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Accessible News #37 - Summer 2009

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CRTC Takes Steps to Improve Access to Communications Services for Canadians

On July 21, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC: www.crtc.gc.ca) announced new requirements to facilitate access to telecommunications and broadcasting services. The requirements build on existing initiatives and consist of concrete measures for the more than four million Canadians living with disabilities. While certain measures will be implemented immediately, others will be put into practice gradually given the current economic climate.

"We understand that Canadians living with disabilities have increasing needs as communications technologies become more prevalent in our daily lives," said Konrad von Finckenstein, Q.C., Chairman of the CRTC. "The measures announced today (Broadcasting and Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2009-430) are an important step in making it easier for them to use the latest communications services."

Given the increasingly converged nature of the communications industry, the Commission examined accessibility issues as they relate to both broadcasting and telecommunications services.

Regarding telecommunications services and further to its review, the CRTC will:

  • require that telephone companies offer a new service that will allow an operator to convert text messages sent over the Internet into voice calls, and vice versa (known as Internet Protocol relay, this service is used by persons who are deaf or hard of hearing to communicate)
  • require that telecommunications companies, including cable and satellite companies, improve the accessibility of their customer service
  • request that wireless companies offer at least one type of cellphone to serve the needs of people who are blind and/or have moderate-to-severe mobility or cognitive disabilities, and
  • investigate possible improvements to 911 services for Canadians with hearing or speech disabilities.

During its next licence-renewal exercise, the CRTC will require that broadcasters:

  • improve and monitor the quality of closed captioning, and develop standards for its delivery in digital and high-definition signals
  • make available high-quality audio descriptions of programming, especially for news broadcasts (audio descriptions provide Canadians with visual impairments with voice-overs of the text or graphics that appear on-screen, such as weather updates, sports scores or financial data), and
  • provide at least four hours per week of described-video programming (described video is added during pauses in dialogue to provide information on the settings, the actors' costumes or body language, or other purely visual information).

For the first time, the CRTC's requirements for described video will apply to French-language broadcasters, as well as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's English- and French-language networks. This will result in the provision of described video by a minimum of 15 additional English-language and five additional French-language television services.

The announcement follows a public process that included a public hearing, which was held from November 17 to 26, 2008. Dr. Gary Birch, the Executive Director of the Neil Squire Society (www.neilsquire.ca) was one of the presenters at that hearing. Commenting on the CRTC decision, Dr. Birch said, "We look forward to working with the cell phone service providers to ensure they have accessible handset devices across the full range of persons with disabilities; however, the CRTC's rulings did not address several significant issues that were raised by the disability community during the hearings."

"In particular, the need for resources for community-based disability groups to be effectively involved in the ongoing process of creating accessibility resulting directly and indirectly from these hearings was not addressed. This is essential to ensure users with disabilities are appropriately involved in making current and emerging technologies and services accessible for all persons with disabilities. The CRTC has made an important step forward in addressing the needs of people with disabilities, but a properly funded and formal ongoing engagement process is necessary to ensure that people with disabilities are not left behind as new technologies and services are introduced."

Dr. Birch added, "We will continue to work with the CRTC, industry and other community-based organizations to continue the work of developing a funding model and putting it into place. This will enable the required level of effort to ensure that Canadians with disabilities can achieve and maintain full access to telecommunication and broadcast technologies."

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Idea rolls to success

Motion Composites, a small company founded by a pair of young university graduates in Saint-Roche-de-l'Achigan, Quebec has begun manufacturing the world's only collapsible wheelchair made entirely of high-performance composite materials.

Éric Simoneau and David Gingras were still in university when they began putting together their business plan, which earned them some 10 bursaries and honours, among them the coveted $30,000 Pierre-Péladeau Bursary. After four years of development, their product, Hélio, now ranks among the items covered by the Régie de l'assurance-maladie du Québec, the provincial health insurance plan.

