- What does it mean to consider Accessibility when making a purchase?
- Accessible Procurement Resources
Carleton University recognizes the importance of ensuring accessible goods and services are readily available to our community. We are committed to helping create environments that remove barriers to individuals living with visible and invisible disabilities by ensuring accessibility is considered for purchases of all sizes. Through our accessible procurement plan, developed in coordination with on-campus experts, we remain aligned with the needs of the University, as well as the requirements set out by the provincial government.
The province of Ontario promotes inclusivity by requiring that individuals consider accessibility when making purchases. Developed by the government of Ontario, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) is a law that sets out processes for developing and enforcing accessibility standards that identifies, removes, and prevents barriers for people with disabilities. Persons with disabilities and industry representatives have worked with provincial government in developing accessibility standards for the purchasing of goods, services and facilities – that public sector organizations are required to follow.
What does it mean to consider Accessibility when making a purchase?
In its simplest form, accessible procurement means intentionally considering how to make your purchase usable by the greatest variety of community members. Considerations may include:
- Mitigating any attributes or characteristics of your procurement that might limit usability for persons with visible or invisible disabilities, or
- Design options to make your purchase usable by the greatest variety of people possible.
Statistics Canada has released data on measuring disability in Canada. This infographic provides easy to understand information about the data collected by the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability and highlights gender, age, disability type and the percentage of persons with disabilities in Canada. Check out our Accessible Procurement video as you start to consider accessibility criteria in your day to day.
Accessible Procurement Resources
Procurement Services continues to build our strategy to meet the diverse needs of the University community by providing resources and services to assist with making accessible purchases. This includes:
- Forming and consulting with our Accessible Procurement Advisory Group
- Developing and sharing resources for:
Do you have any questions or would like to provide feedback on accessible procurement? If so, please send them to us by clicking on the button below.