The first review of the AODA’s Information and communications Standards became public in 2020. In this review, the AODA Information and Communications Standards Development Committee outlines improvements to make information and communications accessible for people with disabilities by 2025. The Committee recommends changes to the Information and Communications Standards, to identify, remove, and prevent accessibility barriers in information. In addition, the Committee recommends an alternative system for developing, updating, and enforcing AODA standards. This new system would affect the Information and Communications Standards, as well as other existing and future standards. This article will discuss the Committee’s recommendations for procuring accessible learning resources.
Procuring Accessible Learning Resources
The Committee recommends that when educational and training institutions (educational institutions) buy learning resources, these resources should be accessible. For example, learning resources include:
- Textbooks
- Other print and digital learning materials, including content that is:
- Static
- Dynamic
- Interactive
Therefore, educational institutions should only buy these materials from producers that agree to provide them in accessible or conversion-ready formats. Moreover, producers must provide the accessible versions of learning resources at the same time as the standard versions.
This recommendation is similar to the Kindergarten to Grade Twelve (K-12) Education Standards Development Committee’s recommendation for accessible learning resources. In addition, the K-12 Committee makes other recommendations related to the education requirements in the Information and Communications Standards. Therefore, if the government adopts the K-12 Committee’s recommendations, the Information and Communications Standards Development Committee’s educational recommendations should be moved to the K-12 Education Standards. On the other hand, the government may adopt the K-12 Committee’s recommendations only in part. If the future Education Standards do not include a strong requirement for providing accessible learning resources, this requirement should remain part of the Information and Communications Standards. Likewise, any other educational requirement that the Information and Communications Standards Development Committee recommends should remain part of these standards if the future K-12 standards do not mandate a comparable requirement.