Website will be launched this fall to provide information about policies and initiatives, maps of campus buildings
BY RACHELLE COOPER
U of G is taking steps to remove and prevent barriers to people with disabilities with a new report by the Accessibility for Persons With Disabilities Advisory Committee (APDAC). The committee, which is chaired by Prof. Peter Physick-Sheard, Population Medicine, compiled the report to meet the expectations of the Ontarians With Disabilities Act.
“The act requires all government, municipalities, public transportation, universities and hospitals to create yearly reports on accessibility and make them available to the public,” says Laurie Ann Arnott, a human rights consultant with the Human Rights and Equity Office.
“I think that taking inventory of everything the University has done to increase accessibility for persons with disabilities and creating a plan for the next year will help further increase accessibility,” she says. “Many areas of the University have been working on accessibility, and this report draws those efforts together. We can learn what works from different areas such as the Centre for Students With Disabilities and the library.”
Part of drawing together U of G's efforts means incorporating its satellite campuses in the accessibility planning process, says Arnott. “One of our goals is to increase the involvement of those campuses through representation from the colleges.”
Giving the University community as much information as possible about accessibility issues is a top priority, she adds. An accessibility website will be launched later this fall to provide not only information about U of G's policies and initiatives but also maps with the dimensions of the doorways and hallways of every building on campus.
Physical access to buildings at Guelph is currently dealt with either as needs arise or by incorporating barrier-free design into other projects.
“If I need to get into a specific building, Physical Resources may try to address that need by putting in a ramp or a door opener, or the University may find an alternative location,” says Arnott, who is a wheelchair user. “The Campus Accessibility Committee and APDAC's Physical Accessibility Working Group are also looking at taking certain buildings and making them completely accessible whether somebody currently needs it or not.”
People generally associate access with physical barriers, but Arnott says technology and instruction are two of the major areas addressed in the report.
All official U of G websites should comply with the World Wide Web Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Priority 1 checkpoints, she says.
“These checkpoints include using the clearest and simplest language appropriate for the website's content and providing text equivalents for every non-text element such as images, sounds and animation.”
Two of APDAC's recommendations that may affect many areas of the University community are implementation of the Principles of Universal Design (UD) and the Principles of Universal Instructional Design (UID), says Arnott. UD refers to the design of everything from desks and signage to computer programs.
“Designs should make the material easy to understand and should be accessible to everyone,” she says. “It's not just for people with disabilities; it's so everyone can access things to their own preference.”
UID principles outline, among other things, that instructional materials and activities should provide flexibility in use, participation and presentation; be accessible and fair; and be presented in a straightforward, consistent manner.
The report also recommends establishing listservs to allow Guelph to communicate with other universities to find out how they're addressing the needs of their students.
“It'll be good to stay on top of what other universities are doing in terms of awareness, outreach, information resources and adaptive technologies,” says Arnott.
For more information or to view the full report, visit www.uoguelph.ca/web/accessibility2004.shtml.
