The document outlines Canada's advancements and historical milestones in digital accessibility, including key events and legislation from 1874 to present. Notable achievements include the introduction of the first digital camera, wheelchair-accessible public transit, and the establishment of various accessibility standards. It also emphasizes Canada's leadership in international accessibility initiatives and the significance of the Accessible Canada Act, which recognizes sign languages as vital for deaf individuals in Canada.

1. Lessons learned:
Canada’s past,
present, and future
in digital accessibility
David Berman, CPWA, ADS | 18 May 2023
This document does not fully comply with all applicable guidelines for accessible digital documents:
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2. Expert Speaker
David Berman, CPWA, ADS, CPACC, WAS
Every link I mention is available for you to launch at:
http://www.davidberman.com/accessibilitylinks
…or at this QR Code
facebook.com/davidbermancommunications
linkedin.com/in/bermandavid
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3. Land acknowledgement
This online event
is taking place on the
traditional unceded land of the
Anishinaabe Algonquin
Nation.
Let’s all take a moment to
acknowledge the situation
wherever you live.

4. The Halifax Explosion’s
silver lining: the CNIB
In a city of 50,000, 2,000 dead, 9,000
injured … and hundreds suffered
vision loss because they were staring
at the ship when it exploded.
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5. 1972: computerized braille printer
Canada’s Roland Galarneau
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6. CNIB’s global impact
 Orbit: World’s most affordable
dynamic braille display
 Shared leadership developing
UEB (Unified English Braille)
for use in all English countries
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7. 2011: Tactile features on currency
Tactile features implemented worldwide: Bahrain,
Thailand, Malawi, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, Costa Rica,
and soon on the United States $10 bill
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8. 1981: World’s first true digital camera
You can’t have digital
accessibility without
digital images!
100 x 100 8-bit pixel CCD
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9. davidberman.com
2013: eSight computerized glasses
Ontario’s eSight Corporation’s computerized glasses reconfigures
high-definition camera images to two LED screens
“I can now be
the person I’m
supposed to be.”
- Yvonne Felix

10. 1948: Toronto Transit Commission rolls out
the world’s first wheelchair-accessible bus
Toronto Transit Commission
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11. 1953: Electric wheelchair invented by NRC
Canada’s George Klein at Montreal Rd campus
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12. 1957: Carleton University’s 5 km of tunnels
welcome everyone … especially in winter!
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13. 2012: Carleton Access Network
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14. 2018: READi world-first interdisciplinary
graduate program in accessibility at Carleton
The READi training program (and the resulting Accessibility Institute) is
the first interdisciplinary accessibility graduate program in the World
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15. Canada’s Neil Squire Society: LipSync

16. Charles Bliss and Shirley McNaughton
Toronto, 1971
Blissymbols
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17. 1874 to 1999: from
Bell to Blackberry
 1874: 7 years after
confederation, Alexander
Graham Bell invents the
telephone in Brantford, Ontario
 1999: Blackberry revolutionizes
using the phone as a messaging
tool
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18. 1993: Canada’s 711 service adopted
throughout North America
 Adopted in Canada in 1991,
users throughout North America
can now dial 711 to reach the
Telephone Relay Service, used by
people with hearing or speaking
limitations
 711 (like 411 or 911) is a 3-digit
code set aside from dialing Deaf
relay service
 Just like there is no area code
911 or 411, there is no area code
711 for this reason.
davidberman.com
711

19. 2000: Henry Vlug forces everything on
Canadian TV to be captioned: a world first
Not just the shows:
In Canada, station
identification,
reruns, commercials,
promos, and every
interstitial are
captioned.
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20. 2019: Canada-led NER caption quality
measurement system
 WCAG has no measurable requirement on caption
quality
 Canada led the development of NER, including
Australia, Spain, UK,…
 Canada’s CRTC demands use of the NER:
 Prerecorded captions seek to be 100% accurate
(and they must be at least 98% accurate
 Live captions must be at least 85%+ accurate
 NER Accuracy Score = (Words minus Deductions)
/ Words) x 100 … there are 6 deduction types with
scores from 0.25 to 1.0 each.