"Our wheelchair helps considerably improve the quality of life of its users," noted Éric Simoneau. "Forty percent lighter than conventional wheelchairs, it is far easier to operate and a piece of cake to fold up and store in a vehicle."

When it came time to acquire manufacturing equipment and to put their first commercialization strategy into effect, the two entrepreneurs knocked on Canada Economic Development's door. There, they received guidance on the Agency's programs and the steps they needed to take to get to the ultimate stage of opening their manufacturing plant. Thanks to CED's technical and financial support, Motion Composites was able to pursue the development, manufacture and commercialization of this innovative new product.

"We were fortunate to have the support of experts skilled in regional economic development. While we know we have a good product, our success also stems from the assistance we were able to obtain from Canada Economic Development and others," concluded David Gingras.

The fifteen employees specializing in the manufacture of composite parts are now seeing their order books fill up. Thus, only a few months after introducing its wheelchair to the market, Motion Composites has already had to up its annual sales forecasts to a projected $3 million over the next three years. Clearly, this company is rolling toward success. To find out more about their products, visit the Motion Composites web site at: www.motioncomposites.com .

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Quillsoft Funds AAC Research

On June 17, Dr. Fraser Shein, President and CEO of Toronto-based Quillsoft Ltd. (www.wordq.com), announced a donation of $100,000 to Bloorview Kids Foundation. This donation will fund post-doctoral research to advance augmentative and alternative communication for persons with disabilities and further the development of highly qualified personnel at Bloorview Kids Rehab. This donation is being matched by The Holland Family Matching Fund Challenge which will support Bloorview in other areas of need. Quillsoft shares the perspective of the Holland Family that during these tough economic times, it is important to invest in helping children with disabilities to ensure that they are not put at risk.

Researchers at Bloorview lead in many technological innovations that enhance the lives of people with disabilities. Dr. Shein said "this is the first step in my plan to establish a new Canada Research Chair in Augmentative and Alternative Communication at Bloorview."

Quillsoft arose as a commercialization effort from ongoing research and development at Bloorview. Today, the company is a leading developer and provider of writing software that enables both children and adults with various learning and physical disabilities to effectively compete with their peers. In Ontario alone, over 100,000 students use Quillsoft software to help them in their writing.

Quillsoft has received support in the past from several government agencies including htx.ca - The Health Exchange, NRC-IRAP, and the Ontario Centres of Excellence, which contributed towards the cost of researching and developing its current products. Through their donation to Bloorview, Quillsoft sets an example of stimulating new research and innovation, especially in areas where funding is difficult to obtain.

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T-Base CEO Honoured for Her Entrepreneurial Vision by CATA Women in Technology Forum

On May 20, Sharlyn Ayotte, President and CEO of T-Base Communications (www.tbase.com) received the prestigious Sara Kirke Award for Woman Entrepreneurship at the CATA Alliance Annual Innovation Gala. Sharlyn was selected by CATA's Women in Technology (WIT) Forum as this year's award recipient, which recognizes top women in their field who have demonstrated the most outstanding technological innovation and corporate leadership.

As a blind entrepreneur, Sharlyn inspired the technology behind T-Base, which provides organizations with alternate format, (braille, large print, e-Text and audio), statements and documents in order to meet the diverse information needs of their aging, blind, deafblind and partially sighted customers. Initially employed within the high-tech industry, Sharlyn's career path was unexpectedly redirected when she suddenly lost her sight. Resulting from her inability to decipher conventional print documents such as her monthly bills and account statements without assistance, she launched T-Base with the mission of ensuring that all blind, deafblind and partially sighted consumers are able to receive correspondence in an accessible format of choice, and are afforded equal protection, privacy and security rights.

"In judging the nominees for the award, the Selection Committee was looking for women leaders who demonstrate consistent innovation and leadership skills, resulting in the creation and international acceptance of significant world-class products. We were thrilled that Sharlyn was chosen as this year's recipient, maintaining her vision against all odds," said Joanne Stanley, Managing Director of CATA WIT Forum.

