AAACT Now for Accessibility | September 25, 2024 Welcome to our fall edition. As we head into a new season, we’re excited to mark October’s National Disability Employment Awareness Month. In this edition, we spotlight a national program for students with disabilities and its value to students and managers. We also tell you how accessibility testing is helping us learn more about generative artificial intelligence (AI). Read on to learn how disability inclusion is a driving force for innovation in our team and others across the GC. On This Page | Student Program Builds Diverse Talent Pipeline | Students with disabilities form a rich source of talent for the Government of Canada. They provide unique skills and insights to solve problems in creative ways. The Employment Opportunity for Students with Disabilities program (EOSD) is an initiative managed by the Public Service Commission (PSC) for students who have self-identified as people with disabilities under the Federal Student Work Experience Program. The program offers educational resources, training events and mentoring. “The Government of Canada attracts and hires many students with disabilities. The challenge is retaining them,” says Camila Das Gupta, Human Resources Advisor with the Public Service Commission. “There are historical barriers and discrimination facing students with disabilities. The EOSD program is designed to support students by helping them to have a fulsome work experience and be welcomed into a positive and inclusive work environment. In this way, we hope to encourage them to stay in the public service so we can develop our pipeline of diverse talent.” Through the program, students can be matched with a mentor, a federal public servant with a disability. Mentors share their lived experiences and resources to help students transition from school into the federal public service. Megan Le Stum was a mentee in 2022 and is now an advisor with the Accessibility Secretariat at Statistics Canada. Megan credits the program for providing a safe space to apply their academic knowledge and embrace their intersecting identities. “As a trans person, I was never able to be my full self anywhere. Through this program, I saw another disabled trans person working in government, navigating the same barriers. Through them, I could see myself. Their coaching empowered me to self-advocate and be proud of my identities.” Megan is now a mentor with the program. Another mentor is AAACT’s Kathleen Reynolds, Team Lead, Accessibility Program Support Team. “I can help students feel supported and comfortable to ask for the help they need. This gives them and their managers more confidence knowing they have an additional resource in me. At the same time, I can develop my skills as a people leader which benefits my team,” says Kathleen. You can read more about Kathleen in the Get to Know the Team article below. Kathleen and Megan are among the 110 mentors eager to share their experiences with a student mentee. If you are a student who would like to take part in EOSD, visit the resource page for Employment Opportunities for Students with Disabilities. If you are a manager interested in hiring a student with a disability, visit the resource page for the Federal Student Work Experience Program and make sure to indicate the employment equity preference when submitting your request. | Enhancing AI Through Accessibility Testing | Generative AI is a groundbreaking technology that can assist with various tasks, such as writing emails, reports, and code. It can answer questions, create summaries, automate tasks and much more. This technology can be particularly beneficial to people with disabilities. SSC is exploring the value of AI through various projects, including a pilot of Microsoft 365 Copilot that aims to gain an understanding of generative AI and assess its value as a workplace productivity solution. As part of this pilot, the AAACT team conducted accessibility testing to evaluate M365 Copilot’s practical benefits and potential applications for people with disabilities. The team assessed its conformance to digital accessibility standards (EN 301 549). They also explored how M365 Copilot can accommodate diverse workforce needs by testing it with people with various disabilities and collecting feedback. This feedback is crucial in identifying and addressing existing barriers. Accessibility testing found that generative AI can improve accessibility and communication. It can provide sensory support -- such as descriptions, captions and speech-- for those with sensory impairments. AI can also help those with communication or cognitive challenges by synthesizing speech, predicting text, taking notes and summarizing concepts. However, generative AI can also exhibit biases against people with disabilities, often due to data underrepresentation or design oversight. These biases can result in discrimination, exclusion, or inaccuracies. Testing for accessibility can help remove ableist bias and barriers present in generative AI and other emerging technologies. And by involving people with disabilities in development and testing, we can also uncover new applications that can benefit everyone. For more information on our accessibility testing