Section 2
The 45 resources in this branch
Each entry states what the resource contributes, what grounds it, whether a live page exists, the resources most like it within this set, and the connections that run beyond it.
Why Universal Design Never Eliminates Individual Accommodation
The anchor · why both are permanent, and both are skilled
Practised · resource in development
Individual accommodation is not a residue left behind by imperfect design. Human variability has no outer edge, some barriers are the very thing an assessment is meant to measure, and the duty is owed to a person rather than discharged by a process — which is why proactive design and individual accommodation remain complementary, and why the accommodation encounter is skilled professional practice rather than an administrative step.
Grounding. Inclusive design and one-size-fits-one; the duty to accommodate; construct validity
Sources
- Reference 1: Inclusive Design Research Centre. The Inclusive Design Guide. OCAD University — the source of the one-size-fits-one principle and the inclusive design framework.
- Reference 2: Connell, B. R., Jones, M., Mace, R., Mueller, J., Mullick, A., Ostroff, E., Sanford, J., Steinfeld, E., Story, M., & Vanderheiden, G. (1997). The Principles of Universal Design, Version 2.0. Center for Universal Design, North Carolina State University.
- Reference 3: British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v. BCGSEU, [1999] 3 S.C.R. 3, 1999 CanLII 652 (SCC) — the “Meiorin” decision, establishing the unified bona fide requirement test and accommodation to the point of undue hardship.
- Reference 4: Messick, S. (1995). “Validity of Psychological Assessment: Validation of Inferences from Persons’ Responses and Performances as Scientific Inquiry into Score Meaning.” American Psychologist, 50(9), 741–749.
- Reference 5: CAST (2024). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, version 3.0.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Where this work leads
The Duty to Accommodate in Learning Design
The legal frame, written for those who build and teach
Practised · resource in development
The architecture within which access decisions are made and defended: the procedural and substantive duty, the unified bona fide requirement test, and accommodation to the point of undue hardship, set in the Canadian frame with the cross-border standards that vendor and partnership work require. It is offered as synthesis for designers, faculty, and institutions; determinations in individual cases rest with accessibility advisors and accommodation offices, and with legal counsel where a matter becomes contested.
Grounding. Meiorin and the BFOR test; Accessible Canada Act; BC Human Rights Code; Accessible British Columbia Act; ADA and Sections 504/508
Sources
- Reference 3: British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v. BCGSEU, [1999] 3 S.C.R. 3, 1999 CanLII 652 (SCC) — the “Meiorin” decision, establishing the unified bona fide requirement test and accommodation to the point of undue hardship.
- Reference 6: Accessible Canada Act, S.C. 2019, c. 10.
- Reference 7: Human Rights Code, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 210. Province of British Columbia.
- Reference 8: Accessible British Columbia Act, S.B.C. 2021, c. 19. Province of British Columbia.
- Reference 9: Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.; Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Sections 504 and 508, as amended.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Essential Requirements and the Limits of Flexibility
What a standard genuinely requires, articulated in advance
Practised · resource in development
The most demanding judgment in the field: when flexibility preserves what is being measured, and when it alters it. This resource supports programs in articulating their essential requirements before any dispute arises — separating what a standard genuinely requires from what it has inherited by convention — so that the reasoning is available to everyone who later needs it.
Grounding. Construct validity; constructive alignment; bona fide academic and technical standards
Sources
- Reference 4: Messick, S. (1995). “Validity of Psychological Assessment: Validation of Inferences from Persons’ Responses and Performances as Scientific Inquiry into Score Meaning.” American Psychologist, 50(9), 741–749.
- Reference 10: Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design (Expanded 2nd ed.). ASCD.
- Reference 3: British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v. BCGSEU, [1999] 3 S.C.R. 3, 1999 CanLII 652 (SCC) — the “Meiorin” decision, establishing the unified bona fide requirement test and accommodation to the point of undue hardship.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Where this work leads
Disability Studies for Learning Designers
The grounding that changes what a designer sees
Practised · resource in development
Social, medical, and interactional models of disability; ableism as institutional structure rather than individual attitude; disability as identity, culture, and political community. It is the grounding that allows a barrier to be named as a design failure rather than a learner’s deficit, and it is what distinguishes accessibility practice from compliance administration.
Grounding. Social model (Oliver); academic ableism (Dolmage); Titchkosky; Kafer
Sources
- Reference 11: Oliver, M. (1990). The Politics of Disablement. Macmillan — the foundational statement of the social model of disability.
- Reference 12: Dolmage, J. T. (2017). Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education. University of Michigan Press.
- Reference 13: Titchkosky, T. (2011). The Question of Access: Disability, Space, Meaning. University of Toronto Press.
- Reference 14: Kafer, A. (2013). Feminist, Queer, Crip. Indiana University Press.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Where this work leads
Designing Out the Disclosure Requirement
Disclosure burden as a design variable
Practised · resource in development
Access that is gated behind disclosure asks a person to name a private matter to someone holding authority over them, and the documented costs of that request are real: anticipated stigma, delay, and for some, a decision not to ask at all. This resource treats disclosure burden as something design can measure and reduce — why a flexible deadline requiring an email is a disclosure event and a built-in buffer is not — while leaving the accommodation record itself where it belongs, with the office that holds it.
Grounding. Stigma and concealment (Goffman); academic ableism; BC information-governance requirements
Sources
- Reference 15: Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Prentice-Hall.
