1. A Day in the Life of an
Accessibility Officer
Robert Pearson
Accessibility Officer, Accessible Media Inc. (AMI)

2. Bringing inclusion to the C-Suite
• Technology
• Information
• Operations
• Finance
• Marketing
• Accessibility

3. An Executive Champion
• Accessibility is a standard business practice
that can be promoted through education
• No longer a nice-to-have
• Redefinition of the way in which work is done

4. Differentiation & Competitive Advantage
• To not be accessible is to knowingly exclude a
portion of your audience or clientele
• Knowledge of disability accommodation,
accessibility and inclusion will be recognized by
an audience who requires them
• There is market potential for growth with both
ones staff and consumers over ones competitors
who do not acknowledge that potential

5. Employee and Client Accommodations
• Employee
– Talent untapped
– The right staff are the right staff, regardless of
ability
• Client
– Policies and regulations to provide guidance on
effective solutions
– Understanding need allows for effective solutions

6. Living in a Glass House
• Accessibility is in the name
• Recognition as an accessible provider and hub
• Excel in ensuring
– Everyone is included
– All points of view are considered
– Better to “do good” rather than engage in the
alternative

7. Make Accessible Media for all Canadians
• Mandate and Core Values
• Not-for-profit
• Three broadcast channels (AMI-tv, AMI-audio,
AMI-télé)
• AMI.ca and AMItele.ca websites
• Mandated as must-carry services for all
providers
• 20+ years of making media accessible

8. Not your Standard Broadcaster
• Multimedia platforms
– Audio Description (Video Description, Described
Video)
• Post-production
• Live Event
• Embedded
– Captioning
– Transcripts

9. Accessibility Officer
• Chair: CRTC and Canadian Association of
Broadcasters (CAB) Described Video Best
Practices (DVBP) Working Group
• Chair: FCC Video Description Working Group
• Blogger: Accessibility in Media (G3ict.org)
• Founding Member: International Association of
Accessibility Professionals (IAAP)
• Member: AODA Information and
Communications Standards Development
Committee (IASR)

10. Internal
• Accessibility Gateway
– Web
• Document
• Design
– ICT’s
• Established systems
• Vendor education and relationships
– Workflows
• HR processes
• Business practice
– Built Environment
– Regulatory
• Standards
• Best Practices

11. External
• Advocacy
– Conferences
– Meet-up discussions
– Sponsorship
• Consultancy
– ICT accessibility
– Regulatory policy development
– Technical training

12. An Accessibility Golden Age
• Knowledge maturity
• Seeking nothing in return, no reciprocation
• Offering a generalist approach to inclusion
• Action and direction leading to
standardization and certification

13. Innovations
• AMI-player
– An accessible media player for broadcast
• Described Video TV Guide
– Centralized list of described programming to allow
the user to plan their viewing schedule
• Described Video Best Practices
– Quality control guidelines
• Unique original programming

14. Community Connections
• Become the consumer
– Understand the user perspective
– Duplicate the user experience
– Investigate and implement solutions to foster user requirements
• Propagate grassroots relationships
• Foster network relationships
• Be present, be available, take time to build the connection
• Example: Accessibility camps

15. Industry Development
• Education
• Tools
• Standards and best practices

16. Regulatory Development
• Accessibility transcending borders
• Implementation of description, web
accessibility, ICT accessibility
– Similar issues and concerns
• Solved by similar solutions
• Example: Regulatory work with CRTC and FCC

17. Personal Experiences
• The personal connection
• Disability, health, concern for family or friend
• Nothing drives innovation and a desire to
implement universal inclusion; such as a
personal connection to the intent
– Prime candidate: Accessibility Officer

18. Authority
• Without proper authority, an implementation
of accessibility will languish in infamy
• Accessibility Officer: ensure an organizational
understanding of universal inclusion
• Accessibility becoming a new trend…

19. Contact
• Robert Pearson
– robert.pearson@ami.ca
– @a11ymedia
– http://www.ami.ca/