Accessibility Standards Canada
Project 1: Acoustics in the built environment
2022 – 2023
Project goal:
Canadians with hearing loss, anxiety disorders, attention deficit disorders, and auditory cognitive impairments face a wide range of barriers in education, employment, and day-to-day life. Yet, since such disabilities are largely invisible, these barriers can be overlooked by pan-disability associations and government accessibility initiatives. Through standards development and enforcement, Canada can address the gap forming between domestic and international efforts and emerge as a leader in acoustic inclusion. The research will focus on informing the development of new standards for the acoustics in the built environment. It will identify limitations and propose clauses to existing standards (i.e. CSA B651, NBC, ASTM…) and propose the best approach to develop ideal standards in this space for Canada, in line with the ASC mandate.
PI: Rafik Goubran, Brady Laska
Project 2: Enabling Independence: Assessing Activities of Daily Living to Inform Safety Standards for Built Environments
2023 –
Project goal:
PI: Rafik Goubran, Brady Laska
Publications
Laska, B., Goubran, R., Vukovic, B., Wallace, B., Ault, L., & Laghai, A. (2026). Enabling Independence: Assessing Activities of Daily Living to Inform Safety. Accessibility Institute, Ӱԭ University.
Link to Article
P. Masson, K. Milne, B. Wallace, B. Laska, R. Goubran, B. Vukovic, F. Knoefel, “Supportive Systems for Cognitive Health and Dementia: Survey of technology and the role of standards”, ASC Project Report, 2025.
Link to report
A. Laghai, B. Wallace, B. Laska, R. Goubran, “Ray Tracing Modelling Using LiDAR 3D Scans for Rapid Acoustical Measurement and Simulation” at 2025 IEEE International Instrumentation Measurement Technology Conference (I2MTC), 2025
Brady Laska, Rafik Goubran, Bruce Wallace, “Binaural Characterization of Active Noise Cancelling Headphones” 2024 IEEE International Instrumentation Measurement Technology Conference (I2MTC), 2024
Link to Paper
B. Laska, B. Wallace, A. Hudak, R. Goubran, “Room Acoustic Characterization with Smartphone-based Automated Speech Recognition” 2023 IEEE Sensors Applications Symposium (SAS), 2023.
Link to Paper