- Reference 12: Dolmage, J. T. (2017). Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education. University of Michigan Press.
- Reference 16: Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 165. Province of British Columbia.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Partnering with Disabled People in Learning Design
Co-design without extraction
Practised · resource in development
Structuring lived-experience partnership so that it is compensated, early enough to shape decisions rather than ratify them, and accessible in its own conduct. It attends to the pattern in which technical expertise quietly eclipses lived experience, and favours partnership with disability-led organizations already doing this work over convening participants anew.
Grounding. Nothing about us without us (Charlton); inclusive design; TCPS 2 research ethics
Sources
- Reference 17: Charlton, J. I. (1998). Nothing About Us Without Us: Disability Oppression and Empowerment. University of California Press.
- Reference 1: Inclusive Design Research Centre. The Inclusive Design Guide. OCAD University — the source of the one-size-fits-one principle and the inclusive design framework.
- Reference 18: Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, & Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (2022). Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans — TCPS 2 (2022).
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Where this work leads
Accessibility Triage for Existing Course Inventories
A defensible order of work when everything cannot be fixed at once
Practised · resource in development
Most institutions hold thousands of documents, modules, videos, and pages built before anyone was checking, with no realistic path to full conformance. This resource offers a tiered protocol — what is remediated now, what is rebuilt at next revision, what is retired, and which standard applies to each tier — using high-volume required and compliance training as the worked example.
Grounding. WCAG 2.2; EN 301 549; remediation prioritisation
Sources
- Reference 19: W3C (2023). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2. W3C Recommendation.
- Reference 20: ETSI/CEN/CENELEC (2021). EN 301 549 V3.2.1: Accessibility Requirements for ICT Products and Services. Harmonised European Standard.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Designing for the Assistive Technology People Actually Use
Why conformant content can still fail in practice
Practised · resource in development
Conformance and assistive-technology fluency are not the same thing, and the difference shows quickly in real use. This resource covers testing with actual assistive technology rather than automated checking alone, and the reasons technically conformant material can still obstruct — while leaving assessment, tool matching, and training to the assistive technology specialists and advisors whose professional work that is.
Grounding. SETT framework (Zabala); HAAT model (Cook & Polgar); WCAG 2.2
Sources
- Reference 21: Zabala, J. S. (2005). Ready, SETT, Go! Getting Started with the SETT Framework — the Student, Environments, Tasks, Tools framework for assistive technology decision-making.
- Reference 22: Cook, A. M., & Polgar, J. M. (2015). Assistive Technologies: Principles and Practice (4th ed.). Elsevier — the source of the Human Activity Assistive Technology (HAAT) model.
- Reference 19: W3C (2023). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2. W3C Recommendation.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Accessible Procurement and Vendor Accountability
The decisions made before anything is built
Practised · resource in development
An inaccessible platform, once purchased, sets the ceiling on everything designed inside it. This resource covers reading an accessibility conformance report critically rather than accepting it at face value, using recognised standards as procurement criteria, writing remediation commitments into agreements, and piloting with disabled users before signature.
Grounding. EN 301 549; WCAG 2.2; VPAT and accessibility conformance reports
Sources
- Reference 20: ETSI/CEN/CENELEC (2021). EN 301 549 V3.2.1: Accessibility Requirements for ICT Products and Services. Harmonised European Standard.
- Reference 23: Information Technology Industry Council. Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) and Accessibility Conformance Reports.
- Reference 19: W3C (2023). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2. W3C Recommendation.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Designing for Episodic and Fluctuating Conditions
Program architecture for conditions that vary
Practised · resource in development
Attendance policy, deadline architecture, cohort progression, and leave-and-return pathways — the structural layer of a problem that individual accommodation handles with difficulty because most systems assume stable limitations. It is program and policy design, offered in the knowledge that disabled people and experienced advisors hold far more understanding of these conditions than the design literature yet reflects.
Grounding. Episodic disability framework (O’Brien et al.); disability studies
Sources
- Reference 24: O’Brien, K. K., Bayoumi, A. M., Strike, C., Young, N. L., & Davis, A. M. (2008). “Exploring Disability from the Perspective of Adults Living with HIV/AIDS: Development of a Conceptual Framework.” Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 6:76.
- Reference 14: Kafer, A. (2013). Feminist, Queer, Crip. Indiana University Press.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Where this work leads
Access in Clinical and Placement Education
Holding patient safety and access seriously at once
Practised · resource in development
Placement, simulation, precepting, and competency assessment are where essential requirements are most contested and where safety arguments can close conversations that deserve to stay open. This resource works through the design and assessment architecture that allows a program to protect genuine safety requirements while examining the ones it has never had reason to question.
Grounding. Technical standards in health professions education (Meeks & Jain); construct validity; duty to accommodate
Sources
- Reference 25: Meeks, L. M., & Jain, N. R. (2018). Accessibility, Inclusion, and Action in Medical Education: Lived Experiences of Learners and Physicians with Disabilities. Association of American Medical Colleges.
- Reference 4: Messick, S. (1995). “Validity of Psychological Assessment: Validation of Inferences from Persons’ Responses and Performances as Scientific Inquiry into Score Meaning.” American Psychologist, 50(9), 741–749.
