Making Accessibility, Accessible

I recently began working on a project that considers accessibility for all. One often thinks of accessibility as ensuring that buildings have ramps, automatic doors, and elevators, but it really encompasses so much more than just the physical barriers. Making things accessible for all is really a state of mind.

Working on this project has opened my eyes to how little society is educated around accessibility. Many people are still unaware that you should never pet, talk to, or make eye contact with a service animal, unless you have the permission of the person that the service animal is working with, and that permission is rarely given. How do we educate adults and children around accessibility? Which really means, how do we ensure that all people in our society are respected?

I’ve found that with each step in this project, there has been something new to consider that isn’t considered in the development of most projects. Such as making our video recording consent forms accessible for the visually impaired by offering the consent forms in several different formats.

Take a minute to consider your commute to work, and your work space. Are the TTC stops you frequent wheel-chair accessible? Does your building have a ramp, automatic doors, and elevator? Is your building service animal friendly? How do you make people with hearing or visual impairments comfortable?

Although making things accessible can seem like a large undertaking at times, it really is all about opening up your mind to creative solutions of potential barriers, and opening up your heart.

Jennifer Coens, Project Leader, Professional Learning Services