The award was formally presented to Sharlyn by Dr. Roseann Runte, President and Vice-Chancellor of Carleton University. "I am truly honoured to have received this award, and I am very proud of the technological innovation we at T-Base have inspired that benefits so many Canadians," said Ayotte.

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What's Happening at ATRC

There has been so much activity lately at the University of Toronto's Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (ATRC: http://atrc.utoronto.ca/) that we decided to list it all in one place:

The new version of the AChecker Web accessibility checker has been introduced as free open source software. Development of AChecker was supported by the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario. AChecker can be used to evaluate the accessibility of Web pages to be sure they are accessible to everyone. A Public Version of AChecker is available for everyone to use, or it can be downloaded and installed on a local Web server. Choose from a number of international accessibility standards when reviewing Web content. Study the guidelines associated with a standard, and the accessibility checks associated with each guideline to understand what and how AChecker checks accessibility. Author your own accessibility checks. Link AChecker into other Web applications using its Web services to add accessibility checking to your other Web-based programs. Modify the look of AChecker to create your own custom version.For more details about AChecker, and to download a copy of your own, visit the AChecker development site: www.atutor.ca/achecker .

The Understanding Web Accessibility online course has been developed for anyone who wants to gain expert understanding of accessibility issues, ranging from Web content authors and Web application developers to decision makers who need to know what their Web authors and programmers must do to make their Web sites accessible. The course, which was developed by ATRC in collaboration with the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario, focuses on the four Principles of Accessibility described in the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0). It translates the technical language of WCAG to plain language, presents a variety of simulations to help people who don't normally experience barriers experience them first hand, and it presents a collection of strategies and techniques that content authors and application developers can use to ensure that what they create will be accessible. The course will be offered online several times during the Fall of 2009 and for Ontario residents, it's free, supported by the Ontario Government's Enabling Change Program. For more details on the course, an opportunity to preview it or to register for one of the upcoming sessions, visit the Understanding Web Accessibility online course registration site at: www.atutor.ca/services/courses.php .

Version 1.1 of Fluid Infusion, ATRC's application framework for building usable and accessbile user interfaces with JavaScript was released in June. Built on top of jQuery, Infusion takes a different approach to client-side development. At heart, Infusion is an open architecture designed to put you back in control of your application's user experience. It includes a growing collection of UI components, reusable interactions that go deeper than most widgets. Created by a community of developers and interaction designers, Infusion components are built from the ground up with accessibility in mind. For more information, please visit the
Fluid Infusion site at: http://fluidproject.org/index.php/Infusion .

ATRC has also been successful in securing funding for some of its research work. A recent Ontario Research Fund Research Excellence (ORF-RE) award of nearly $2.5 million over five years has been announced for work on an international collaborative project called AEGIS. This is a European Union-funded project to create a comprehensive accessibility framework for global information and communications systems. The research will develop innovative technologies and practices to address the growing demand for accessible products and services worldwide, driven in part by the aging population. Ontario partners in the ORF-RE project, called "Project AEGIS - Integrating Accessibility into Emerging ICT" include Ryerson University, York University, University of Ontario Istitute of Technology, Sun Microsystems, Research in Motion and IBM.

In addition to the ORF-RE funding, the Inclusive Design Institute, which is led by ATRC's Jutta Treviranus, was awarded more than $8 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation in June.

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Best Practices in Accessible Media in Canadian Broadcasting

With the generous support of CTVglobemedia (CTVgm) through the CTVgm-CHUM benefits and working with Ryerson University, through its CLIME Inititaitve (Creating Liberal and Integrated Media Experience), Toronto's Mediac Inc. (www.mediac.ca) will monitor the provision of accessible media in Canadian broadcasting. Mediac Inc. is an accessible media research and consulting firm that supports research and development of systemic business practices to seamlessly introduce accessible media production into broadband distribution environments. To do this, the company has established best practices for accessible media production, provides training, revenue models, strategic planning and human resource recruitment.