- Reference 3: British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v. BCGSEU, [1999] 3 S.C.R. 3, 1999 CanLII 652 (SCC) — the “Meiorin” decision, establishing the unified bona fide requirement test and accommodation to the point of undue hardship.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Where this work leads
Faculty Development That Changes Accessible Practice
From awareness to what instructors actually do
Practised · resource in development
Institutions have offered accessibility and inclusive design workshops for years, often with limited change in daily teaching practice. This resource diagnoses whether the gap is capability, opportunity, or motivation, then designs accordingly — point-of-need supports, discipline-specific exemplars, and department-embedded work — with any content on legal obligation delivered alongside the accommodation office rather than independently of it.
Grounding. COM-B and the Behaviour Change Wheel (Michie et al.); adult learning; UDL
Sources
- Reference 26: Michie, S., van Stralen, M. M., & West, R. (2011). “The Behaviour Change Wheel: A New Method for Characterising and Designing Behaviour Change Interventions.” Implementation Science, 6:42.
- Reference 27: Knowles, M. S., Holton, E. F., & Swanson, R. A. (2015). The Adult Learner (8th ed.). Routledge.
- Reference 5: CAST (2024). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, version 3.0.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Where this work leads
Institutional Accessibility Planning as a Change Program
From a published plan to demonstrable change
Practised · resource in development
Statutory obligation produces an accessibility plan, a committee, and a feedback mechanism; it does not by itself produce sequencing, ownership, or capability. This resource brings systems design and change management to accessibility governance, and is written for a contributing role on an institutional plan rather than for authorship of an institution’s accessibility position.
Grounding. Accessible Canada Act; Accessible British Columbia Act; change management; systems thinking
Sources
- Reference 6: Accessible Canada Act, S.C. 2019, c. 10.
- Reference 8: Accessible British Columbia Act, S.B.C. 2021, c. 19. Province of British Columbia.
- Reference 28: Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading Change. Harvard Business School Press.
- Reference 29: Senge, P. M. (1990). The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. Doubleday.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Where this work leads
Accessible Health and Patient Education
Access beyond the learner, to the person receiving care
Practised · resource in development
Health literacy, plain language, communication access, and accessible patient education and informed consent, set against the documented health disparities disabled people experience. It is the point at which accessible learning design reaches materials intended for patients and the public rather than for students and staff.
Grounding. Health literacy (Nutbeam); disability health disparities (Krahn et al.); social determinants of health
Sources
- Reference 30: Nutbeam, D. (2000). “Health Literacy as a Public Health Goal: A Challenge for Contemporary Health Education and Communication Strategies into the 21st Century.” Health Promotion International, 15(3), 259–267.
- Reference 31: Krahn, G. L., Walker, D. K., & Correa-De-Araujo, R. (2015). “Persons with Disabilities as an Unrecognized Health Disparity Population.” American Journal of Public Health, 105(S2), S198–S206.
- Reference 32: WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health (2008). Closing the Gap in a Generation: Health Equity Through Action on the Social Determinants of Health. World Health Organization.
- Reference 33: Rose, D. H., & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning. ASCD.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Where this work leads
Accessible Research Participation and Knowledge Products
Who can take part, and who can read the findings
Practised · resource in development
Consent materials, participant-facing instruments, plain-language summaries, and accessible dissemination — increasingly expected by research ethics boards and funders, and rarely designed for. It sits at the junction of knowledge mobilization and accessibility, where a study’s reach is set as much by its materials as by its recruitment.
Grounding. TCPS 2 (2022); knowledge mobilization; WCAG 2.2
Sources
- Reference 18: Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, & Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (2022). Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans — TCPS 2 (2022).
- Reference 34: Graham, I. D., Logan, J., Harrison, M. B., Straus, S. E., Tetroe, J., Caswell, W., & Robinson, N. (2006). “Lost in Knowledge Translation: Time for a Map?” Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, 26(1), 13–24.
- Reference 19: W3C (2023). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2. W3C Recommendation.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Where this work leads
Models of Disability as Design Decisions
The frame chosen before any design decision is made
Practised · resource in development
Medical, social, biopsychosocial, economic, functional solutions, social identity or cultural affiliation, and charity — seven models in active circulation, each of which settles in advance what counts as the problem and who is obliged to act on it. This resource sets them beside one another with their strengths and their costs, and treats the choice of model as a design decision rather than a philosophical preference, because the model implicit in a project brief is usually the model that shapes what gets built.
Grounding. ICF (WHO, 2001); social model (Oliver); Retief & Letšosa; Shakespeare
Sources
- Reference 35: World Health Organization (2001). International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). WHO — the source of the biopsychosocial model of disability.
- Reference 11: Oliver, M. (1990). The Politics of Disablement. Macmillan — the foundational statement of the social model of disability.
- Reference 36: Retief, M., & Letšosa, R. (2018). “Models of Disability: A Brief Overview.” HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 74(1).
- Reference 37: Shakespeare, T. (2013). Disability Rights and Wrongs Revisited (2nd ed.). Routledge — a critical reassessment of the strong social model.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Where this work leads
Disability Categories and the Barriers People Meet
The reference layer, written barrier-first
Practised · resource in development
Visual, auditory, deafblind, speech, mobility and body structure, cognitive and learning, seizure, and psychological disabilities, each set against the barriers people actually encounter in digital and physical environments. It is written barrier-first rather than diagnosis-first, so that a designer reaches for the environmental change rather than the label — and it is the reference layer that the more argumentative resources on this branch quietly assume a reader already holds.
