November/December 2000 Vol. 32, no. 11-12

Fulfilling the Promise: Report of the Task Force on Access to Information for Print-Disabled Canadians

On October 31, 2000, the members of the Task Force on Access to Information for Print-Disabled Canadians presented their report, Fulfilling the Promise, to Roch Carrier, National Librarian, National Library of Canada (NLC), and Euclid Herie, President and CEO of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB).

Policy directions identified in the Federal Disability Agenda make it clear that the federal government has a key role to play in promoting and ensuring full access to information for print-disabled Canadians. This role pertains not only to government information but also to the information required by individuals to participate as full citizens.

Public consultations were held in six cities (Winnipeg, Halifax, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa) between August 22 and September 25, 2000. At least four members of the Task Force were present at each session. Following each session, summaries were written, distributed through various listservs and posted on the Library’s Web site at www.nlc-bnc.ca/accessinfo/.

The Task Force was charged, by those it had heard, to recommend the coordination and strengthening of the links between and among individual and local programs to ensure that they are maintained and used to serve all print-disabled Canadians. While the situation in Canada appears bleak, the system is functioning as well as possible given the resources available. What is required is an increase in resources and the coordination of local efforts. There are many willing stakeholders, many willing volunteers and many needs.

Past and present national librarians of Canada have stressed the importance of the right of equitable access to information for all Canadians and have been instrumental in encouraging policy changes to ensure this right. Mr. Carrier, National Librarian since October 1, 1999, has also taken leadership in ensuring that policy changes directly improve access to information, library collections and services for Canadians in every part of Canada. Roch Carrier was a major contributor to the study of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on the status of the book industry in Canada and, together with Euclid Herie, sponsored the work of this Task Force. The Task Force was formed in June 2000 and reported, as planned, on October 31, 2000. Its membership and Terms of Reference can be found online at www.nlc-bnc.ca/accessinfo/s36-120-e.html.

There were five principles by which the Task Force worked:

· The Task Force took the position that print-disabled Canadians include not only those with vision impairment but also the large number of citizens who have a learning disability or who cannot read print due to physical or motor impairments or incapacities.

· The Task Force assumed that all Canadians have a right to access all publicly available print information in a timely, affordable and equitable manner.

· In order not to diminish the rights of individual Canadians, governments have a duty to provide information and their publications simultaneously in the formats in which print-disabled Canadians access this material: large print, audio, Braille and/or e-text.

· The Task Force heard from individuals with print disabilities; assistants of those with print disabilities; alternate format producers from the public, not-for-profit and private sectors; service providers from the public, not-for-profit and private sectors; and advocacy groups.

· In order to ensure that print-disabled Canadians benefit from a service or program, those services or programs must be well known and understood.

As stated by Lorraine McQueen and restated in the submission from the Canadian Library Association (CLA), "CLA deplores the lack of an integrated, coordinated, sustained and sustainable effort to address the rights of Canadian citizens who are unable to read print... Yet, on the subject of access for print-disabled citizens we compare unfavourably to Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Sweden and the U.S., all of whom have national policies adopted by government and sanctioned by law."

The Task Force heard from many in the community of persons with learning disabilities that they are not allowed to use the very fine services of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) Library for the Blind in the same way as CNIB clients do. However, the CNIB does clear copyright for other print disabilities, and the materials it makes available through its public library partners are also not restricted.

The Task Force heard unanimity in both the oral presentations and written submissions on the issues that create barriers to accessible information for print-disabled Canadians and a remarkable consensus on the solutions to equitable access. To give voice to the analysis of the barriers and the solutions, the Task Force has chosen the following quotations:

"For me the Task Force has the mandate and expertise to assist me in reading what I want, when I want. That should be the goal."

Brian Lendrum (totally blind since infancy; he travelled from Whitehorse to Vancouver at his own expense)

"The label 'learning disabled' is not understood by people with several degrees behind their names. This leads to misunderstandings that I may be of considerably lower intelligence than what I truly am.… This means that they are prejudiced or in a biased frame of mind when my papers are marked, especially when I am forced to write by hand. Students with disabilities do not get an unfair advantage by having accommodations made to the learning environment; it only levels the playing field when done appropriately."

Michael Schwake

"The inability to understand print information has serious implications for a person's ability to shop, cook, pay bills, work, fill out their income tax forms, participate in the election process, order from a menu, read books for pleasure, take classes, participate in training courses, programme the VCR and engage in a whole range of other daily tasks and activities. For blind people, computer technology can greatly assist in understanding print information. Yet even in 2000, it is not the full answer to overcoming all of the barriers to accessing print information... providing for this population's needs requires the co-ordination of a master strategy, conscientiously hammered out with all senior governments and especially with the disability community."

Council of Canadians with Disabilities (a national, cross-disability advocacy organization)

"The inability to access information affects such fundamental skills as literacy, independence and advancement within society."

National Federation of the Blind: Advocates for Equality

"I am concerned that the increasing number of elderly people who lose vision are to be programmed by the low expectations that have bedevilled the lives of blind children and working-age adults for generations…. I do expect the Task Force, in preparing its recommendations, to think of elderly blind people as competent, adaptable, resourceful persevering human beings, like younger blind people."

Marjorie Fulton (blind senior)

"Access means that students have the right material at the right time in the right format. The materials must meet the following criteria: ease of use, timeliness, appropriateness of formats, effective teaching and learning methods, and promotion of independence in accessing the learning resources... However, there are major impediments that should be addressed at both the provincial and the national level. These issues relate to developing awareness of the issues, designing policy, improving communication, changing production methods, expanding funding opportunities, enhancing access and promoting collaboration."

Mary Ann Epp, Langara College, B.C., on behalf of the Canadian Association of Educational Resource Centres

"In 1994, according to the data of the ministère de la Culture et des Communications, visually impaired persons could rely on only two specialized libraries as opposed to 968 public libraries for the remainder of the population of Quebec…. The restrictions regarding written information affect the everyday activities of all blind persons, whether it is buying household appliances (digital electronic technology is, above all, visual) or overcoming certain architectural barriers. Twenty years after the International Year for Disabled Persons, there are still inaccessible elevators; witness the story of the blind, yet resourceful, person who travelled up and down a 28-floor hotel for 3/4 of an hour before anyone came to his assistance." [translation]

Michelle Brulé, Canadian National Institute for the Blind - Quebec Division

From quotes such as these, the Task Force was convinced that the information needs of print-disabled Canadians are the same as those without a print disability and that those information needs are not being met in Canada.

The 26 recommendations in this report, when implemented, will improve access to information and publications. The primary beneficiaries will be those Canadians with a print disability, but better designed, produced and delivered information will be of benefit to all Canadians. As the population ages, multiple formats will become more the norm than the exception. As the technologies proliferate and become more sophisticated, multiple formats will predominate. Regular, carefully constructed communication about these changes is fundamental to their acceptance and use.

The best program in the world will not be effective unless the people for whom it is intended have been consulted in its design and are made aware of its existence. It is not enough to provide. People must know that governments are providing programs and services in response to their needs. When these recommendations are acted upon in a coordinated and timely manner, Canada will be the world leader in access to information for all its citizens.

The complete report can be found at www.nlc-bnc.ca/accessinfo/s36-200-f.html. Print copies and alternate format copies of the report can be obtained from the Task Force Secretariat by e-mailing accessinfo@nlc-bnc.ca, mailing a request to National Library of Canada, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0N4 or by faxing (613) 947-2916. If you have neither e-mail nor fax, please call the Secretariat at (613) 995-3904. If you have questions about the Task Force report, please address them to Gwynneth Evans at the above addresses.