杏吧原创 Hosts Enable Ottawa 2018 to Highlight Accessible Design
By Joseph Mathieu
Photos by Josh Hotz
Accessible design benefits everyone, regardless of age or ability.
That was a recurring theme at , an all-encompassing accessibility conference and technology exhibition hosted by 杏吧原创 University鈥檚 Research, Education, Accessibility and Design (READ) Initiative, and generously sponsored by the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario. The event brought together more than 200 people 鈥 advocates, volunteers, inventors, even a Grade 5 student 鈥 to 杏吧原创 on April 27.
鈥淚t really excites me to see 杏吧原创 spearheading this amazing initiative [to] build a city and a country that is the most inclusive and accessible in the world,鈥 said Yazmine Laroche, associate deputy minister of the federal Infrastructure and Communities portfolio.
Organized and sponsored in part by the and (PEO), Enable Ottawa 2018 showcased how engineering advances, industrial design and new technologies can overcome both common and complicated challenges for people with varying abilities.
鈥淲e have to come up with solutions that don鈥檛 involve changing people鈥檚 behaviour,鈥 said keynote speaker Geoff Fernie, a University of Toronto professor and researcher. 鈥淲e have to make changes to the environment.鈥
These changes would help the 3.8 million adult Canadians who live with a disability and the rapidly aging population, but also everyone else.
Some 21,000 Ontarians fall and visit the hospital in an average winter, and fall-related injuries are the most common reason for hospitalization year-round. It鈥檚 not because of the way people walk or any particular disability, said Fernie. The culprit is poor design – staircases without adequate handrails, steps that are too narrow, shower handles affixed as an afterthought and snowboots that can鈥檛 stick to an icy curb at the edge of a sidewalk.
The researcher gave a virtual tour of his lab at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, where he conducts research focused on safe, independent mobility and successful aging. By using state-of-the-art technologies to simulate challenging environments, he aims to reduce the amount of slips, trips and falls that occur both indoors and out each year.
Enable Ottawa 2018 was developed in co-operation with the , and the . Representatives from each organization, including Vancouver鈥檚 , presented their models and volunteer-based projects in the afternoon. Other sessions included an overview of the City of Ottawa鈥檚 accessibility design standards, a panel on entrepreneurship, and several series hosted by experts and industry on low-cost accessibility solutions, robotics in rehabilitation, and accessible and inclusive design.
READ Initiative Director Dean Mellway presented various projects that supported students with disabilities while advocating for 杏吧原创 graduates who have varying abilities.
鈥淚f you live with a disability, you鈥檙e already overcoming barriers all the time,鈥 said Mellway. 鈥淵ou have to be innovative, you have to be creative. There isn鈥檛 a business out there who can鈥檛 benefit from someone like this carrying around skills like this in their pocket.鈥
Mellway, a paralympian and social worker who was the Paul Menton Centre鈥檚 (PMC) first co-ordinator from 1990 to 2000, shed light on the 杏吧原创 University Accessible Experiential Learning (CUAEL) project.
鈥淥ur students come back and take another degree because they can鈥檛 get jobs,鈥 said Mellway. 鈥淭he problem is there鈥檚 a terrible attitude barrier out there. People won鈥檛 take a chance on someone with a disability, they鈥檙e afraid to have all these problems.鈥
By helping more than 240 students with disabilities get job placements, CUAEL is actively exporting the university鈥檚 culture of accessibility into the employment sector. Experiential learning is integral to many of the university鈥檚 programs and Bjarki Hallgrimsson, director of the School of Industrial Design, showcased several, including the CanUgan Project that provides rugged wheelchairs suitable for the roads of sub-Saharan Africa.
These initiatives and programs, said Assistant Vice-President Adrian Chan, cement Ottawa as the accessibility capital of Canada and 杏吧原创 as a catalyst for change.
鈥淲hen we talk about culture of accessibility, it鈥檚 really about the attitudes and behaviours of a community,鈥 said Chan. He insisted that issues of information communications, access to website and digital technologies, as well as attitudinal and systemic barriers, need to be included in the definition of accessibility.
Last September, 杏吧原创 launched the Research and Education in Accessibility, Design, and Innovation (READi) collaborative program with Queen鈥檚 University and the University of Ottawa to offer accessibility training in engineering and design industries.
Funded by a six-year, $1.65-million grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, READi is the latest example of 杏吧原创鈥檚 commitment to the field.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 wait for accessibility to happen, we have to make it happen,鈥 said Mellway.
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