Grounding. ICF (WHO, 2001); WCAG 2.2; disability studies
Sources
- Reference 35: World Health Organization (2001). International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). WHO — the source of the biopsychosocial model of disability.
- Reference 19: W3C (2023). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2. W3C Recommendation.
- Reference 11: Oliver, M. (1990). The Politics of Disablement. Macmillan — the foundational statement of the social model of disability.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Assistive Technology and Adaptive Strategies
What exists, and what it does for a person
Practised · resource in development
Screen readers, magnification, speech input, alternative pointing, augmentative and alternative communication, hearing technologies, and the low-technology and adaptive strategies used at least as often — described by what they accomplish for a person rather than by product name, and paired with the frameworks that structure a selection decision. It is the survey that has to precede the harder question of why conformant content still fails against the technology people actually use.
Grounding. HAAT model (Cook & Polgar); SETT framework (Zabala); WHO assistive technology guidance
Sources
- Reference 22: Cook, A. M., & Polgar, J. M. (2015). Assistive Technologies: Principles and Practice (4th ed.). Elsevier — the source of the Human Activity Assistive Technology (HAAT) model.
- Reference 21: Zabala, J. S. (2005). Ready, SETT, Go! Getting Started with the SETT Framework — the Student, Environments, Tasks, Tools framework for assistive technology decision-making.
- Reference 38: World Health Organization & UNICEF (2022). Global Report on Assistive Technology. World Health Organization.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Disability Data and the Limits of Prevalence Figures
Why the numbers disagree, and how to use one honestly
Practised · resource in development
Measurement by diagnosis, by function, or by self-identification produces materially different populations, which is why global and national prevalence figures diverge so widely and why the choice of instrument is never neutral. This resource covers the major global and Canadian sources and their known undercounts, and how to carry a number into a business case or a funding application without asking it to bear more weight than it can.
Grounding. WHO World Report on Disability; WHO Global Report on Health Equity for Persons with Disabilities; Canadian Survey on Disability; ICF
Sources
- Reference 39: World Health Organization & World Bank (2011). World Report on Disability. World Health Organization.
- Reference 40: World Health Organization (2022). Global Report on Health Equity for Persons with Disabilities. World Health Organization.
- Reference 41: Statistics Canada. Canadian Survey on Disability — the national source for disability prevalence in Canada.
- Reference 35: World Health Organization (2001). International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). WHO — the source of the biopsychosocial model of disability.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Where this work leads
Disability Etiquette and Communication in Learning Environments
Professional practice, not a list of prohibitions
Practised · resource in development
Person-first and identity-first language and why the choice belongs to the person rather than the institution; addressing someone directly rather than their interpreter or support worker; offering assistance without presuming it is wanted or acting before it is accepted. It is written for facilitators and instructors as professional communication practice, on the understanding that the failures that matter in a learning room are rarely failures of intention and almost always failures of default behaviour under time pressure.
Grounding. Disability etiquette guidance (United Spinal Association); CRPD; disability studies
Sources
- Reference 42: United Spinal Association. Disability Etiquette: Tips on Interacting with People with Disabilities.
- Reference 43: United Nations (2006). Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
- Reference 17: Charlton, J. I. (1998). Nothing About Us Without Us: Disability Oppression and Empowerment. University of California Press.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
International and Regional Disability Rights Instruments
The layer above domestic duty
Practised · resource in development
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its General Comments, and the Marrakesh Treaty, together with the regional instruments — the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the Inter-American Convention. It explains why accessibility obligations converge across jurisdictions rather than arising independently in each, and supplies the vocabulary required to work with partners outside Canada.
Grounding. UDHR (1948); CRPD (2006); Marrakesh Treaty (2013); regional human rights instruments
Sources
- Reference 44: United Nations (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- Reference 43: United Nations (2006). Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
- Reference 45: World Intellectual Property Organization (2013). Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled.
- Reference 46: European Union (2012). Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, 2012/C 326/02.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Accessible Physical and Hybrid Learning Environments
The part of universal design most often handed to facilities
Practised · resource in development
The seven principles of universal design as they were originally written — for buildings, spaces, and products — and what they require of a classroom, a laboratory, a placement site, and the hybrid arrangements that now carry a large share of teaching. It is the part of universal design that learning designers most often hand to facilities management, and the part that determines whether a person can be present in the room at all.
Grounding. Principles of Universal Design (Connell et al., 1997); CSA B651; Accessible Canada Act
Sources
- Reference 2: Connell, B. R., Jones, M., Mace, R., Mueller, J., Mullick, A., Ostroff, E., Sanford, J., Steinfeld, E., Story, M., & Vanderheiden, G. (1997). The Principles of Universal Design, Version 2.0. Center for Universal Design, North Carolina State University.
- Reference 47: CSA Group. CSA B651: Accessible Design for the Built Environment. Canadian Standards Association.
- Reference 6: Accessible Canada Act, S.C. 2019, c. 10.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Working with Accommodation Offices and Access Advisors
Who decides, and what a referral has to carry
Practised · resource in development
What an accommodation office decides, what it requires from an instructor or a designer, and what a referral has to contain to be usable. It covers the implementation gap in which an approved accommodation is recorded and then not delivered, and the boundary between designing conditions and adjudicating an individual case. The second belongs to the advisors and accommodation professionals who hold that work.
