Accessibility progress report 2025 for Library and Archives Canada

On this page

• Contacting LAC
• Key progress in accessibility by 2025
  • Employment
  • The built environment
  • Information and communications technologies (ICT)
  • Communication, other than ICT
  • Procurement of goods, services and facilities
  • Design and delivery of programs and services
  • Horizontal progress in long-term sustainable improvements in culture change
  • Transportation

As LAC prepares to launch its Accessibility Plan 2026–2029, it is important to take a moment to reflect on the progress made with the first plan from 2022 to 2025. Initial consultations were held with people living with disabilities—users of LAC’s services and programs, as well as employees. The plan recommended tools and processes to assess the institution’s accessibility readiness. It also identified short-, medium- and long-term activities for all priority areas to be implemented during the plan’s life cycle. Activities that were not completed under the first plan have been carried forward to the next iteration of the plan. In addition, findings from LAC’s service improvement surveys will inform the next plan.

Contacting LAC

Contact LAC to provide feedback on accessibility and obtain copies of LAC’s Accessibility Plan and progress reports in other formats.

Mail

Accessibility - Library and Archives Canada
550 de la Cité Blvd.
Gatineau, Quebec J8T 0A7

Email

Accessibilite-Accessibility@bac-lac.gc.ca

TTY phone

Call 613-992-6969 (Canada's National Capital Region) or toll-free 1-866-299-1699 (elsewhere in Canada) Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time.

* Canadians who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech-impaired, can access our services via their own interpreter or via Canada VRS, which provides an interpreter.

Key progress in accessibility by 2025

Employment

• Following LAC’s Employment Systems Review exercise, an Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDIA) Action Plan for People Management was developed in consultation with internal governance committees, employees of equity groups, unions and LAC management. This plan was approved on July 30, 2024, by LAC’s Management Team; in 2025, it was shared with employees and at various management tables.
• LAC developed and shared an EDIA training menu to increase the knowledge and awareness of employees.
• LAC continues to encourage employees to voluntarily report their employment equity status in the Human Resource Management System (MyGCHR). An automated message prompts them to do so as soon as they first use the system. The participation rate for self-identification at LAC as of October 24, 2025, was 94%.
• Efforts are underway to encourage staff members to use the Government of Canada Workplace Accessibility Passport to identify necessary accommodations.
• Information about sessions offered by the Canadian Innovation Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace is regularly shared with employees. Some sessions are directly related to accessibility, including Conversations That Matter: Bringing Out Talent Through Inclusion and Accommodations: Legal Foundations and Innovations in Practice.
• Individuals requiring assistance in the event of an evacuation were able to practise emergency procedures during two exercises in February and May 2025. Instructions for evacuations are included in the User Agreement, which states that if someone needs help during an emergency evacuation, they must notify the ground-floor Commissionaires’ desk each time they enter the building.

Built environment

• All of LAC’s buildings now follow the accessibility rules of the building code.
• Barriers in the built environment are reviewed on a regular basis, as required by the Directive on Management of Real Property. The needs identified were included in the organization’s real property investment plan for 2023–2027, based on overall priorities and available funds.
• LAC now provides different types of ergonomic and accessible workstations for its employees.
• In designing the Ādisōke joint facility, LAC consulted widely with the general public, including on accessibility and inclusion. The project team ensures that these design measures are incorporated during the construction of the building. In addition, LAC and the project partners (Ottawa Public Library and the City of Ottawa) received the Gold Accessibility Certification from the Rick Hansen Foundation.
• To ensure that employees and the general public can offer effective feedback on the accessibility of its buildings, LAC has updated its website so that a link to a questionnaire can be found at the bottom of each page. By clicking on this link, users can raise any issues encountered during their visit, including any accessibility barriers.

Information and communications technologies (ICT)

• LAC’s Digital Service Sector (DSS) has assessed, installed and configured new productivity and collaboration work tools for employees. These tools offer several accessibility features, including text-to-speech and speech recognition.
• To better track ICT-related accessibility issues, DSS is developing a custom report within the IT ticketing system. This report will summarize accessibility-related requests over a defined time frame without including personal or identifiable information.
• LAC continues to work closely with Shared Services Canada’s Accessibility, Accommodation and Adaptive Computer Technology program to ensure that employees receive appropriate equipment and support for accessibility needs.
• To further support accessibility for all employees, LAC continues to make use of the accessibility features available within Microsoft 365, including implementing SharePoint Online and Dynamics 365.
• LAC remains aligned with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) as it updates Phase 1 of the ICT Accessibility Standards as part of the government-wide commitment to a barrier-free Canada. LAC seeks to adhere as much as possible to the Harmonised European Standard (EN 301 549) and the TBS Guideline on Making Information Technology Usable by All.

