4 Policies and Plans

AODA Decorative digital black and white cartoon of a clock hanging on a wall with three pieces of paper hanging below it in a row. Created by mim studio.Web Accessibility Roadmap 

Continuing previous web accessibility efforts, the AODA Web Accessibility Roadmap initiative got underway this past summer to support the owners of McMaster websites in improving their web accessibility, and to collect website accessibility compliance statuses from McMaster web owners to support university reporting to the provincial government.  This Roadmap is an institutional guiding plan under the University’s emerging Web Strategy and will support McMaster community members in understanding how to achieve WCAG 2.0 AA international web accessibility standards required within the Information and Communication Standard under the AODA.

Coming out of this undertaking is:

  • a suite of online resources for making accessible websites
  • an MS Team for sharing information and asking questions on web accessibility
  • a pilot of a university-wide accessibility scanning tool (PopeTech)

The project’s efforts to support the campus community and build institutional capacity in web accessibility will continue into 2022. Connect with Clark Cipryk, central web accessibility specialist in University Technology Services, for more information or support.

Contributors: University Technology Services and the Equity and Inclusion Office

Reducing Barriers to Post-Secondary Education at the Provincial Level

Anne Pottier, co-chair of the McMaster Accessibility Council, has continued her participation on the provincial AODA Post-Secondary Education Standard Development Committee. The work of this Committee continued throughout the 2020-2021 academic year, notably through the delivery of initial recommendations to the Minister of Seniors and Accessibility to shape the emerging Post-Secondary Accessibility Education Standard under the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (AODA).

These recommendations went out for public consultation over an extended 90-day consultation period. The Community of Practice for University AODA / Accessibility coordinators from across the province, including Kate Brown in McMaster’s Equity and Inclusion Office, gathered to collect coordinated institutional feedback on behalf of their institutional stakeholders to the government, as well as to develop a feedback response to submit from the Community of Practice itself. All feedback has been submitted to the province. Universities anticipate the next round of public feedback collection will take place in 2022.

Contributors: Anne Pottier (Co-chair for McMaster Accessibility Council and University Associate Librarian) and Kate Brown (Accessibility Program Manager in the Equity and Inclusion Office)

Accessibility Strategic Planning and Implementation

  • McMaster’s Policy on Accessibility is currently under redevelopment and review by members of the Equity and Inclusion Office and the McMaster Accessibility Council. The revised Policy will be instrumental in mobilizing actions to meet compliance measures as well as aspirational goals. This Policy will undergo broad community consultation and review with communities of persons with disabilities, and other relevant McMaster stakeholders, in its re-development in spring-summer 2022.

Contributors: McMaster Accessibility Council and Equity and Inclusion Office

License

The Annual Accessibility and Disability Inclusion Update Copyright © 2022 by McMaster University. All Rights Reserved.

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