Grounding. AHEAD program standards; Canadian human rights jurisprudence; disability in higher education
Sources
- Reference 50: Association on Higher Education And Disability (AHEAD). Program Domains, Standards, and Performance Indicators.
- Reference 3: British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v. BCGSEU, [1999] 3 S.C.R. 3, 1999 CanLII 652 (SCC) — the “Meiorin” decision, establishing the unified bona fide requirement test and accommodation to the point of undue hardship.
- Reference 25: Meeks, L. M., & Jain, N. R. (2018). Accessibility, Inclusion, and Action in Medical Education: Lived Experiences of Learners and Physicians with Disabilities. Association of American Medical Colleges.
- Reference 12: Dolmage, J. T. (2017). Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education. University of Michigan Press.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
The Interactive Process in Learning Settings
A shared duty, not a request and a ruling
Practised · resource in development
Canadian human rights law treats accommodation as a process with obligations on every party to it, including the person seeking accommodation, and it sets limits on what may be asked of them. This resource covers who initiates, what good faith requires on each side, what documentation of the process is distinct from documentation of the person, and the points at which the process stalls: no response, an unworkable offer, or a request handled as a complaint.
Grounding. Renaud (SCC, 1992); Meiorin (SCC, 1999); BC Human Rights Code
Sources
- Reference 51: Central Okanagan School District No. 23 v. Renaud, 1992 CanLII 81 (SCC), [1992] 2 S.C.R. 970 — the shared responsibility of every party to the accommodation process.
- Reference 3: British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v. BCGSEU, [1999] 3 S.C.R. 3, 1999 CanLII 652 (SCC) — the “Meiorin” decision, establishing the unified bona fide requirement test and accommodation to the point of undue hardship.
- Reference 7: Human Rights Code, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 210. Province of British Columbia.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Documentation Requirements and Medical Gatekeeping
What is asked of a person before they are believed
Practised · resource in development
What documentation is actually required, set against what institutions routinely request. Cost, waiting time and access to diagnosis are barriers in their own right, and requirements written for stable, diagnosed conditions operate differently for undiagnosed, episodic and fluctuating ones. It covers privacy and custody of records, and the conditions under which self-report is sufficient.
Grounding. Disability studies; stigma and disclosure (Goffman); BC information governance
Sources
- Reference 15: Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Prentice-Hall.
- Reference 16: Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 165. Province of British Columbia.
- Reference 12: Dolmage, J. T. (2017). Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education. University of Michigan Press.
- Reference 24: O’Brien, K. K., Bayoumi, A. M., Strike, C., Young, N. L., & Davis, A. M. (2008). “Exploring Disability from the Perspective of Adults Living with HIV/AIDS: Development of a Conceptual Framework.” Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 6:76.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Accessible Documents as Everyday Practice
Structure at the point of authoring, not repair
Practised · resource in development
Headings, reading order, tables, alternative text and contrast across word processing files, presentations, spreadsheets and PDF, treated as authoring practice. Remediation costs more than creation, which places institutional templates among the highest-leverage points of intervention. It also covers what an automated checker establishes and what it leaves untested.
Grounding. PDF/UA (ISO 14289-1); WCAG 2.2; CAN/ASC-EN 301 549:2024
Sources
- Reference 52: ISO 14289-1:2014. Document Management Applications — Electronic Document File Format Enhancement for Accessibility — Part 1: Use of ISO 32000-1 (PDF/UA-1). International Organization for Standardization.
- Reference 19: W3C (2023). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2. W3C Recommendation.
- Reference 53: CAN/ASC-EN 301 549:2024. Accessibility Requirements for ICT Products and Services (EN 301 549:2021, IDT). Accessibility Standards Canada, published 31 May 2024, available free of charge.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Captions, Transcripts and Audio Description
Three artefacts, three sets of users
Practised · resource in development
Captions, transcripts and audio description serve different users and do not substitute for one another. This resource covers caption accuracy and the degradation of automatic captioning on the specialist vocabulary that carries the most meaning, the transcript as an independently useful artefact, standard and extended audio description, and where each belongs in a production workflow and a budget.
Grounding. W3C Media Accessibility User Requirements; WCAG 2.2; multimedia learning research
Sources
- Reference 54: W3C (2015). Media Accessibility User Requirements. W3C Working Group Note.
- Reference 19: W3C (2023). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2. W3C Recommendation.
- Reference 55: Mayer, R. E. (2009). Multimedia Learning (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Most related, by shared theory and theme
Connected contributions
Selecting Materials, Textbooks and Platforms
Reading a conformance claim against what a person meets
Practised · resource in development
Publisher platforms, courseware, library resources and open educational resources, and the accessibility settled at the point of selection. It covers reading an Accessibility Conformance Report against what a person using the product encounters, what to ask a vendor, what to ask a colleague already using the tool, and the options remaining when an inaccessible product is already in service.
Grounding. VPAT and Accessibility Conformance Reports; EN 301 549; CAN/ASC-EN 301 549:2024
Sources
- Reference 23: Information Technology Industry Council. Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) and Accessibility Conformance Reports.
- Reference 53: CAN/ASC-EN 301 549:2024. Accessibility Requirements for ICT Products and Services (EN 301 549:2021, IDT). Accessibility Standards Canada, published 31 May 2024, available free of charge.
- Reference 20: ETSI/CEN/CENELEC (2021). EN 301 549 V3.2.1: Accessibility Requirements for ICT Products and Services. Harmonised European Standard.