services, contact aaact-aatia@ssc-spc.gc.ca. | Accessible ICT Procurement - Human Capital Management | The challenge: deploy a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that meets the GC’s complex HR and pay requirements and is accessible for the more than 400,000 federal public servants who will use it. The strategy: build accessibility in from the start, test, remediate, and repeat. The Human Capital Management (previously known as NextGen HR and Pay) initiative is assessing an integrated HR and pay solution for the GC and they’re working with the vendor to make sure it will be accessible before it is implemented. In 2021, NextGen consulted with our AAACT program to get advice on how to develop an Accessibility Conformance Testing Framework to ensure the NextGen solution meets the EN 301 549 (2021) standard. Under this framework, accessibility is tested by an independent third party who produces Accessibility Conformance Reports (ACRs). Issues identified in the ACRs are then fixed through regular development sprints. The initial ACR in March 2022 identified more than 4,700 accessibility issues with the proposed SaaS solution. Since then, more than 4,600 of these issues have been resolved by the vendor and all remaining issues are on track to be fixed by 2025. Carl Hurtubise, Director General of Product Development and Delivery takes pride in that fact that “accessibility is part of the design thinking and the core development of Human Capital Management. It is not an afterthought that is only considered post-launch. Human Capital Management will be a critical system for public servants and it’s important to give people the tools they need to do their jobs.” Building accessibility in at the start of any Information and Communications Technology (ICT) project can reduce the need for costly remediation efforts and for individual accommodations that enable people to use the system. An additional benefit of the Human Capital Management accessibility testing framework is that the vendor uses the same base SaaS solution for other clients, so any accessibility improvements realized through the Human Capital Management initiative will benefit other users of the same software around the world. If you would like advice and guidance on how to build accessibility into your ICT project, visit How can AAACT help you? to learn more about our services and then contact us at aaact-aatia@ssc-spc.gc.ca. | When you reach out to AAACT, your first point of contact is our Accessibility Operations team. As the Operations Team Lead, Kathleen oversees client scheduling and the triaging of information sessions and accessibility assessments. She stepped into this new role in April 2024. Since then, she has embraced a field she never anticipated - digital accessibility. Today, she proudly describes her calling in one phrase: I help people get what they need to do their work. What led you to the field of accessibility and accommodation after you completed your PhD in History? Who knew my research in gender, medicine and 18th century England would land me in digital accessibility? My parents are still confused at the trajectory. (Laughter) I joined the Lending Library pilot project in 2020. The pilot was a test case to see how quickly and efficiently we could provide accommodation resources to people on a short-term contract or with a temporary or episodic disability. When the pilot ended in March 2024, we took the learnings about expediting our services and incorporated them into our standard operating procedures. The accommodations process can be intimidating, confusing and sluggish. Our team is a holistic resource to our clients, their managers and departments. Our technicians work with the client directly and their manager, and coordinate with the IT professionals and other resources to make sure the client gets what they need. If they need to try 70 keyboards before they find the right one, that’s what we’re here for. Now you find time to mentor students with disabilities. Why is that important to you? I love the idea of making things easier for people who come after me. When I was in graduate school, I became an advocate for mental health because I had a burn out and I couldn’t talk to anyone. I realize that if I talk about my experiences, I can help others talk about their disability, the barriers and their needs. It's energizing to see a student settling or feeling better or gaining confidence. I’m also building relationships for future hiring to create a more inclusive public service. October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). What is the significance of NDEAM for you? I am in a very fortunate position; I’ve always had the support and resources to do my work. Accommodations are not intensive or onerous. And we need accommodations to be the default if we want to retain good talent. This month is an important reminder, but it's also the start of the journey for the public service to let go of old biases. We can start by hiring students with disabilities and bridging them to full time positions. When you give them the opportunity, they often excel, and your team excels. People often don't realize what they’re missing out on. | Upcoming Training and Events | October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. As we celebrate the contributions of employees with disabilities, we can play an active role in eliminating and preventing barriers by deepening our accessibility skills and knowledge throughout the year. This fall, we are hosting a learning session on essentials for GC managers and human resources professionals. During this session, you will learn best practices in accessibility, workplace adjustments, job accommodation and related AAACT services. We would appreciate your support to share this training opportunity with your colleagues. English session: - Date: October 8, 2024
