Web Accessibility in Canada

Liberal MP and President of Treasury Board Reg Alcock gave a speech last week that hints at the future of web accessibility in Canada. The speech is notable mostly for what's absent: Alcock makes no mention of introducing accessibility legislation or regulations.

Canada continues to lag behind the US and UK in web accessibility. According to the W3C, Canada's most recent, relevant piece of legislation was the Human Rights Act of 1977 (the provinces may have their own legislation). It'll be interesting to see if the courts get active in this area and start to read web accessibility into existing laws.

You can read Alcock's complete speech "The World Needs More Canada: Strengthening Support for People with Disabilities" (what an awful title); I've excerpted and linked up some of the relevant bits below.

We need new means of access to the Internet for those who may be excluded by mainstream development.

We want to enable any individual in Canada with a disability to perform any task or receive any service or information that a person without a disability can - in any format using any personal technology, anywhere, at any time.

That's a pretty tall order, but we're committed to playing a leadership role in leveraging innovation to enhance the inclusion of all Canadians.

Canada's Chief Information Officer Branch is spearheading much of this work. For example, the Federated Architecture Program focuses on enhancing the usability of Government of Canada information for individuals with disabilities.

It's much easier and less expensive to mold wheelchair curb cuts and ramps while the cement is still wet. The same strategy applies when designing and implementing on-line information sources that are tailored to the unique needs of individuals with disabilities.

Thanks largely to the efforts of the World Wide Web Consortium, Internet accessibility has become a global issue. Canada's Common Look and Feel standards are aligned with the Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines to ensure the majority of Canadians will find it easy to use on-line information and services.

[Note: The Federal Common Look and Feel Standards require AA compliance for all federal government websites.]

As President of Treasury Board, I will ensure that the application of these standards continues to meet - or exceed - the needs of the disabled community.

Although people communicate in many different ways, all communication occurs through the sense of sight, sound or touch. With Canada's Web-4-All project [also here], communication occurs regardless of the communication style or reliance on any particular sense.

The result is computer access that's tailored to the specific needs of disabled people.

Web-4-All was developed by the University of Toronto's Adaptive Technology Resource Centre. This pilot program involves the installation of 1,000 special computers at community access points across the country. They're designed so that a wide range of people - from seniors with failing eyesight to people with limited movement - can access the Internet via public computers.

Web-4-All provides visually impaired people with screens magnified or texts read aloud by an audio capability. Those with limited manual dexterity can use tools for settings and displays that are easier to manipulate than the standard keyboard or mouse.

The technology allows selection of a number of individual preferences, which are saved on personal access smartcards, not unlike a typical bank or credit card. These smart cards automatically configure a customized user interface tailored to meet the needs of the user.

To get one of these cards, people need only go to one of the 1,000 Web-4-All community access points. There, they are assessed for individual technical needs and preferences, which are then entered into the smart card. The card is then issued on the spot. To date, over 20,000 people have them.

The smart cards have been donated by Bell Canada and the Royal Bank of Canada, and special readers for the cards have been donated by Hitachi. Any Web-4-All system can be accessed with the simple swipe of the card, with installation of the participant's preferences. [Photos of a prototype system.]

Related: Canada's Persons with Disabilities Online