Communication, other than ICT

• LAC has revamped its access to information and privacy (ATIP) content on its website with a focus on plain language.
• A step-by-step online assistant for making ATIP requests was added to help clients navigate what can be a complex process.
• A new search tool for one of LAC’s most popular databases (First World War Personnel Records) was launched. The new version uses the Canada.ca template and comes with instructions written in plain language.
• LAC’s communications teams consistently review content to ensure
  • text on the website has a readability level of Grade 8 on average.
  • information is presented in segments from most to least important.
  • images are accompanied by descriptive text.
  • videos are captioned.
  • audio content includes transcripts.
  • bulleted lists are used to make pages easy to navigate and understand.
  • content on LAC’s website is organized in easy-to-use templates, based on internal consultations with employees.
• In 2024, LAC’s Policy Strategic Support (PSS) Division launched a comprehensive review of all upper-level policy instruments published on the LAC public-facing website to ensure coherence and clarity of language. To date, responsibility titles in Roles and Responsibilities sections have been updated and standardized across several instruments.

Procurement of goods, services and facilities

• LAC continues to ensure that procurement processes take accessibility criteria into account, in accordance with the Directive on the Management of Procurement. When these criteria do not apply, or when no accessible goods or services are available on the market, a justification form on the inclusion of accessibility criteria in procurement must be completed and added to the procurement file.

Design and delivery of programs and services

• LAC established an active feedback mechanism with a solution-oriented, “start with yes” approach for addressing barriers. This is now in place at all LAC’s client service points.
• Comments, questions or concerns related to accessibility of services are still forthcoming via the dedicated services feedback form.
• LAC’s process to develop policies follows specific steps:
  • The development of policy instruments always involves consultations, including those on accessibility. This is an integral part of the policy process.
  • Within PSS’s Access Policy Framework, accessibility is being integrated to eliminate barriers to documentary heritage access for people with disabilities. These principles will positively affect accessibility for any lower-level operational policy instruments (procedures, guidelines, other tools) developed by LAC.
• LAC documented existing services through service blueprints to identify barriers and pain points to improve digital and in-person services for the public.
• By 2025, the Programs and Events team strengthened its commitment to accessibility and inclusion by actively consulting with EDIA experts in event planning and delivery. For example, the team worked with accessibility specialists during the Open House at the Preservation Centre to identify potential improvements and, during guided tours, introduced seating options at key points for visitors needing a rest. Accessibility testing has become a standard part of the promotional process, ensuring that email invitations include alt text, appropriate colour contrast and accessible design.
• For events such as Open House at the Preservation Centre, Open Doors Ottawa and Art from the Archives, LAC ensured there was wheelchair-accessible pathways, adaptable seating and clear bilingual signage highlighting key amenities. Another example is LAC’s Black Diasporas listening station, where all videos featured open captions and were dubbed with translated open captions in French to make the content available in both official languages. Printed transcripts were provided beside the listening station for visitors requiring text-based access, and a QR code invited participants with disabilities to share feedback and suggestions for future improvements to help LAC continuously enhance accessibility in its public programming.
• LAC also hosted consultations with users in person (e.g., at 395 Wellington) or via virtual meetings to identify barriers and improve services.

Horizontal progress in long-term sustainable improvements in culture change

By establishing the EDIA Centre of Excellence, LAC started to assess opportunities for improvements to more effectively eliminate barriers encountered by users who live with disabilities.

By 2025, the Centre had

• identified EDIA goals and actions specific to different sectors.
• provided advice to LAC sectors on EDIA in projects, policies, programs, initiatives and activities.
• reported to management on EDIA commitments, actions and feedback across LAC.

Transportation

This priority was not addressed in the initial accessibility plan as transportation is not a core LAC activity. However, LAC is looking at ways to integrate transportation-related improvements in the next plan.