Now that you've had a brief overview of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service, have a look at how they apply to your job.
Here are a few situations as they occur in three common campus settings: the classroom, the office and campus facilities. Take a few moments to consider them and depending on your role and responsibilities, think about what you would do.
In the classroom
A picture is worth a thousand words and it takes a lot of effort to describe a picture.
I am a visual learner and a visual teacher. The limitations of my dependence on visual aspects became apparent to me the day I came to class armed with a PowerPoint presentation loaded with images of famous works of art.
A few slides into my presentation I realized that a student in the front row could not see the images. Although I had sent her the presentation by email well before class, I had not thought about “translating” the images. I did two things to make the slides accessible to her. I directed the students’ attention to various areas of the image using precise directions rather than simply gesturing with my hand, and refrained from saying things like, “Look at the vibrant colours! Isn’t this a remarkable picture?”
I also described each image as if it were not even on the screen and every student there had to imagine it instead. It felt like I was the curator of a museum conducting a guided tour for blind patrons. While it took longer this way, I ended up conveying more information to all the students than I would have otherwise... thanks to my student in the front row.
In the office
One day Jack, a student in the Executive Masters of Business Administration program, went to the school’s student support office. The office prides itself on providing high quality services to its EMBA students, many of whom receive considerable financial support from Canada’s top employers to attend the program.
Jack had tried to check online for the status of his scholarship but for some reason, he couldn’t access his student account. Before the assistant could release information to Jack about the status of his account, he asked him to read and sign a brief release form. Jack asked the officer if he would read aloud the release statement to him. The assistant thought this was an unusual request and looked intently at Jack, thinking, “Wow, if he’s blind, he manages very well”. He shrugged his shoulders and read the statement as requested and watched in amazement as Jack took the form and signed his name without hesitation on the line indicated. The assistant proceeded to provide Jack the information he needed.
Later, in the staff room, the assistant mentioned his experience to his co-worker, who replied, “I remember reading about different types of learning disabilities a couple of years ago. Some people have difficulties processing written information but have no difficulties if they hear the information.” Thinking about his interaction with Jack, the assistant was relieved he didn’t speak out loud about his assumptions or ask any embarrassing questions.
In campus facilities
Dwayne, a friend of mine, was recently appointed Associate Dean in the Faculty of Education at our university. He told me about an experience he had on his first day.
To familiarize himself with the campus, he visited a couple of times before the big day. Being a huge coffee lover, he took the time to note especially the location of the campus coffee shops.
Wanting to enjoy his favourite grande vanilla latte and muffin before starting his first day, Dwayne arrived on campus early wearing his best suit and Gucci shaded glasses. The coffee shop was very busy, as was usual for Monday mornings. The lone cashier, a little flustered with trying to keep up, was writing a sign indicating they were all out of vanilla syrup just as Dwayne stepped up to the counter. When she finished taping the sign over the menu, the cashier turned and asked Dwayne, “What can I get you?” When Dwayne asked for a vanilla latte, the cashier giggled loudly, pointed to a sign, saying, “You’ll have to pick another flavour”. Dwayne stood there - he couldn’t see the list of flavours.
By coincidence, Joyce, a staff member from the Faculty of Education was standing in line right behind Dwayne. She stepped forward, and after giving her name, told Dwayne that the cashier just posted a sign that they were all out of vanilla syrup.
Feeling embarrassed, the cashier read aloud the other available flavours. Dwayne chose another flavour for his latte and the cashier proceeded to fix his order, being careful to put a lid on his coffee before putting the cup directly in Dwayne’s hand. She then told him that the milk and sugar cart was about four feet directly to his left.
Dwayne turned and thanked Joyce, saying he was looking forward to seeing her back at the office.
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