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Making the Case for Resourcing Accessibility Work
The argument after the numbers, and its limits
Practised · resource in development
The arguments available for resourcing this work, and the evidentiary weight each carries: legal obligation, enrolment and retention, institutional reputation, and mission. It covers the cost of retrofit set against the cost of designing for access at the outset, who signs and what they need to see, and the point at which an instrumental case begins to displace the obligation it was assembled to support.
Grounding. Accessible Canada Act; WHO and World Bank disability data; change management scholarship
Sources
- Reference 6: Accessible Canada Act, S.C. 2019, c. 10.
- Reference 39: World Health Organization & World Bank (2011). World Report on Disability. World Health Organization.
- Reference 28: Kotter, J. P. (1996). Leading Change. Harvard Business School Press.
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Canadian Accessibility and Accommodation Law for Learning Designers
Two separate instruments, in plain language
Practised · resource in development
The Accessible Canada Act, the Accessible British Columbia Act and the BC Human Rights Code duty to accommodate, written for learning designers and faculty. Human rights law and accessibility legislation are separate instruments with different mechanisms, different scope and different remedies, and the distinction determines what an institution owes and to whom. It sets out what binds a public post-secondary institution in British Columbia, where obligations differ for private training providers, and includes the Ontario legislation for comparison.
Grounding. Accessible Canada Act; Accessible British Columbia Act; BC Human Rights Code; CRPD
Sources
- Reference 6: Accessible Canada Act, S.C. 2019, c. 10.
- Reference 8: Accessible British Columbia Act, S.B.C. 2021, c. 19. Province of British Columbia.
- Reference 7: Human Rights Code, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 210. Province of British Columbia.
- Reference 3: British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v. BCGSEU, [1999] 3 S.C.R. 3, 1999 CanLII 652 (SCC) — the “Meiorin” decision, establishing the unified bona fide requirement test and accommodation to the point of undue hardship.
- Reference 56: Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, S.O. 2005, c. 11. Province of Ontario.
- Reference 53: CAN/ASC-EN 301 549:2024. Accessibility Requirements for ICT Products and Services (EN 301 549:2021, IDT). Accessibility Standards Canada, published 31 May 2024, available free of charge.
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Disability Justice and Where It Came From
A framework with named authors, and where to read them
Practised · resource in development
Disability justice was created in 2005 and 2006 by the Disability Justice Collective, a group of disabled activists, primarily queer and trans disabled people of colour, working in the San Francisco Bay Area. Patty Berne, Stacey Park Milbern, Mia Mingus, Leroy F. Moore Jr., Eli Clare and Sebastian Margaret are among its architects, and the ten principles were set out by Berne and Sins Invalid. It is a distinct framework rather than a further stage of disability rights: it holds that single-issue organising leaves the most marginalised behind, and it originates in performance, mutual aid and community organising rather than in the academy. This resource states that history and sends the reader to the primary texts. The framework is not summarised here in place of its authors, and the sources below are theirs.
Grounding. Sins Invalid; the ten principles of disability justice (Berne); Black disability studies
Sources
- Reference 57: Sins Invalid (2019). Skin, Tooth, and Bone: The Basis of Movement is Our People — A Disability Justice Primer (2nd ed.). Berkeley, CA: Sins Invalid. ISBN 9781647133658 — the source text of the ten principles, based in the work of Patty Berne.
- Reference 58: Berne, P., & Sins Invalid. 10 Principles of Disability Justice (2nd ed.). Design by Nomy Lamm. Sins Invalid.
- Reference 59: Mingus, M. (2011). “Access Intimacy: The Missing Link.” Leaving Evidence, 5 May 2011 — where access intimacy is named.
- Reference 60: Milbern, S. P. (2019). “On the Ancestral Plane: Crip Hand Me Downs and the Legacy of Our Movements.” Disability Visibility Project, 10 March 2019. Reprinted in A. Wong (Ed.), Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century (Vintage Books, 2020).
- Reference 61: Clare, E. (2015). Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, and Liberation. Duke University Press. Originally published 1999.
- Reference 62: Moore, L. F., Jr., McClung, N. A., & Nusbaum, E. A. (2017). Black Disabled Art History 101. Xóchitl Justice Press. ISBN 9781942001577.
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Access in Studio, Shop and Lab-Based Learning
Safety-sensitive learning that is not clinical
Practised · resource in development
Shops, studios, and laboratories are where hands-on learning meets real hazard, and where access decisions get made at the bench rather than in an office: which tool, at what pace, with what supervision, in which layout. This resource treats equipment-based learning the way the clinical-placement resource treats wards — protecting genuine safety requirements while examining the ones that are only habit — and covers adaptive tooling, paced instruction, workstation design, and the peer and technician roles that make access daily rather than exceptional.
Grounding. Essential requirements in safety-sensitive environments; universal design of physical space; technical standards in professional education (Meeks & Jain, by analogy)
Sources
- Reference 25: Meeks, L. M., & Jain, N. R. (2018). Accessibility, Inclusion, and Action in Medical Education: Lived Experiences of Learners and Physicians with Disabilities. Association of American Medical Colleges.
- Reference 2: Connell, B. R., Jones, M., Mace, R., Mueller, J., Mullick, A., Ostroff, E., Sanford, J., Steinfeld, E., Story, M., & Vanderheiden, G. (1997). The Principles of Universal Design, Version 2.0. Center for Universal Design, North Carolina State University.
