Five cases, each read the same way
The sourceObligations into practiceHow does a duty in law become something staff can do on an ordinary day?
What solving it would make possible: accessibility plans that change what people are trained to do, how procedures run and how courses are built, reviewed against what people report.
The evidence: In B.C., more than 750 public sector organizations must have an accessibility committee, an accessibility plan and a way to receive public feedback, and must review the plan at least every three years. Ontario’s 2019 review of its accessibility law found progress far slower than the law intended.
Where my practice participates: translating accessibility plans into training, procedures and course design that teams can sustain, worked out with the people the organization serves.
Who can use itAccess designed in, not requestedHow can courses, documents and services work for disabled people without depending on a request?
What solving it would make possible: materials and services people can use on the same day as everyone else, with individual accommodation kept for needs that are genuinely individual.
The evidence: Of the top one million home pages tested in 2026, 95.9% had detectable accessibility failures, and about 96% of detected errors fell into six common types. A 2023 meta-analysis of 20 studies found a moderate positive effect of universal design for learning on achievement.
Where my practice participates: inclusive learning design and universal design for learning applied to courses, training and learning systems, and accessibility reviews of what already exists.
Who carries itThe work of askingWho carries the cost of getting access, and how much of that work is necessary?
What solving it would make possible: accommodation processes that are clear and rarely repeated, with requirements that state the capability needed rather than one way of performing it.
The evidence: In 2022, 54.4% of Canadians with disabilities aged 25 to 64 who required workplace accommodations did not receive all of them. Among U.S. employers who reported costs to an advisory service, 61% said the accommodations they made cost nothing, and 33% reported a one-time cost, with a median of US$300.
Where my practice participates: research on how Canadian professional programmes write their essential requirements, the standards applicants measure themselves against before any accommodation process begins.
Over timeNeeds that changeDo access arrangements hold when needs change, and does anyone check whether they worked?
What solving it would make possible: access that is reviewed as needs change and adjusted without starting again, with what is learned returned to the plan.
The evidence: In 2022, 64.2% of Canadians with disabilities had dynamic disabilities: limitations that are progressive, recurrent or fluctuating. Mental health–related disabilities increased more than any other type between 2017 and 2022.
Questions I am following: how the work of securing access and changing needs interact over time, studied through the social model of disability, which locates barriers in systems rather than in people.
The climateAccess through the AI transitionHow can AI widen access without people having to take its accessibility on trust?
What solving it would make possible: AI tools that widen access, judged against standards and by disabled people before they are relied on.
The evidence: In December 2025, Accessibility Standards Canada published a national standard for accessible and equitable AI, developed by a committee made up primarily of people with disabilities and members of equity-deserving groups. In 2025, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission finalized an order requiring an AI accessibility company to pay US$1 million over claims that its tool could make any website meet accessibility guidelines.
Where my practice participates: applying the same accessibility review to AI-generated captions, image descriptions and learning materials before they reach learners.