The project, called Monitor 2, picks up from the landmark study conducted in 1992 by the Canadian Captioning Development Agency, entitled "The Monitor Project". That study looked at closed captioning.

The Monitor 2 project will include closed captioning and the provision of audio description. Over the course of three years, random broadcast samples will be taken at the national, provincial and regional levels to measure the quality and quantity of accessibility. "Like the first study", said Mediac's Beverley Milligan, "at no time will the broadcast undertakings sampled be revealed. Rather, the selection criteria will focus on getting the most favourable results. This means, for example, at the regional level large urban centre broadcasters will be selected, where a larger consumer base might drive more and better quality of accessible media."

Samples will be taken and analyzed on two different occasions over two sweeps periods, from 10 English broadcast undertakings across Canada. Among other things, analysis will measure for volume and quality. Volume will consider CRTC program category, time of day, producers, manufacturers and marketing factors, while quality will examine style, linguistics, placement, time slots, and technology. There will also be numerous focus groups and committees established representing broadband distributors and manufacturers, government, content providers, and the disability community for feedback.

Additionally, "Monitor 2: A report on best practices in the provision of accessible media in Canadian Broadcasting" will measure the environmental impact of policy, marketing, revenue models and technology 15 years after the first snapshot.

In addition to its current roster of participating organizations, Mediac is actively looking for other partners to join the project as well. Interested organizations should contact Beverley Milligan by email at info@mediac.ca or by post at Mediac Inc., 2 Laird Avenue, P.O. Box 51, Station R, Toronto, Ontario M4G 3Z3, tel: 416-488-9521.

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New Products or Services

Since the last issue of Accessible News, a number of Canadian companies have announced the launch of new products, new versions of existing products or launched new Web sites. Here's a brief summary. The companies have been presented in alphabetical order.

The Canadian Abilities Foundation (CAF) has launched a secure on-line store. Credit or debit cards can be used for subscriptions (new or renewals) as well as for the purchase of other CAF publications. Online donations can also be made on the site. Visit the Canadian Abilities Foundation at: www.abilities.ca and follow the links marked "Subcribe", "Shop on-line" or "Donate".

The new edition of Clearing Our Path is now available for purchase from the CNIB. This is the accessible architectural design book written by Lesley A. MacDonald, the CNIB's National Coordinator, Accessible Design Service, PPL Orientation and Mobility. To order, please visit Clearing Our Path at: www.accesscontent.ca/clearing-our-path.aspx .

Karen McCall of Karlen Communications has a number of digital publications available for sale on her web site. Her book, Microsoft Word 2007 from the Keyboard, is available in tagged PDF format with sample documents in DOCX format. Look for it and her other titles at the Karlen Communications site: www.karlencommunications.com/products.htm .

Upcoming Conferences in Canada

Here's what's happening in Canada between September 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009.

September 24-26, 2009
17th National Conference on Learning Disabilities
Whitehorse, Yukon, CANADA
Contact: Learning Disabilities Association of Canada
250 City Centre Avenue, Suite 616
Ottawa, ON CANADA K1R 6K7
Tel: 1-867-668-5167
Web: www.lday.leafsolutions.ca

October 1-4, 2009
Connections Collections Communities:
Making Museums and Galleries in Canada Inclusive and Accessible
Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA
Contact: National Gallery of Canada
Department of Education and Public Programs
380 Sussex Drive
P.O. Box 427, Station A
Ottawa, Ontario K1N 9N4
Tel: 613-990-1985
FAX: 613-993-4385
E-mail: accessibility@gallery.ca
Web: www.gallery.ca/conference/

For more conference listings, including what's coming up in other countries, see the "Calendar of Events in Disability, Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology" link on the ISO-AT/AD web site: www.at-links.gc.ca/as/zx20000E.asp . This is also the link you should use to submit your conference (Canadian or international) for inclusion in the listings.

