AccessAbility Week
Accessibility: From Awareness to Action!
AccessAbility Week is observed annually during the final week of May, both nationally and throughout British Columbia, to celebrate the many ways in which people with diverse abilities contribute to society. This week is also a time for individuals and institutions to commit to removing barriers – be they attitudinal, physical, informational, or systemic – so that everyone can learn, work, play, participate, and receive services equitably.
During this year’s AccessAbility Week, visit this page from May 27-31 for accessibility resources and activities. Regardless of your location, we encourage you to participate and commit to taking small but tangible actions to further our efforts in fostering an inclusive and accessible work and learning environment at UFV.
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5
Day 1
Did you know...
UFV is committed to providing accessible, inclusive, and welcoming environments. Explore Accessible UFV to learn more.
Action of the Day
Move Around Campus/Your Neighbourhood
It is often easy to overlook accessibility barriers in physical environments which are very familiar to us. This is because our navigation of these environments requires less conscious effort and cognitive processing. Moving around a physical space that we spend a lot of time in becomes automatic to us, and we do it without giving it much thought.
Spend 15 minutes today to move around campus, or around your neighbourhood. Identify the accessibility barriers that you see in your surroundings. Observe the physical layout, the texture of the ground, the location of poles, sandwich boards, trash cans/recycle bins, and cars parked. Look for construction fences, roadblocks, and puddles or ditches.
What challenges would people with diverse needs have in accessing the campus or your neighbourhood?
Consider people who are:
- wheelchair users,
- people who have vision challenges,
- people who struggle with balance,
- people who are hard of hearing,
- people with small children,
- people who are short-heighted,
- people who have a broken limb due to an injury.
Quote of the Day
"The accessibility problems of today are the mainstream breakthroughs of tomorrow." – Eve Andersson, Director of Accessibility Engineering at Google
Resources
Events taking place in the community
Day 2
Did you know...
In a recent Survey on Accessibility and Disability at UFV, employees identified systemic and attitudinal as the top barriers they experience at UFV.
Action of the Day
Designing for Inclusivity
The Forward Movement in Ontario advocates for the adoption of a dynamic symbol of access/disability rather than the standard symbol that is currently being used internationally. The movement argues that “The current sign [with a blue background and white icon] depicts a stationary person with emphasis on the wheelchair. Portrayed in this way, people with disabilities are unfairly represented as unable to move, helpless and dependent.” As an alternative, they propose using a dynamic symbol in which the person is depicted as actively propelling their chair forward, signifying their self-reliance and ability to move ahead by using their wheelchair to their advantage.
If you had the opportunity to design a symbol of access/disability that could be adopted globally, what would this symbol look like?
Take a few minutes to think about what your image would represent.
How would you ensure that the symbol is inclusive and represents the diversity of ways in which people access services, environments, technologies, and activities?
Adapted from Forward with FLEXibility
Quote of the Day
“Accessibility isn’t just a compliance issue that you do because the government says so; accessibility is an inclusive, joyful exercise.” – Sharron Rush, Executive Director at Knowability
Resources
Mental health supports for UFV employees
Mental health supports for UFV Students
Videos
Day 3
Did you know...
In a recent Survey on Accessibility and Disability at UFV, students identified information and communication as the top barriers they experience at UFV. Learn more on small steps you can take to ensure content is accessible.
Action of the Day
Take the #NoMouse/laptop Touchpad/Trackpad Challenge
Visit your favourite website and navigate it without a mouse. As you do this, ask the following questions:
- Can I access all features?
- Can I operate all buttons, sliders, and other controls?
- Can I easily tell where I am on the page?
Tips for using the keyboard to access web pages
- Press Tab to move to the next link, form element or button.
- Press Shift+Tab to move to the previous link, form element, or button.
- Press Enter or space bar to activate the current link or button.
- Use arrow keys, Escape, or other keys if doing so would seem to make sense.
Learn more at nomouse.org
Visit the Accessibility Lab at the Academic Success Centre for assistive technologies to try.
Quote of the Day
"The one argument for accessibility that doesn't get made nearly often enough is how extraordinarily better it makes some people's lives. How many opportunities do we have to dramatically improve people's lives just by doing our job a little better?" - Steve Krug, User Experience Consultant and Author of Don’t Make Me Think
Resources
Accessibility and Inclusion Toolkit
Digital experience
Documents
Alternative Text
Colour contrasts
Teaching and Learning resources
Centre for Accessibility Services resources
Virtual meetings and events
Day 4
Did you know...
UFV has a feedback mechanism. Share your experiences, thoughts, and suggestions on how we can improve accessibility at UFV.
Action of the Day
Watch, Reflect and Share
The Microsoft xBox ad for Superbowl 2019 with the tagline “When Everyone Plays, We All Win!” is a powerful depiction of the positive difference accessible design makes to people’s lives. Regardless of whether you have seen it before, or it is your first time viewing it, watch this 2-minute commercial and get inspired!
Reflect on ways in which you can create accessible experiences for those experiencing visible and invisible disabilities, both in a physical and virtual environment.
Quote of the Day
"The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect." — Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Inventor of the World Wide Web
Resources
Day 5
Did you know...
Accessibility is a shared responsibility. Let's take action today.
Action of the Day
Take a Step Towards Inclusivity!
Some ideas to get you started:
Quote of the Day
"Accessibility allows us to tap into everyone's potential." - Debra Ruh, Founder of TechAccess
