Supporting organizations to improve accessibility

Questions: Do you have suggestions for how the Government could help organizations to improve accessibility and remove barriers?

This question received a total of 1,259 responses.

As shown in Figure Q, the comments provided by respondents were significantly influenced by the examples provided in the question preamble. The most prevalent comments centered on the use of financial incentives and support. Analysis also indicated that respondents conceived of using this approach very broadly; not only for conducting and sharing research and best practices on accessibility and barrier removal, but also in the form of grants and subsidies to help organizations remove barriers. Similarly, many respondents suggested that tax policies could be used to provide rebates and deductions to businesses that can demonstrate the removal of barriers, including employee training.

The government could give funding for the installation of elevators, Ramps, assistive technologies, or any building modifications that need to be made to make spaces more accessible. These things are expensive which I think is a large reason that many spaces have physical barriers to people with disabilities.

– T. Lowe

Financial support for actual removal of barriers - such as changing physical environment or training programs for staff for attitudinal barriers.

– Djenana Jalovcic

And tax credit for the work done (investments) with a maximum cap to avoid abuse (tax credit link to non-accessibility related work).

– Anonymous

Text description of Figure Q:

Responses	%
Financial support and incentives (e.g., subsidies that help organizations become compliant, tax breaks, rebates)	70%
Creation of a Centre of Expertise on Accessibility and Barrier Removal	28%
Public recognition - positive (e.g., giving kudos on social media, awards - non-monetary, etc.)	23%
Establish clear guidelines, evaluation methods and consequences to ensure compliance	15%
Public education (e.g., raise awareness around legislation and assistance available to organizations)	15%
Consultations or other methods to engage with affected groups or individuals (for example those with disabilities know best)	10%
Lead by example (e.g., demonstrate through action, remove barriers, lead on accessibility, etc.)	5%
Certification	4%
Other	7%
I don’t know	3%

Approximately 28% of comments included the suggestion that a Centre of Expertise on Accessibility and Barrier Removal be created. Here, as elsewhere in the online engagement, respondents explained that many organizations continue to have barriers to accessibility in large part because they “don’t know what to do,” or may not even be aware that Persons with Disabilities face barriers in dealing with them. From this perspective, many saw the creation of a Centre as a good way of raising awareness, and providing organizations with advice and information they can use to remove barriers: “The center for excellence sounds absolutely critical. Many organizations would not know how to proceed without good leadership.”

– Anonymous

Public recognition (example: awards, certification), the flip side of public shaming, was viewed by a significant number of people as a potentially effective way to support the accessibility efforts of organizations. In terms of rationale, some felt that organizations would react well to this type of positive reinforcement (example: enhancement of the organizations’ status/brand). Some also expected that the public aspect would help to raise overall awareness:

Positive reinforcement is always a great way to encourage organizations to improve accessibility and remove barriers.

– Marco Pasqua

Many of the other suggestions reiterated earlier comments about the importance of public education, the establishment of clear guidelines and regulations, as well as the need for the government to lead by example and regularly consult with Persons with Disabilities.

Again and again, education is the key to changing attitudes for example workshops, courses, sensitivity training, identification with [accessibility] challenges, speaking engagements lead by disabled persons to all educational institutions and public and private corporations.

– Anonymous

Providing standards and guidelines is the most important support that the government can provide. However, the other ideas listed could be valuable as well.

– Karina Verhoeven

Heavy community involvement. Get insights and wisdom from the accessibility community who has been at this far longer than the government. If expert teams are being formed, look to the people who have been dedicating their lives to the initiative.

– Stephen Belyea

Question: Do you have suggestions for how the Government could encourage, support and recognize organizations that show accessibility leadership?

This question received a total of 1,136 responses.

We see a great deal of consistency between the suggestions prompted by this question and those generated by the previous one. In both instances, monetary rewards incentives/financial rewards are salient. We also see the prominence of public recognition as a suggestion for how the Government could encourage, support and recognize organizations that show accessibility leadership.

Figure R indicated that respondent comments included a variety of other suggestions that were consistent with previous points about the importance of the Government leading by example, consulting regularly and broadly with the Persons with Disabilities, raising public awareness and the need for clarity in the legislation and resulting policies and guidelines. We also note that close to one in 20 comments expressed varying degrees of opposition to what their authors considered to be rewarding organization for “following the law” or “doing what they are supposed to.” This current of opposition was also found, here and there, in some responses to the previous question.

Text description of Figure R:

Responses	%
Public recognition - positive (e.g., giving kudos on social media, awards - non-monetary, etc.)	54%
Monetary incentives (e.g., tax breaks, rebates)	22%
Suggestions that assist organizations in the removal of barriers (e.g., financial support, subsidies)	19%
Advertising campaigns to increase public awareness/education	5%
Establish clear guidelines, evaluation methods and consequences to ensure compliance	5%
No support, encouragement or recognition should be required (e.g., "why reward an organization for not being discriminatory")	5%
Lead by example (e.g., demonstrate through action, remove barriers, lead on accessibility, etc.)	5%
Certification	4%
Consultations or other methods to engage with affected groups or individuals (for example, PWD know best)	4%
Other	4%
I don’t know	3%

One of the threads running through the responses to this question, as well as throughout the consultation more generally, is the notion that accessibility is good for business, and that public recognition is one of the key ways in which the removal of barriers can bear fruit for an organization. Collectively, respondents provided a rich array of ideas for how public recognition could take place, including:

• bestowing awards (example: as part of a huge fund and awareness-raising gala)
• creating a list of compliant organizations that would be widely published monthly or annually
• the creation of a new Governor General’s award for excellence and leadership in accessibility
• the creation of a program that would confer a type of designation onto organizations that meet high standards of accessibility. Such a designation could, for example, be conveyed to the public by means of a logo (example: sticker on the door of a business)
• making extensive use of social media, and
• feature/spotlight organizations that show accessibility leadership (example: in videos posted and shared on social media, in the form of case studies to be included in kits designed to help organizations remove barriers)

Yes, the creation of a logo that establishments could earn that could be displayed on their premises such as their front door that would be in the Canadian red and white colours and could say something like: ‘This establishment respects the Canadian disabilities act and has been made accessible to all people with disabilities.’ In French and English and large enough for all patrons to see.

– Anonymous

Monetary incentives/financial rewards were viewed by respondents as likely to be most rewarding and therefore most effective at encouraging organizations to show either accessibility leadership or, more basically, make their organization more accessible. They also put forward a number of suggestions for how the money could be awarded, including:

• tax credits
• fund awareness and education programs, as well as research that would involve Persons with Disabilities as teachers, experts and researchers
• grants
• cash awards for organizations that exceed targets/goals or otherwise show accessibility leadership
• cash awards that could be used by organizations to reward individual employees who demonstrate accessibility leadership, and
• a contest/competition to find the most accessible organization in Canada, as determined by the votes of Persons with Disabilities

Have incentives for the employees to win if they can best help people with disabilities, but they only get that prize if they get a good review from the people that they help. The way that they'd get a review is to give people with disabilities the chance to answer a quick survey on how good the service was. The people who answer get a gift card or something for the answers that they give.

– Anonymous