- Reference 3: British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v. BCGSEU, [1999] 3 S.C.R. 3, 1999 CanLII 652 (SCC) — the “Meiorin” decision, establishing the unified bona fide requirement test and accommodation to the point of undue hardship.
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Peer Mentorship as Access Infrastructure
Trained peers between the student and the office
Practised · resource in development
Most accommodation systems have two parties, the student and the office; the daily work of access happens between them, often with no one assigned to it. This resource designs the middle: peer mentors trained in integrated learning and technical support, matched to incoming students with accommodations, with clear limits on what a peer decides and a route back to the advisor for what a peer cannot. It is the peer-based support that current accessibility-office role descriptions ask for, written as program architecture.
Grounding. Peer-assisted learning (Topping); accommodation practice standards (AHEAD); communities of practice
Sources
- Reference 63: Topping, K. J. (2005). “Trends in Peer Learning.” Educational Psychology, 25(6), 631–645.
- Reference 50: Association on Higher Education And Disability (AHEAD). Program Domains, Standards, and Performance Indicators.
- Reference 48: Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge University Press.
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Accessible Job Design for Student and Early-Career Employment
Essential requirements, applied to postings
Practised · resource in development
A job posting is an essential-requirements document for employment, and it excludes in the same ways admissions documents do: bodily methods written where capabilities were meant, availability clauses nobody has justified, credentials standing in for skills. This resource works with the people who write postings — supervisors, hiring managers, program staff — to revise expectations toward what the role genuinely requires, and pairs the revision with the onboarding and supervision supports that make the revised role real.
Grounding. Construct validity (Messick); the bona fide requirement test (Meiorin); disclosure burden
Sources
- Reference 4: Messick, S. (1995). “Validity of Psychological Assessment: Validation of Inferences from Persons’ Responses and Performances as Scientific Inquiry into Score Meaning.” American Psychologist, 50(9), 741–749.
- Reference 3: British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v. BCGSEU, [1999] 3 S.C.R. 3, 1999 CanLII 652 (SCC) — the “Meiorin” decision, establishing the unified bona fide requirement test and accommodation to the point of undue hardship.
- Reference 15: Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Prentice-Hall.
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Accessibility Remediation of Mandatory Training at Organisational Scale
The compliance training everyone must take, made usable by everyone
Practised · resource in development
Required training is the one learning experience every employee meets, and it is usually the least accessible thing the organisation owns. This resource covers auditing high-volume mandatory modules against screen-reader and keyboard use, redesigning them, building the templates that keep the next version accessible, and advising the departments that own the content on what conformance actually requires of them. It is the worked example behind the triage protocol.
Grounding. WCAG 2.1/2.2; EN 301 549 and CAN/ASC-EN 301 549; remediation prioritisation
Sources
- Reference 19: W3C (2023). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2. W3C Recommendation.
- Reference 20: ETSI/CEN/CENELEC (2021). EN 301 549 V3.2.1: Accessibility Requirements for ICT Products and Services. Harmonised European Standard.
- Reference 53: CAN/ASC-EN 301 549:2024. Accessibility Requirements for ICT Products and Services (EN 301 549:2021, IDT). Accessibility Standards Canada, published 31 May 2024, available free of charge.
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Accessible Live and Virtual Facilitation
Access in the room, and in the room that is a screen
Practised · resource in development
Facilitation is where accessibility standards meet a person in real time: captions that lag, a chat that a screen reader cannot follow, a breakout that leaves someone behind, a slide that only works in colour. This resource covers accessible design of live and virtual sessions — platform settings, materials, pacing, participation modes, and in-session audits — so that facilitation is accessible by default rather than repaired on request.
Grounding. WCAG for live content; Media Accessibility User Requirements; adult learning practice
Sources
- Reference 19: W3C (2023). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2. W3C Recommendation.
- Reference 54: W3C (2015). Media Accessibility User Requirements. W3C Working Group Note.
- Reference 27: Knowles, M. S., Holton, E. F., & Swanson, R. A. (2015). The Adult Learner (8th ed.). Routledge.
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Sensory Access in Learning Environments
Noise, light, crowding, and the right to leave
Practised · resource in development
Physical accessibility standards address doors, ramps, and reach ranges; they say little about sound, light, density, and the availability of a place to withdraw. This resource covers sensory-informed design of learning spaces and events — quiet hours, noise indicators, lighting options, rest areas, tactile and non-verbal modes — and the piloting that shows which measures the people concerned actually use.
Grounding. Relational approaches to access and autism (Davidson); universal design of space; co-design
Sources
- Reference 47: CSA Group. CSA B651: Accessible Design for the Built Environment. Canadian Standards Association.
- Reference 2: Connell, B. R., Jones, M., Mace, R., Mueller, J., Mullick, A., Ostroff, E., Sanford, J., Steinfeld, E., Story, M., & Vanderheiden, G. (1997). The Principles of Universal Design, Version 2.0. Center for Universal Design, North Carolina State University.
- Reference 64: Davidson, J. (2010). “‘It cuts both ways’: A relational approach to access and accommodation for autism.” Social Science & Medicine, 70(2), 305–312.
