- Coordinated Accessibility Strategy Consultation Process
- Considerations for the Coordinated Accessibility Strategy
- Work Plan and Timeline
- Feedback Received
- Document Archive
Coordinated Accessibility Strategy Consultation Process
In 2018, a collaborative process to develop Carleton University’s Coordinated Accessibility Strategy began. An extensive consultation process was undertaken, with multiple phases of feedback, to help ensure that the diverse voices of our community could be represented in Carleton’s first Coordinated Accessibility Strategy. This webpage is an archive of the consultation process, which concluded in 2020.
Considerations for the Coordinated Accessibility Strategy
As a community, Carleton is committed to continue to build a culture of accessibility. Carleton’s commitment to creating an accessible campus can be traced back to the earliest years as an institution. The Carleton University Strategic Integrated Plan (SIP) 2013-2018 highlighted accessibility as one of Carleton’s values. A key performance measure identified in the SIP is the creation of a Coordinated Accessibility Strategy. The development of this strategy will serve as a framework to guide Carleton’s ongoing commitment toward a campus that is accessible and inclusive.
In order to create an outline and proposed next steps for the Coordinated Accessibility Strategy, the Office of the Vice-President (Students and Enrolment) (OVPSE) conducted preliminary individual interviews with campus representatives from academic and administrative units, student services, and student groups. The interviews resulted in the identification of seven broad themes.
- Education and training
- Research and development
- Student support services
- Employment and employee support
- Physical campus
- Information and communication
- Coordination and leadership
The term “accessibility” can have different meanings depending on the context. Informed by a definition from the United Nations[1], our understanding of accessibility encompasses:
- flexibility for the fullest participation of each individual in activities and society;
- any place, space, item or service, whether physical or virtual;
- attitudinal and systemic barriers to inclusion; and
- visible and non-visible disabilities, including cognitive, developmental, intellectual, medical, mental, physical, and sensory disabilities.
[1] United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Division for Social Policy and Development, “Accessibility and Development Mainstreaming disability in the post-2015 development agenda”, United Nations, 2013.
Proposed next steps will include gathering ongoing feedback and continuing consultation with key stakeholders and members of the community in order to develop and finalize the broad themes and to move towards completion of Carleton’s Coordinated Accessibility Strategy.
In order to do this in the most collaborative way possible, the Steering Committee has consulted on the following work plan. After taking into consideration the feedback received, we will be implementing the work plan as described below. Feedback on the Coordinated Accessibility Strategy can be submitted via anonymous form, or by emailing AccessibilityStrategy@carleton.ca.
In order to provide a transparent review process, all feedback submitted will be made available to the Carleton community. Members of the Carleton community are encouraged to keep up-to-date on the process below and via the updates page.
Work Plan and Timeline
Process Consultation Phase
| Action | Responsible | Timeline | Status |
| Post work plan for input and public consultation about timelines, process, and strategy of the plan | OVPSE | Mid-Late October 2018 | Complete |
| Feedback on consultation process can be given in meetings, via e-mail (AccessibilityStrategy@carleton.ca) or through the anonymous form below | OVPSE | October 2018 | Complete |
Listening Phase
| Action | Responsible | Timeline | Status |
| Provide a Coordinated Accessibility Strategy update to the campus community and open an online feedback form for comments related to the broad themes, as well as general feedback, for those who wish to participate digitally | Message from each Vice-President to their divisions
Supported by OVPSE |
Early November 2018 | Complete |
| Reach out to key internal and external stakeholder groups including labour unions, student governments and student groups to receive feedback | Coordinated Accessibility Strategy Working Group | November 2018 – March 2019 | Complete |
| Host multiple feedback sessions for students, faculty (including contract instructors, sessional lecturers, teaching assistants, etc.) and staff (including academic and administrative staff). Each session will have the opportunity to provide feedback for the Coordinated Accessibility Strategy.
Additional sessions will be made available upon request for any key stakeholder groups including labour unions, student governments and student groups. Requests can be submitted to AccessibilityStrategy@carleton.ca |
Office of Quality Initiatives to facilitate
OVPSE to Coordinate sessions and collect feedback |
November – December 2018 | Complete |
Tactical Phase
| Action | Responsible | Timeline | Status |
| Compile feedback from each event, as well as digital feedback, and sort through responses (Included for strategy/Actionable but not for strategy/Not applicable) | Coordinated Accessibility Strategy Working Group | March – August 2019 | Complete |
Drafting Phase
| Action | Responsible | Timeline | Status |
| Initial consultations on draft with key stakeholders | Coordinated Accessibility Strategy Working Group | April – August 2019 | Complete |
| Release draft of the strategy to the community for feedback | Coordinated Accessibility Strategy Steering Committee | September 2019 | Complete |
| Presentation to various Faculty Boards and Senate | Coordinated Accessibility Strategy Working Group | September – November 2019 | Complete |
| Host multiple feedback sessions for students, faculty (including contract instructors, sessional lecturers, teaching assistants, etc.) and staff (including academic and administrative staff).
Additional sessions will be made available upon request for any key stakeholder groups including labour unions, student governments and student groups. Requests can be submitted to AccessibilityStrategy@carleton.ca |
Office of Quality Initiatives to facilitate
OVPSE to Coordinate sessions and collect feedback |
September – November 2019 | Complete |
Fine-Tuning Phase
| Action | Responsible | Timeline | Status |
| Review and include applicable feedback | Coordinated Accessibility Strategy Working Group | December 2019 | Complete |
Finalization Phase
| Action | Responsible | Timeline | Status |
| Release final Coordinated Accessibility Strategy | Coordinated Accessibility Strategy Steering Committee | June 2020 | Complete |
Feedback Received
All feedback received as part of the Coordinated Accessibility Strategy consultation has been made available in the documents below. The feedback has been aggregated to protect the identity of the contributors. Please note that personal identifiable information will not be made available.
Document Archive
As a community, Carleton is committed to continue to build a culture of accessibility. The Coordinated Accessibility Strategy will serve as a framework to guide Carleton’s ongoing commitment toward a campus that is accessible and inclusive. All of the published documents related to the creation of the Coordinated Accessibility Strategy are archived below.