2020-2021 Accessibility and Disability Inclusion Update
Warm Greetings from the McMaster Accessibility Council (MAC) and the Equity and Inclusion Office (EIO)
2021 Reflections on the Update
The campus community’s relationship to accessibility, and disability inclusion work has continued to evolve demonstrably during the 2020-2021 year, as work and study spaces have shifted from fully remote due to the COVID-19 pandemic to hybrid and in-person spaces resulting from Return to Campus activities. These shifts are captured in the submissions to this year’s Update, reflecting both a heightened awareness of, and commitment to, enhancing and addressing barriers to digital and “hybridized” accessibility, as many campus community members currently find themselves in a blend of digital and physical environments.
Call for Submissions Process Moving into 2020-2021
The 2020-2021 Call for Submissions was impacted by Return to Campus plans, with a decision made to extend the call into Winter 2022. As a result of the later and longer process, the previous Accessibility and Disability Inclusion Highlights Newsletter was not released this year for December 3rd, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, as in previous years. Rather, all attention and effort have been placed toward the release of this complete publication of the Accessibility and Disability Inclusion Update for National Accessibility Week.
Moving forward, the submission call-out period will continue to flex with the conditions of our ever-shifting McMaster environments – we anticipate that like this year, next year’s efforts will go toward publishing the full version of the Update during the first week of June 2023, to celebrate National Accessibility Week. The Update will continue to ask for academic-calendar year submissions, and, as such, we will soon be seeking submissions to the 2021-2022 edition!
Sincere thanks to Nusrat Mir, Accessibility Program Assistant, for their compilation, layout, graphic design, and editing efforts, and to the following persons for their historical and current contributions to the creation and support of the Update:
- Dr. Alise de Bie, Postdoctoral Fellow (MacPherson Institute) and Co-founder/Editor of the Update
- Jessica Blackwood, Digital Media Accessibility Specialist Supervisor, Faculty of Science
- Dr. Arig al Shaibah, Associate Vice President, Equity and Inclusion and McMaster Accessibility Council Co-Chair
- Anne Pottier, Associate University Librarian, and McMaster Accessibility Council Co-Chair
- Pilar Michaud, Director of Human Rights and Dispute Resolution, Equity and Inclusion Office
Sincerely,
