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News Release2000-17 Accepting the ChallengeOttawa, October 31, 2000 -- Roch Carrier, National Librarian of Canada, and Euclid J. Herie, President and CEO of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), today received "Fulfilling the Promise: The Report of the Task Force on Access to Information for Print Disabled Canadians". The report has also been posted on the Task Force Web site, www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/accessinfo/index-e.html. The Task Force, endorsed by both the National Librarian and the President of CNIB, began work in June of this year and has received over 75 formal briefs and has held public consultations in six locations across the country. The message from this testimony has been unequivocal and unanimous -- Canada must join its OECD colleagues in supporting the production of formats accessible to persons with print disabilities: large print, braille and audio. Electronic publishing provides the ideal avenue for improving access to publications in these formats. Roch Carrier and Euclid Herie wish to thank the members of the Task Force, in particular, its Chair, the Honourable Mr. Justice James K. Hugessen of the Federal Court, for their inexhaustible energies in consulting so widely and in meeting a very tight deadline. More than 3 million Canadians have a print disability. Being unable to use regular print materials, they are not able to do things that most of us take for granted, such as reading the daily newspaper, a menu or a Grade 12 biology text. "Working with the National Librarian, I am optimistic that finally we will bridge the information gap faced daily by blind and other print disabled persons," said Mr. Herie. Roch Carrier stated, "I will look forward to reading the report and to working together with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and all of our partners to ensure equitable access to information for all Canadians." - 30 - For more information, please contact: Gwynneth Evans James W. Sanders Mary Frances Laughton |