Measuring accessible tools of the trade

Measuring accessible tools of the trade

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Sara Minaeian
Sara Minaeian

“Our current policies only require that our external websites be accessible for persons with disabilities, but we want to ensure everything the GC acquires and deploys—whether it’s software, content, or an application—is accessible, regardless of who it’s for.”

Sara Minaeian is extremely passionate about what she does – and for good reason. Only three years out of university, Sara is part of a cross-departmental team that is one of the first in the world evaluating government accessibility tools and how they’re serving those who need them on a large scale. Resumé goals: check.

Sara works on the Service and Accessibility Team in the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) within the Treasury Board Secretariat. In her role, she has set up a working group of over 30 public servants across the Government of Canada (GC) to identify and prevent barriers to accessible information and communication technology. She and her team collect data about the technologies federal public servants use in the GC. According to Sara, “Our current policies only require that our external websites be accessible for persons with disabilities, but we want to ensure everything the GC acquires and deploys—whether it’s software, content, or an application—is accessible, regardless of who it’s for.” She credits the group’s progress to strong collaboration between her co-chair from Shared Services Canada and the eight departments and agencies within the group.

Can’t work without the tools

“If we want more persons with disabilities to join the public service, we need to make sure we’re reducing barriers and ensuring they have the right tools from the very start, so that more of them are encouraged to join.”

The team is gathering data across the GC to learn about the tools employees use. Their goal is to make sure they’re accessible so that employees can properly do their work. It’s an important objective; one that Sara and the team are really passionate about.

According to Sara, “A person with a disability that wants to work in the GC but can’t because they don’t have the proper tools to do their job can have a very difficult time.” Sara was keen to hammer this important point home: “If we want more persons with disabilities to join the public service, we need to make sure we’re reducing barriers and ensuring they have the right tools from the very start, so that more of them are encouraged to join. We want to be proactive instead of reactive to their needs.” I’ll take “diversity and inclusion for 500”, please.

The Service and Accessibility Team within the OCIO, with input from the working group, has been developing a standard for accessible information and communication technology. Sara explained that there are databases of tech used in the GC, but very few measure the accessibility of that tech. “We don’t have enough information, which is why we need to systematically collect more data. More data means we can see where the gaps are, and once we know where the gaps are, we can improve accessibility for public servants with disabilities. Having more public servants properly equipped by default results in better services to all Canadians.”

World-leading work in accessibility

As part of their work, the team looked at best practices around the world to inform their approach. Seeing what other countries are doing in this sphere was a great learning experience for the team—and it was also eye-opening: “What we learned is that the GC is doing world-leading work, in the sense that we’re taking a holistic approach to measuring progress on the accessibility of information and communication technology in the public service context. We’re also unique in bringing together diverse stakeholders from all communities—IT, policy, accessibility, program, and service delivery to co-create the products for this project,” explained Sara.

Keeping score

“The goal is to ensure all GC information and communication technology can be independently used by employees from the start, regardless of ability.”

The team put together a report of their findings and began working on a scorecard for information and communication technology that departments can use to see how accessible their tools are and how they fare against others. As Sara and the team develop the criteria, they will be able to build a narrative around what kind of organizational changes are needed to better incorporate accessibility into the department. The team plans to pilot this approach over the coming year.

Go big or go home

This work is both guided and driven by Nothing Without Us: An Accessibility Strategy for the Federal Public Service, which aims to make Canada the most accessible and inclusive public service in the world. The more I listened to Sara, the more I believed that that goal is achievable. “Changing the culture around anything is a challenge. We have to think of ways to make accessibility a part of our everyday work, like official languages and privacy. The goal is to ensure all GC information and communication technology can be independently used by employees from the start, regardless of ability.”

She was keen to emphasize though that this whole initiative is a team effort: “None of this work would have been possible without the tremendous collaboration between my colleagues across the GC, as well as our partnerships with Shared Services Canada, Statistics Canada, and the Office of Public Service Accessibility.”

Practicing what we preach

All of this work can essentially be boiled down to the idea of putting your own house in order. As a public service, we can’t create a Canada that’s truly accessible without ensuring that we’re practicing what we preach. The work of Sara and others across the GC is helping bridge that gap.

Her enthusiasm is a testament to the passion of young public servants. Only three years into her GC career, she is helping bring about a generational change in public service accessibility and is being recognized for it. I can only imagine the impact she’ll have in another three.

 

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