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News Bits

  • St. Catharines, Ontario's Special Needs Computer Solutions Inc. (www.SpecialNeedsComputers.ca) announced in June that they are now a distributor for the ProxTalker, the first talking moveable picture communication system designed for children with autism. For information about this or other products carried by Special Needs Computers, contact Terry Scott, Special Needs Computer Solutions Inc., 50 Niagara St., St. Catharines, ON L2R 4K9, tel: 1-877-724-4922 or 905-641-4922, fax: 1-877-725-7799 or email Terry Scott at: Terry@SpecialNeedsComputers.ca .

  • ISO/IEC Techical Reports 29138 (Information Technology - Accessibility considerations for people with disabilities) Parts 1-3 have been published and are publicly available at no cost from links off the JTC 1 and SWG-Accessibility web site : www.jtc1access.org/TR29138.htm . Part 1 is the User Needs Summary. Part 2 is the Standards Inventory. Part 3 is Guidance on user needs mapping. Mary Frances Laughton participated in the development of these documents.

  • PDF/UA, most probably the next official ISO standard in the PDF family, has graduated to the ISO status of "Approved Work Item" (AWI). National and International Committees for PDF/UA are working to complete the PDF/UA draft in preparation for the ISO meeting in late October in Orlando, Florida. From there, it is hoped that ISO/AWI 14289 will reach the Draft International Standard stage in the first half of 2010.

  • Ottawa's Sinclair, Nicholson and Associates (www.snaconsulting.ca) recently signed a Master Vendor Agreement with the Ontario Realty Corporation as accessibility consultants in the areas of accessible information and communications, staff training and policies and procedures.

  • Insight Media Centre Ltd. (www.insightmediacentre.com) of Surrey, B.C. is now distributing a new Augmentative Communication Device called the "LOGAN" ( by ProxTalker). It works like a conventional PECS book "sentence strip", but with sound capabilities to speak the information. The LOGAN uses sound tags that are encoded with unique radio frequency identification codes. When a sound tag is placed on a zone button and pressed, the LOGAN detects the tag and speaks the word. The LOGAN can hold thousands of words and it's easy to form complete sentences. Standard words are included and custom words can be added right through the on-board microphone or by computer. Multiple "real human" voices and multiple languages are available. Insight Media Centre is also one of the Canadian distributors for the Writer FUSION keyboard (by AKT) with text-to-speech, and a built- in speaker which enables it to function as an Augmentative Communication Device. For information on these and other special needs products, visit Insight Media Centre's web site or call them toll free at 1-888-541-7772.

  • On July 30, CVS, the largest retail pharmacy chain in the United States, issued a press release announcing that it will make its web site accessible by the end of this year and that it has already installed tactile keypads in all of its stores so that blind shoppers do not have to disclose their PIN when using a pin-based debit card. The announcement is the result of a settlement agreement that CVS reached with the American Council of the Blind, The California Council of the Blind, and the American Foundation for the Blind, using the Structured Negotiations process.

  • On August 1, Vancouver-based Aroga Marketing Group (www.aroga.com) announced a program to supply free computer access software for Canadian children who are blind or who have low vision and the teachers who work with them, through a new initiative called "Keys for K-12". Aroga reached an agreement with a US company, Serotek (http://serotek.com), to offer the "Keys for K-12" program to Canadian Schools. "Keys for K-12" is an Internet and digital information accessibility software and service that will allow visually impaired students and the support teachers working with them, to receive a free license of the "System Access Mobile Edition"screen reader to help them access computers in their school and at home. The program puts blind children on par with their sighted peers as it relates to the use of a computer. The "System Access Mobile" license allows for the System Access screen reader to be installed on up to two computers, as well as onto a U3 USB Memory stick. There are approximately 24,000 school aged children in Canada with visual impairments.

