And so, how do we design that, and how do we participate in the discussions about service design as well?

[Visual: The graphic disappears, and is replaced by Sonya addressing the panel.]

Sonya Read: So that when you are looking at your service and your business process, and how you might make that more accessible, you're actually leveraging your information technology as an enabler to that process.

[Visual: Julianna Rowsell speaking to the rest of the panel and the audience.]

Julianna Rowsell: I actually really think that one of the things is to realize that it is a multi-disciplinary effort, that is people-centric.

[Visual: Six small circles, each filled with a drawing of a stack of sheets of paper appears. The words, "Tech Stack" appear in the middle of the circles.]

Tech Stack

[Visual: The words "Tech Stack" are struck through.]

Tech Stack

Inclusive

[Visual: The stacks of paper inside the circles change into icons of people. The words, "Tech Stack" disappear, and are replaced by the word, "Inclusive."]

[Visual: The small circles with the people icons inside them rotate around the word "Inclusive."]

Julianna Rowsell: It's not which tech stack are we using, it's what is going to be holistically the most usable and inclusive for people, and move that way.

[Visual: The images and background disappear, and a shot of the panel appears, Julianna Rowsell addresses the panel and the audience.]

Julianna Rowsell: Say we want to move people along, and move them forward and modernize them. But it's also partly about meeting people where they are, moving them and inching them incrementally forward to meet the needs of what people need.

[Visual: The words, "Digital isn't the only vehicle" appear, towards the top right of the screen. The words, "only vehicle" are highlighted.]

Jeffrey Stark: Digital isn't the only vehicle.

[Visual: Icons representing three people appear on the left side, in a triangular grouping. On the right side, three hollow circles, form a similar triangular grouping.]

Jeffrey Stark: Some people will just naturally need non-digital options.

[Visual: A line that is the same colour as the person it is stretching out from snakes across to the right, and meets up with the hollow circles on the right.]

Jeffrey Stark: But we still have to strive for accessibility in every channel,

[Visual: The snaking lines straighten out into more of an arrow-like configuration, instead of going around each other like a maze, the three lines from each person come together into one line which stretches to the right, where it branches out into three lines again to meet up with the three hollow circles.]

Jeffrey Stark: or inclusion in every channel.

[Visual: The graphics disappear, and a shot of Jeffrey Stark addressing the panel appears.]

Jeffrey Stark: So by looking at that larger picture, we actually improve the experience for everybody.

[Visual: The panel discussion disappears, the text "How would we go about" appears with the words "raising public awareness" in a larger font, and the words "around accessibility?".]

How would we go about
raising public awareness
around accessibility?

Narrator: How would we go about raising public awareness around accessibility?

[Visual: The title and squares disappear, and three groups of icons representing people appear in a triangular formation. The group on the top left contains two individuals. The group on the far right also contains two people. The group centred below the top two groups contains three people.)

Jeffrey Stark: The more we talk about it in more spaces,

[Visual: Three speech bubbles pop up from the heads of one person in each group. The person on the top left has a speech bubble with a drawing of a ear inside with a line through it. The person on the top right has a speech bubble with a drawing of a eye with a line through it inside, and the person in the bottom group has a speech bubble with a drawing of a person in a wheelchair inside.)

Jeffrey Stark: the more likely we are to move the yard stick forward.

[Visual: The images and background disappear, and a shot of the panel appears. Julianna Rowsell addresses the panel and the audience.]

Julianna Rowsell: I would say that one of the key things is to have accessibility, and inclusive design, and inclusion be part of events that are not just about accessibility, or geared to people with disabilities.

[Visual: Sonya Read address the panel, who all look towards her as she speaks.]

Sonya Read: Definitely communication is the key. I think trying to figure out how do we make accessibility just a part of how we do business, all the time, every day.

[Visual: A thin vertical line divides the screen in half. On the right half, two icons representing people appear. On the left side of the line, a group of five icons representing people form an oval.]

[Visual: The line disappears, and the two people on the right get smaller, and move towards the centre, joining the other people. They move into a circle formation, with a person in the centre)

Sonya Read: Helping people to understand that, you know, making things accessible isn't necessarily always about persons with disabilities, it actually is an improvement for everybody.

[Visual: The circle of people shrinks down and moves to the centre of the screen. Around them, icons arranged in a circle appear. At the top is a drawing of a smartphone. To the right and slightly below, are two computer window rectangles, stacked on top of each other. Inside the windows are rectangles. To the left and slightly below, at the bottom of the circle, is a drawing of a WiFi signal indicator. To the left and slightly above the WiFi indicator, is a drawing of an open laptop. Above the drawing of the laptop is a drawing of a rectangular search typing field, with a magnifying glass at the far right end. The icons in the circle slowly rotate.]

Sonya Read: And so making things easier to use, is something that anybody can benefit from in terms of a website, or any kind of ICT in the workplace.

[Visual: The images disappear, and a shot of the panel appears, with Sonya Read addressing the panel and the audience.]

Sonya Read: So it's broader than just the person with the disability, that has to be addressed, but I think it's really ingraining that as part of our culture.

[Visual: Text appears, "Spotlight on ACCESSibility Micro-Learning Series:" with the words "Information Technologies".]

Spotlight on ACCESSibility Micro-Learning Series:
Information Technologies

Narrator: Spotlight on ACCESSibility Micro-Learning Series: Information Technologies.

[Visual: The words, "For more information, please consult" appear. Below, the words, "The Canada School of Public Service's Website" appear, highlighted. Below that, the words, "Please find the links in the video description below" appear.]

For more information, please consult
the Canada School of Public Service's Website
Please find the links in the
video description below.

Narrator: For more information, please consult The Canada School of Public Service's website. Please find the links in the video description below.

Music ends

[Visual: Text fades out.]

Fades to black

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