- Time: 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET
French session: - Date: October 9, 2024
- Time: 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET
For more information on this event and our other upcoming training sessions, please visit our GC Accessibility Training and Events page. (You need to be on a GC network or connected through a Virtual Private Network to access GCPedia.) We look forward to seeing you this fall. | Join AAACT at SSC's Innovation Fair | Explore current and future digital technologies at Shared Services Canada’s (SSC) Innovation Fair. The Digital Together Innovation Fair will feature over 30 kiosks showcasing hosting, connectivity, cyber security and digital services. Our AAACT booth will feature demonstrations and displays of the innovative workplace solutions and digital technologies we offer. This event is open to all GC employees. Visit us on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the John G. Diefenbaker Building, at 111 Sussex Drive in Ottawa. For more details and to register, visit SSC’s Innovation Fair web page. | Digital Accessibility Hack - Accessible PowerPoint Presentations | Accessible PowerPoint presentations mean everyone can use and experience your presentation, including people using adaptive technology. Did you know that Microsoft Office suite provides a built-in accessibility checker? While the checker does not identify all accessibility issues, it does point out significant gaps, such as missing alternative text, duplicate slide titles, or issues with reading order. When creating your presentation: - Use a theme with a simple background.
- Use a high colour contrast.
- Give each slide a unique title.
- Use a font large enough to read easily (recommend using 30 pt font, sans-serif fonts, such as Aptos, Arial, Verdana, or Calibri).
To learn more about making your presentations accessible, visit Accessible PowerPoint presentations in Microsoft 365 - Digital Accessibility Toolkit (canada.ca). PowerPoint Live Use the PowerPoint Live function in Teams for a more inclusive experience. This function allows your audience to personalize their viewing or reading experience. Each meeting participant can interact with the presentation by navigating between slides, revisiting information they may have missed, clicking hyperlinks for more context, using screen readers, or switching to high-contrast view. For more information visit the Present from PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams page. AAACT offers a free Document Accessibility Workshop to all GC employees. Join our upcoming workshop to learn how to apply the basic principles of accessibility to produce accessible content in formats such as Word documents, PDF and PowerPoint. During this workshop we will: - Highlight the importance of accessibility.
- Enable participants to identify document accessibility issues.
- Demonstrate how participants can perform document accessibility checks and fix content.
- Include a combination of presentations, demonstrations, exercises and facilitated discussion.
- How accessible documents are faster and easier to convert into other formats.
We offer a variety of dates to suit your schedule. Please visit our GC Accessibility Training and Events page to register today. | Accessibility Feedback Spotlight | Our accessibility feedback process allows SSC employees and users of SSC services to identify accessibility barriers. A recent feedback item focused on communication barriers in meetings for people who rely on lip-reading. Here are some meeting tips to support people who use lip-reading: - Use the “raise hand” option and wait for the moderator to signal your turn before speaking.
- Identify yourself before commenting.
- Turn on your camera so that your face is visible.
- Avoid sudden gestures or covering your mouth.
- Avoid using distracting backgrounds or wallpapers.
- When presenting in a board room, do not rely solely on the meeting room camera and a camera view of the room. Turn on your camera and position yourself directly in front of it so that your mouth is visible.
- If you are the meeting leader, repeat each question or comment if speakers are not visible. This will help the ASL interpreter.
If you have ideas to improve accessibility at SSC, you can provide feedback on accessibility at Shared Services Canada. | We welcome your story ideas and comments to improve our newsletter. Please share our newsletter with your colleagues. They can register here. Si vous préférez recevoir de nos nouvelles en français, abonnez-vous à notre liste d'envoi en français. | | | | |
