Encourage People to Watch the Archived Video of the AODA Alliance’s Testimony at Parliament, Calling for the Accessible Canada Act to be Strengthened

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update

United for a Barrier-Free Ontario for All People with Disabilities

Website: www.aodaalliance.org

Email: aodafeedback@gmail.com

Twitter: @aodaalliance

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aodaalliance

Encourage People to Watch the Archived Video of the AODA Alliance’s Testimony at Parliament, Calling for the Accessible Canada Act to be Strengthened

October 6, 2024

SUMMARY

We invite you to watch the October 1, 2024 testimony by AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky at the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities. The Standing Committee has held hearings as part of Parliament’s mandatory 5-year review of the Accessible Canada Act. On October 1, 2024 at 11 am, one hour was allocated for a panel of four witnesses to present from different organizations or perspectives. The AODA Alliance took the position that the Accessible Canada Act has been ineffective at making a real difference in the lives of people with disabilities and that it needs to be substantially strengthened.

Check out either:

The media coverage of this testimony of which we are aware has included:

  • A 7-minute interview by AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky on CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning program on October 2, 2024, available on the CBC website, and
  • An October 4, 2024 Toronto Star article, the relevant part of which is set out below.

How You Can Help

Encourage others to watch the archived video of David Lepofsky’s October 1, 2024 testimony at the House of Commons. Post links to it on social media. Provide a link to it on your organization’s website.

Write your Member of Parliament. Urge them to press for the Accessible Canada Act to be strengthened, as the AODA Alliance recommended in its September 29, 2024 brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities.

MORE DETAILS

Excerpt from the Toronto Star October 4, 2024

Originally posted at https://www.thestar.com/business/mars/tech-update-using-tech-to-improve-accessibility-for-ontarians-with-disabilities/article_1d4cb274-7f45-11ef-8260-bb1ff14e940f.html

Tech Update: Using tech to improve accessibility for Ontarians with disabilities

Innovative solutions such as Braze Mobility’s blind spot sensors for wheelchairs can bolster independence for people with mobility challenges — even when they’re navigating barrier-filled environments.

Steve McCann

By Junaid Ahmed

October marks Disability Employment Awareness Month in Canada, a time to recognize the importance of inclusivity in workplaces so that people with disabilities have equitable opportunities to find meaningful, sustainable work.

Unfortunately, recent assessments suggest the province — and the country as a whole — may be slacking on the job.

In September, advocacy group Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance presented a brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of People with Disabilities, highlighting an overall lack of action in dismantling barriers that were laid out in 2019’s Accessible Canada Act.

This assessment comes a little more than a year after an independent review of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) itself, which cited surveys that suggest 25 per cent of persons with disabilities have no or limited access to experiences in public places and work settings, while 75 per cent report having negative experiences. Given that AODA legislation has been in effect for nearly two decades, reviewers deemed the lack of progress in this area “a crisis.”

As these independent analyses demonstrate, infrastructure and policy changes can often move at a relatively glacial pace. And as persons with disabilities are left to grapple with the imperfections of existing systems, tech solutions can help provide crucial workarounds.

Toronto-based Braze Mobility, for instance, has developed innovative blind spot sensors for wheelchairs, which allow people with mobility issues to navigate tight spaces, such as small apartment kitchens or narrow entrances. The company’s tech can also be used by people with vision impairments — its audio and vibration cues signal when objects are in the way.

Braze Mobility founder Pooja Viswanathan drew on her experience exploring computer vision algorithms at Honda to develop Braze’s blind spot sensor for wheelchairs.

Braze Mobility founder Pooja Viswanathan believes accessible technology is a human right, but she also took inspiration from a somewhat unlikely source: the automotive industry. Viswanathan drew on her experience exploring computer vision algorithms at Honda, working on tech involved in blind spot sensors in cars. With the advent of more cost-effective ultrasonic sensors in cars, she says, this tech has become more viable for wheelchairs.

But adapting the solution for people with disabilities comes with distinctive considerations: unlike the automotive industry, which is laser-focused on self-driving vehicles, “wheelchair users really prefer to stay in control,” says Viswanathan. Her company developed an app that allows users to tweak the detection distances of the sensors based on their preferences.

Braze Mobility is part of the inaugural cohort in the Mobility Unlimited Hub, a partnership between the Toyota Mobility Foundation and MaRS Discovery District that launched this past June with the aim of helping startups bring their solutions to market. (Other participants developing tech that could improve workplace accessibility include Deaf AI, which uses AI to provide real-time voice-to-sign language interpretation and Richmond Hill–based Cheelcare, which specializes in wheelchair power add-ons and rehab mobility.)

There is an unequivocal ethical imperative to improve accessibility, but this kind of tech also represents a vital business opportunity. According to StatsCan data from 2022, 27 per cent of Canadians aged 15 and older report that they are living with at least one disability — and it is estimated that at least a million more people will join that group by 2040. So it should come as no surprise that some experts suggest that investments in workplace accessibility could increase GDP by as much as $16.8 billion by 2030.

Note: The article continues on the topic of clean hydrogen and new investment flows to carbon removal, omitted here.