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Accessibility Action
OpenConcept Logo A Digital Guide to the
Accessible Canada Act
 by OpenConcept
Welcome to our latest digital accessibility newsletter. OpenConcept is excited to help build a community of practice around digital accessibility. Governments are creating legislation like the Accessible Canada Act (ACA) and the AODA and if done right this can drive innovation.

The impact of accessibility legislation in Canada effects much more than the public sector. With the ACA we are seeing all crown corporations and federally regulated agencies now being regulated to be more inclusive. Canada is trying to follow with the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and EN 301 549.
 
This highly curated newsletter highlights recent resources of interest. We strive to place this information in context. There is so much happening in digital accessibility, this resource can help you keep up.
 
To help celebrate the Accessible Canada Act, this month's newsletter will be bilingual. A big thanks to Myriam Lamontagne, member of the Learning Lab at CSPS, for reviewing our first ever bilingual newsletter!

If you find this newsletter useful please forward it to others who might find it interesting.

What's inside

  • What's New in Digital Accessibility - AI; Apps; Tactile Maps; Automated testing; Video games; Flowcharts; Apple; D3.js; Twitter.
  • Best Practice - Windows High Contrast; Accessible Images; GAAD at GDS; We4Authors; Masks; Checkboxes; User Flow Testing; Intranet sites.
  • User Views - Switch-based tools; Race & UXR; Woke Web; Color Vision Deficiency; Léonie Watson, Black People, & Disability; Crip Camp; Reddit.
  • Simple Steps - Twitter; Social media; POUR; text-to-speech; MS Office Accessibility Checker; Designer tips; widgets.
  • Accessible Standards Canada - Special Section
  • Policy Update - Accessible Standards Canada, Anniversary of Accessible Canada Act, Accessible procurement; National AccessAbility Week; Mississauga's Accessibility Plan; WebAim Study; Americans with Disability Act; #EUDisabilityStrategy; UK Public Sector Accessibility Regulations; Australia's Taxation Office; W3C.
  • Resources - Accessible Remote Work Meetings; Legacy Applications; Tabindex & ARIA; Accessibility frameworks; Writing good HTML; Infographics.
  • Upcoming Events - Global Alliance for Disaster Resource Acceleration; Task-oriented walk throughs; DrupalCon; Drupal GovCon; ADA Anniversary; CSUN Workshop; Introduction to Assistive Tech; Human-Centered Design; Section 508; Accessible Forms; Funka Accessibility Days; Inclusive Design 24.
  • COVID-19 - Hospital Web Alerts; Sign Language Interpreters; AccessibilityTV; CBC's White Coat, Black Art. David Onley; Glenda Sims; Digital services & accessibility; Manager Guide; NYC's Response.
  • Updates from OpenConcept - We4Authors Cluster; reddit; Enable Ottawa; A11yAxioms; Stories from the Open Gov; IOG.

What's New in Digital Accessibility

Best Practice

User Views

Simple Steps

Help create Accessibility Standards Canada’s first accessibility standards

Today, Accessibility Standards Canada is launching a process to recruit volunteer experts for 2 technical committees. These committees will create the organization’s very first accessibility standards in the areas of plain language and outdoor spaces. Each technical committee will consist of 12 to 18 members and represent the following categories:

  • Persons with disabilities
  • Industry and commerce
  • Government authorities
  • Consumer and public interest
  • Labour and unions
  • University groups and research groups
  • Non-governmental organizations
  • Standards development organizations

Visit their website for more details and help spread the word in your network! Deadline to apply: August 4, 2020.

The Accessible Canada Act is one year old

On June 21, we celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Accessible Canada Act receiving royal assent. The Act also led to the creation of Accessibility Standards Canada, the first federal organization majority-led by persons with disabilities. This was an important milestone for the disability community. A year later, the organization has already accomplished a lot, but there is still so much to do. The organization will continue to work with persons with disabilities and many stakeholders. The objective: to break down accessibility barriers and achieve a fully accessible Canada.

Read Accessibility Standards Canada press release.


Hope everyone has found ways to celebrate the Accessible Canada Act this year!

Policy Update

Resources

Upcoming Events

COVID-19

Updates from OpenConcept

 
Enjoy our content? Please encourage others to sign up. We would like to see this list grow
 

Mike Gifford's Bio

For almost 20 years Mike has worked to shape open source software and the communities around them. In 2008, Mike began building a community of global experts in accessibility to help shape the Drupal community. He spearheaded the advancements made by the community, working to make it accessibility by default. In 2012, Mike was officially made a Drupal 8 Core Accessibility Maintainer.

Mike has a long association with people with disabilities. Mike founded the first Ottawa Accessibility Unconference Dec 2, 2011. Since then A11yYOW.ca has been organizing events to build a community of practice in Ottawa. He has presented at several accessibility conferences including A11yTO, CSUN & M-Enabling.

 
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We provide digital services to help our clients meet their goals. Our team specializes in open source, accessibility and security. We have been building websites for our clients for over 20 years and strive to make them accessible to all and a joy to use.

 
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