21. International standards and systems design
are so Canadian!
Canada participation, per capita, on international conventions and
standards for accessibility is second to none (UN, ISO, W3C,…)
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22. 2006: United Nations Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities
 163 signatories (as of 2020)

23. 2016: Canada’s Minister Carla Qualtrough makes
the Marrakesh Treaty a reality
 International treaty that
facilitates access to
copyrighted works for those
who need to convert them
into accessible formats
 Signed by 63 countries, as of
2020
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24. ISO committees:
WCAG, PDF/UA, plain language…
 2023: ISO 24495-1 Plain Language Standard

25. Leadership: Canada + WCAG
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26. WCAG 2: regulatory standard trending globally
Region Regulation Standard Deadlines
Canada govt. CLF 2.0 WCAG 1.0 2001
Canada govt. Standard on Web Accessibility WCAG 2.0 AA 2011
Canada govt. “Usable by All” best practice WCAG 2.1 AA 2019+
Ontario AODA IASR WCAG 2.0 AA 2012-2021
Quebec govt. SGQRI 008 ~WCAG 2.0 2011
Manitoba govt. Website Standards WCAG 1.0 2005
Manitoba Accessibility for Manitobans Act WCAG 2.1 AA 2023+
USA NY govt. Original Section 508 WCAG 1.0 partial 1973, 1998
USA govt. Revised Section 508 ADA WCAG 2.0 AA 2017/2018+
California ABA 434 WCAG 2.0 AA 2019
Illinois govt. IITAA 2 WCAG 2.0 AA 2018
Australia IPS/NTS WCAG 2.1 A/AA * 2012-
UK governments Equality Act 2010 PSBAR WCAG 2.1 AA 2010, 2018+
EU, UK WAD / EN 201 549 WCAG 2.0/2.1 AA 2018+

27. 2001: Government of Canada Common Look
and Feel Standards for the Internet 2.0
Part 1: Web Addresses
Part 2: Accessibility, Interoperability
and Usability of Web Sites
Part 3: Common Web Page Formats
Part 4: Email

28. Canada’s Standard on Web Usability
The Standard on Web Accessibility co-exists with the Standard on Web
Interoperability entirely replaced the CLF 2.0 policy.
The Standard on Web Accessibility demands conformance to WCAG 2.0
Level AA.

29. Accessibility Dividend:
Canada Revenue Agency: Web site
 6 cents self-serve versus $26 phone call
 security and accessibility

30. Canada Revenue Agency:
fillable forms
 Improved service in all languages
 Accessible, dynamic fillable forms were
invented in Ontario for government, now
used worldwide (acquired by Adobe)

31. 2005: Ontario
2013: Manitoba
2017: Nova Scotia
2018: British Columbia
2021: Newfoundland
 Ontario’s AODA
 Manitoba Bill 26: Accessibility for Manitobans Act
 Nova Scotia: Nova Scotia Accessibility Act
 British Columbia Bill M 219: British Columbia
Accessibility Act
 Newfoundland Bill 38: Newfoundland Accessibility Act

32. Ontario’s AODA regulations
published January 1 2013
Ontario’s precise Integrated Accessibility
Standards Regulation 191/11 (IASR) kicks in,
objectifying the 2005 Accessibility for Ontarians
With Disabilities Act (AODA):
 Information and Communications Standards
 Employment Standards
 Transportation Standards
 Design of Public Spaces Standards
 … and the existing AODA Standards for Accessible
Customer Service
“making the province accessible for everyone by 2025”

33. AODA: Ontario’s accessibility legislation
Accessibility for Ontarians with
Disabilities Act (2005) pertains
to both government and private
sector

34. Manitoba’s AMA regulations
published April 22, 2022
Accessible Information and Communication
Standard (Regulation M.R.47, 2022)
WCAG 2.1 AA deadlines for websites and web apps:
 provincial government: May 1, 2023
 regional health authorities, cities, educational
institutions, libraries: May 1, 2024
 private and non-profit organizations (50+ employees
in MB), small municipalities: May 1, 2025

35. Norway’s
Anti-Discrimination and Accessibility Act
Anti-Discrimination and Accessibility Act has many
facets, including Web accessibility…
Section 14 concerns the Web, and calls for WCAG 2.0
Level AA:
“Net-based solutions must as a minimum be designed in
compliance with standard Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) NS/ISO/IEC 40500:2012 at the
A and AA level, with the exception of guidelines 1.2.3,
1.2.4 and 1.2.5, or with corresponding standards.”