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Funding Design for Accessible Learning Programs
Writing the grant so access is the deliverable
Practised · resource in development
Accessibility is often funded as an add-on to a program that was designed without it. This resource covers designing funding applications and grant programs in which access to learning by disabled people and people from historically, persistently, or systemically marginalised groups is the funded outcome — the framing, the evidence, the partnerships, and the conditions that carry through to delivery — and administering funds so that the condition is enforced.
Grounding. Transformative evaluation (Mertens); nothing about us without us (Charlton); funding conditions as governance
Sources
- Reference 65: Mertens, D. M. (2009). Transformative Research and Evaluation. Guilford Press.
- Reference 17: Charlton, J. I. (1998). Nothing About Us Without Us: Disability Oppression and Empowerment. University of California Press.
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Accessibility Review
Four bodies of knowledge held in view at once
Published resource
How to review a learning environment while holding four bodies of knowledge in view at once: conformance standards, Universal Design for Learning, disability studies, and the systems that decide what gets built. It sets out the stages of a review, the decisions it turns on, and why its findings reach further than a surface-level compliance check.
Grounding. WCAG; UDL; disability studies; systems knowledge
Read the Accessibility Review resource
Sources
- Reference 19: W3C (2023). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2. W3C Recommendation.
- Reference 5: CAST (2024). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, version 3.0.
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Inclusive Course & Curriculum Design
Access built into the structure of a programme
Published resource
How access is built into a course or curriculum from the start: outcomes, assessment, materials and platform, designed with Universal Design for Learning and backward design, and with the systems knowledge that lets a change outlast the people who made it. Written for faculty, designers and curriculum committees.
Grounding. UDL; backward design; assessment equity; systems knowledge
Read the Inclusive Course & Curriculum Design resource
Sources
- Reference 5: CAST (2024). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, version 3.0.
- Reference 10: Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design (Expanded 2nd ed.). ASCD.
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Inclusive Facilitation & Capacity Building
Facilitation as a professional stance
Published resource
Facilitation understood as a professional stance shaped by how power, identity and legitimate knowledge are held, and how to build others' capacity to facilitate inclusively, so the practice continues inside an organisation after an outside facilitator has gone.
Grounding. Power-aware facilitation; adult learning; equity
Read the Inclusive Facilitation & Capacity Building resource
Sources
- Reference 27: Knowles, M. S., Holton, E. F., & Swanson, R. A. (2015). The Adult Learner (8th ed.). Routledge.
- Reference 48: Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge University Press.
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Assessment Access and Validity Review
Service · Accessible Learning Labs
Offered as a service
For programmes, testing centres and credentialing bodies. Assessments are examined for construct-irrelevant variance: the time limits, formats and conditions that measure something other than the outcome. Redesigning those reduces how often individual accommodation is needed, without treating accommodation as lesser, and leaves the assessment more valid for everyone who takes it.
Grounding. Educational measurement; validity theory; Universal Design for Learning; accommodation law
Read about the engagements
Sources
- Reference 4: Messick, S. (1995). “Validity of Psychological Assessment: Validation of Inferences from Persons’ Responses and Performances as Scientific Inquiry into Score Meaning.” American Psychologist, 50(9), 741–749.
- Reference 5: CAST (2024). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, version 3.0.
- Reference 3: British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v. BCGSEU, [1999] 3 S.C.R. 3, 1999 CanLII 652 (SCC) — the “Meiorin” decision, establishing the unified bona fide requirement test and accommodation to the point of undue hardship.
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Making Accessibility More Than Compliance
Access as design quality, not a checklist
Practised · resource in development
Treating accessibility as a dimension of good design rather than a minimum legal standard met at the end. It is the conceptual bridge from inclusive learning design to the accessibility, disability and accommodation branch, and to the service line offered alongside it.
A resource in two areas. Its home is Universal Design for Learning, and it is also part of the Accessibility set.
Grounding. WCAG; UDL; inclusive design
Sources
- Reference 19: W3C (2023). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2. W3C Recommendation.
- Reference 5: CAST (2024). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, version 3.0.
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Eliminating Construct-Irrelevant Barriers in Assessment
Measuring capability, not obstacles
Published resource
Removing features of an assessment that get in the way of demonstrating mastery without being part of what is measured, so results reflect capability rather than incidental barriers. It works alongside assessment designed as experience.
A resource in two areas. Its home is Universal Design for Learning, and it is also part of the Accessibility set.
Grounding. Construct validity; UDL action & expression
Read the Eliminating Construct-Irrelevant Barriers in Assessment resource
Sources
- Reference 4: Messick, S. (1995). “Validity of Psychological Assessment: Validation of Inferences from Persons’ Responses and Performances as Scientific Inquiry into Score Meaning.” American Psychologist, 50(9), 741–749.
- Reference 5: CAST (2024). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, version 3.0.
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Evaluating Whether Design Reduced Barriers
Closing the UDL cycle with evidence
Practised · resource in development
Measuring whether an inclusive design actually lowered barriers, rather than assuming that it did — ending on rigor rather than aspiration. It belongs to the shared evaluation family that runs across the practice.
A resource in two areas. Its home is Universal Design for Learning, and it is also part of the Accessibility set.
Grounding. Evaluation design; Universal Design for Learning
Sources
- Reference 49: Kirkpatrick, D. L., & Kirkpatrick, J. D. (2006). Evaluating Training Programs: The Four Levels (3rd ed.). Berrett-Koehler.
- Reference 5: CAST (2024). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, version 3.0.
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