  • In Victoria, B.C., the Pacific Institute of Sport Excellence's Sport Innovation Center (SPIN) is partnering with the Canadian Sport Center Pacific and Camosun College to provide services and expertise not currently available to the sport community. A key aim of the partnership is to develop pathways encouraging links between the innovation in the high-performance athletic community, the product development sector and the health and wellness of the general population. Although relatively new, SPIN is already working on a number of projects and its current focus is on both the Olympic and Paralympics athletic communities, with a view to taking some of their work out into the general market place. SPIN will keep Accessible News up to date on their work as it progresses. In the meantime, please contact Joe Misius, SPIN's Manager of business development at: MisiusJ@camosun.bc.ca for more details.

  • The CNIB is offering courses, seminars and both technical and universal design consulting at their national headquarters in Toronto. Upcoming courses include Web Accessible Design and Usability (September 10), PDF Accessibility (September 17) and an AODA Customer Service Workshop (September 24). For details on prices and how to register, visit the CNIB site at: www.accesscontent.ca or email the Accessibility Consulting group at: webaccess@cnib.ca . You can also call them toll-free at 1-800-563-2642 and ask to speak to an accessibility consultant.

  • The Center on Disabilities at California State University, Northridge opened the Call for Papers for the 25th Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference on Monday, August 24, 2009. It will close on Friday, October 16, 2009. Visit the CSUN web site at: www.csunconference.org for more information about the Call for Papers and the 2010 CSUN Conference. The 2010 CSUN Conference will be held March 22-27, 2010 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Diego, California.

  • Sprint Computer (www.sprintcomputer.com) is now the Ottawa-area dealer for HumanWare products. On August 21, HumanWare's Tracy McNamee was on site at Sprint demonstrating a variety of HumanWare's products, in support of the dealership arrangement between the two companies. Sprint's Assisted Devices Program Specialist, June Librada, said his company is pleased to be the local distributor for such an innovative and growing line of products. Tracy McNamee expressed delight in having Sprint as their Ottawa distributor, stating, "June is fantastic. He really knows the local market, knows what his customer's needs are." Ottawa-area residents will find Sprint Computer at 886 Somerset St. W., Ottawa K1R 6R7 and can reach June Librada at 613-563-7598, or email June at: june@sprintcomputer.com . If you don't live in or around Ottawa, you can find the HumanWare distributor in your area by visiting the HumanWare web site at: www.humanware.com .

  • The recipient of T-Base Communications' (www.tbase.com) 2009/10 Blind or Partially Sighted Athletic Sponsorship is world record-holding power lifter Stephen Jesso. Jesso, 31, competes in the super heavyweight class (125kg +) and recently broke all previously held records in squat (340kg), bench press (245kg) and dead lift (300kg) exercises at the International Blind Sports Association's Powerlifting Championships in Miami, Florida. He has now set his sights on being the first blind lifter to compete against able-bodied heavyweights and eventually becoming the strongest man, with or without a disability, in the world. This is the fourth year for T-Base's sponsorship program and the company's President and CEO, Sharlyn Ayotte, said "we continue to be impressed by the undeniable passion, ability, and determination demonstrated by these athletes. We are thrilled to have the unique opportunity to be a part of Stephen's goals and successes, and look forward to supporting his journey."

  • The Canadian Transportation Agency has produced two implementation guides to help air carriers meet the objectives of two provisions in the Code of Practice: Aircraft Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities. In addition, the guides provide important information for passengers with disabilities, including those with visual, hearing or mobility impairments. The guides were released on September 1, and are available on the CTA's Web site at:
    www.cta-otc.gc.ca/doc.php?did=2248&lang=eng . Carriers have until December 1, 2009 to implement changes to ensure sufficient space aboard aircraft for service dogs, and until March 31, 2010 to install tactile row markers. Multiple formats and print versions of the guides are available by sending an e-mail to CTA at: info@cta.gc.ca or by calling 1-888-222-2592.

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Deb Finn
Industry Canada
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Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0C8

Tel: 613-990-4297
fax: 613-957-4076
TTY: 613-998-5923
email: deb.finn@ic.gc.ca

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Date Modified: 2010-03-01

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