36. EU’s EN 301 549 includes WCAG 2.1 AA
 The European Union’s norm EN 301 549 is a
harmonized accessibility standard that defines
minimum accessibility standards for information
communications technology (ICT).
 WAD first referenced ETSI EN 301 549 in Version
2.1.2 (2018), which officially adopted WCAG 2.1 AA
 The current version of EN 301 549 is Version 3.1.1
(2021)
 Chapter 9 of EN 301 549 designates WCAG 2.1 AA
as the standard for websites and web apps: it’s a
standard that points to a standard!

37. WCAG 2.1 AA contains everything in
WCAG 2.0 AA…plus 12 new success criteria
WCAG 2.0
Level AA
conformance
38 success criteria:
25 Level A
+
13 Level AA
WCAG 2.1
Level AA conformance
50 success criteria
+
WCAG 2.1’s
new success
criteria
12 new A,AA:
5 Level A
+
7 Level AA

38. EN 301 549 going global
(including WCAG 2.1)
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Canada
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Illinois (best practice)
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Manitoba
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Ontario
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
UK
Coming soon to a

39. 2019: Accessible
Canada Act
“Every day, let us take
action to break down
the barriers that
exclude Canadians
with disabilities. We
cannot rest until
persons with
disabilities have the
same opportunities as
everyone else.”
Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau

40. 2019: Accessible Canada Act regulations
 Accessible Canada Act
passed June 21, 2019
 Obligates federal
departments, agencies,
and federally regulated
organizations
 Regulations have
begun to be published
(e.g., transportation
sector)
 Other regulations are
under development

41. 2019: Accessible Standards Canada

42. Canada’s Guideline on Making Information
Technology Usable by All calls for WCAG 2.1
 Treasury Board encourages federal government to apply WCAG 2.1
and EN 301 549 to all their IT solutions, including web content

43. WCAG 2.1 is part of Ontario’s recommended
next version of AODA

44. ACA recognizes sign languages as the
primary languages of Deaf Canadians
The Accessible Canada Act likely made Canada the first country in the
world to recognize multiple sign languages (“American Sign Language,
Quebec Sign Language and Indigenous sign languages”) as the
primary languages of the nation’s Deaf people, entitled to full legal
protection and support typically only afforded to official languages.
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45. Plains Sign Talk*
 In 1885, 110,000 hearing
and deaf Indigenous
people were still using
PISL: arguably the largest
widespread proportional
use of a signed language
in the history of
civilization.
 Shared amongst
populations using 37
spoken languages.
*aka Plains Indian Sign Language in USA
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46. 2019: Canada’s Indigenous Languages Act

47. “Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics”

48. Indigenous language digital support:
“Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics”
 Simply type (or cut and paste) any character
 UTF-8 supports Unicode, and Unicode supports any font that
has the Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics section populated
 All major OS come with at least one CAS-supporting font:
 Windows 8 and later: Gadugi
 Windows (Vista and earlier): Euphemia
 macOS/iOS: Euphemia UCAS
 Android: Noto Sans
 Best performance: install free Aboriginal Sans from
Languagegeek.com
font-family: Gadugi,Euphemia,'Euphemia UCAS’,'Aboriginal
Sans’,'Noto Sans Canadian Aboriginal’,sans-serif;

49. Future leadership opportunities
“Things have not changed enough,
but they have changed a lot in my lifetime.”
| Buffy Sainte-Marie

50. Global thinking, starting at home.

51. facebook.com/davidbermancommunications
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Upcoming events:
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david@davidberman.com / +1-613-728-6777
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SOURCES/CREDITS: Some material reproduced with permission. © 2001-2023 David Berman. All rights reserved. No reproduction, in whole or part, without written permission. Many Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Full Intellectual
property credits, sources for quotes, statistics, images and available upon request or in the full event or the full learning guide for the full-day version of this event. E&OE
Thank you!

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53. Need a white paper?
Links to anything I’ve mentioned?
Questions?
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54. Acknowledgments and credits
Jeff Anderson, Ben Armitage, Mitchell Bellman, Tatiana Branicki, Jeff Braybrook, Dee Bouchard, Donnie Cheslock, Patrick Cunningham, Ray Farmilo, Andy
Foley, Dr. Alan Frank, Alena Fraser, Edward Galagan, Paul Girvin, Jannicke Holen, Cynthia Hoffos, Paul Jackson, Joanne Kerr, Steve Krug, Daniel Langlois,
Chuck Letourneau, Sabina Lysnes, Rob Mauchel, Marius Monsen, Vivian Nash, Jacob Nielsen, Peter O’Connor, Khadija Safri, Shebah Tatz, Sonia Théberge,
Tamara Torok, Kelsey Voy, Deanna White
3Play Media, Adobe, AMI, Canada Council, Canada School of Public Service, Carleton University, CFIA, City of Hamilton, City of Ottawa, Correctional Service
Canada, CRA, Department of Canadian Heritage, Funka, Government of India, Government of Korea, Government of Queensland, Health Canada, IBM,
Institute for Performance and Learning, LCBO, Microsoft, NetCentric, Norwegian Agency for Public Management and eGovernment, Norwegian Computing
Society, Norwegian Design Council, National Research Council, NVDA, Public Health Agency of Canada, RGD Ontario, St. Lawrence College, Statistics
Canada, Sultanate of Oman, T-Base, Treasury Board of Canada, uxforum.no, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, W3C, WGBH Boston
Other credits and permissions available upon request.
Copyright 2000-2023 David Berman Developments Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage or retrieval
system, without the permission in writing from the publisher. Although all precautions have been taken in the preparations of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions.
the information contained in this book is general in nature and is provided on a an as-is basis.
No liability is assumed for loss or damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein, howsoever caused. All images containing copyrighted logos or names are the property of their respective
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We work hard to ensure the accuracy of this learning guide. If you have any suggestions for improvement, please email berman@davidberman.com or visit www.davidberman.com/contactus
Certified carbon offsets purchased for the production of this document.
SOURCES/CREDITS: Some material reproduced with permission. © 2001-2023 David Berman. All rights reserved. No reproduction, in whole or part, without written permission. Many Images courtesy of
Shutterstock. Full Intellectual property credits, sources for quotes, statistics, images and available upon request or in the full event or the full learning guide for the full-day version of this event. E&OE
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55. About David Berman, CPWA, ADS
David Berman is one of perhaps 20 people in the world to hold CPWA
certification and 100 people globally to hold CPACC certification, the
World’s only certifications for accessibility professionals. (In fact, he
was the first person in Canada to take these exams!) These
certifications are issued by IAAP (International Association of
Accessibility Professionals). IAAP is a division of G3ICT, for which
David is an International Advisor. In 2018, David was appointed to the
Global Council of the IAAP.
David is on the ISO committee for accessible PDF (PDF/UA).
He has over 30 years of experience in design and communications,
and has worked extensively in the adaptation of content for electronic
distribution, including accessible Web and software interface
development.
David was appointed by Ontario’s Minister in charge of accessibility to
serve on the standards review committee for Ontario’s world-leading
AODA accessibility regulations.
He was contracted by Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s World Wide Web
Foundation to audit online accessibility in over 40 countries for the
annual theWebIndex.org benchmark report.
As author (Do Good Design [Peachpit/Pearson, 2009/2013/2018]),
expert speaker, designer, communications strategist, and accessibility
consultant, his path has brought him to over 50 countries.
In 2015, he was named an Invited Expert to W3C, the authors of
WCAG 2.0. The same year he was appointed International Universal
Design Champion for the Government of Ireland.
In 2009, David was appointed a high-level advisor to the United
Nations on how accessible Web design can help fulfill the Millennium
Development Goals.
He regularly teaches WCAG accessibility as part of his professional
development workshops.
David and his team have been working with Treasury Board
Secretariat going back to CLF 1.0 days. Over 40 departments and
agencies have hired Berman’s team for inclusive design and strategic
expertise.
He has provided design and consulting work for the International
Space Station, IBM, The World Bank.
David is Chair of Carleton University’s Carleton Access Network for
accessible information technology, run out of Carleton University’s
Paul Menton Centre for Students with Disabilities as an initiative of
the School of Engineering and has provided accessibility training and
consulting to schools across Ontario.
Full biography and CV:
http://www.davidberman.com/about/biography
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56. Courses and learning guides: davidberman.com/store ($97)
 The Standard on Web Accessibility: WCAG 2
 What’s New in WCAG 2.1
 Accessible InDesign to PDF
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 How to test for accessibility: automated and manual testing
 Accessible virtual meetings
 Accessible distance learning
 Accessible instructional design
 Writing for the Web with Accessibility in Mind
 COMING SOON: Accessible EPUB
Bonus: Today’s attendees get a free signed copy of David’s book
Do Good Design with any shipped order: type coupon code
“3PLAYROCKS”
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