Our Accessibility Services

Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) needed help conducting public consultations in support of their accessibility strategy under Nova Scotia’s Accessibility Act. So, LTRT planned an engagement strategy that made sense for the Halifax community. We designed the engagement to gather feedback from disability service organizations, people with disabilities, newcomers to Canada, and Indigenous and racialized communities. We held 4 virtual and 6 in-person public consultations in the community, collecting data relating to key accessibility areas. LTRT then analyzed the findings to support HRM with writing their next accessibility strategy.

LTRT has a long relationship with the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). In our most recent engagement, the TTC asked LTRT for help consulting with people with disabilities regarding the TTC’s new multi-year accessibility plan under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. LTRT designed a consultation strategy that would provide TTC leadership with insights into the experiences of TTC staff and riders with disabilities. To capture these perspectives, we facilitated pop-up consultations at public events, designed a public survey, and hosted a roundtable with frontline TTC staff. Questions were designed to solicit feedback about previous accessibility efforts, lingering barriers, and opportunities the TTC could capitalize on to improve experiences for people with disabilities. The feedback we collated and analyzed was fed into TTC’s multi-year accessibility plan. 

When the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approached us for help developing their Accessible Canada Act accessibility plan, they knew they needed help with one key area: gathering data on and assessing its accessibility barriers. Responsible for regulating accessibility of radio, television and telecommunications, its accessibility is especially critical. After consulting with CRTC’s internal subject matter experts, LTRT conducted an employee survey, a public-facing survey, and town hall-style public consultations in both French and English. With the consultation data in hand, CRTC staff wrote their accessibility plan, drawing on our recommendations to pinpoint solutions. 

After working with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) on its accessibility plan, the OPC looked to LTRT for a flexible, as-needed arrangement with us. We agreed to a plan where LTRT would offer OPC staff a wide range of accessibility advice, support, and guidance, as well as providing direct accessibility services. We provided an accessibility review of the agency’s reporting portals, training for leadership related to neurodiversity and disability culture at work, and an assessment of the built environment in their main office space. In doing so, LTRT was able to enrich the quality of service their leadership provided to both OPC staff and stakeholders with disabilities. 

When the National Gallery of Canada made accessibility enhancements a priority, they faced a key barrier: though they were prepared to hire an accessibility specialist, they lacked in-house knowledge for a short but critical period of time. Since LTRT had helped write their accessibility plan, they turned to us for the support they needed until their new hire could take the reins. During this time, we provided ad hoc support to staff on an as-needed basis. We supported the Gallery with monitoring accessibility initiatives and drafting their first accessibility plan progress report. We helped the Gallery to develop terms of reference for an external advisory committee, and then supported recruitment and running meetings for that committee.  

LTRT supported the Museum with writing their accessibility plan, user testing one of their exhibits, and assessing public wayfinding signage. So it made sense when they asked LTRT for a bank of on-call hours that staff could tap into when needed. Using this time, their staff were able to reach out to LTRT consultants to get advice and input for one-off accessibility queries and knowledge sharing meetings. The organization also used the time to access LTRT’s support for writing their first accessibility plan progress report. Altogether, LTRT’s background presence allowed staff to incorporate accessibility goals into their day-to-day work, and to tap disability-related knowledge on a cost-effective, as-needed basis. 

We worked with a consortium of five business associations that represented dozens of very small, local telecommunications companies across Canada. As federally-regulated entities, each of these small companies were required to meet new accessibility legislation, but did not have the expertise or resources to do it on their own. LTRT worked with the five associations to create a toolkit responsive to the needs of their small stakeholders. The toolkit provided each telecom company with a template accessibility plan, and tools for consulting their local communities. By training the associations on how to use the toolkit, each of them could return to the companies relying on them for this information, and ensure they understood and met their legal obligations. 

With support from Texas A&M Transportation Institute, LTRT is carrying out research for the Transit Cooperative Research Program to investigate promising practices in the public transportation sector when it comes to inclusive employment for people with disabilities. This research seeks to both fill labour market needs for the public transportation sector, as well as promote opportunities for people with disabilities to be recruited, hired, retained, and promoted within the sector. We plan to conduct an in-depth literature review, analysis and a survey of transit employees with disabilities. We will facilitate focus groups with staff in transit agencies, workforce development partners, and leaders in accessible employment. We will develop a practical guide for public transportation practitioners, outlining promising practices and case studies. The practical tools in the guide will support recruitment, hiring, retention, and advancement of people with disabilities across the transportation sector. 

LTRT worked with Telefilm Canada on a few accessibility projects, so when they needed plain language support, they asked us. Telefilm had made a commitment in their accessibility plan to make some of their key documents easier to understand. To do this, they wanted LTRT to model for them how plain language annual reports, policies, and corporate plans would look. We provided guidance in the form of annotated documents and staff training, and re-wrote other documents in plain language that staff could use as a comparator. We also created customized accessibility awareness and digital accessibility trainings, in French and English, specifically tailored for Telefilm’s needs.  

Meewasin Valley Authority (MVA) in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan engaged LTRT as it assessed the potential of becoming a national urban park. As such, MVA wanted to be able to assess the accessibility of its parks, buildings, programs and policies. LTRT developed an assessment framework that MVA could use both in the present and future for its facilities, nature programs, events, policies, and digital presence. We analyzed policies and bylaws that would support inclusion and accessibility as MVA’s project unfolded.

Transport Canada wanted to understand key barriers and opportunities to support the transition to Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs). They wanted to be understand the travel needs of people with disabilities, their unique barriers to accessing ZEVs, and the impact of these barriers on the cost of ownership. Partnering with another consulting firm, Dunsky, LTRT conducted a study exploring those issues. We conducted stakeholder interviews with national disability organizations, vehicle modifiers, and original equipment manufacturers. We outlined the kinds of modifications people with disabilities require, quantified those costs, and assessed the inventory of available ZEVs for people with disabilities. Ultimately, this work will assist the government of Canada with their goals around ZEVs. 

LTRT collaborated with a provincial fire safety initiative to assess the program accessibility and inclusiveness of various communities. This included reviewing their podcast, print materials, programming activities for schools, checklists, and websites for alignment with best practices and guidelines. Working collaboratively, we found solid opportunities to enhance accessibility in each area without negatively impacting budgets. 

The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation contracted LTRT to conduct a website accessibility audit to understand the current state of their accessibility. They wanted to ensure the website was in compliance with the the most recent version of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). LTRT arranged for expert auditing among people with disabilities against WCAG criteria. We wrote a report with recommendations for improving the accessibility of the website, making it more user-friendly for all of Seaway’s stakeholders. 

LTRT supported Manitoba Possible with its ongoing efforts to improve its website accessibility. This was a special project for LTRT because Manitoba Possible is an organization that exclusively provides services to people with disabilities and their families. Our work involved uncovering areas where the website does not meet the World Consortium Accessibility Guidelines. We tested multiple page layouts with four tools: a keyboard, Colour Contrast Analyser, Deque axe DevTools, and a screen reader. We also identified high priority pathways and executed user testing. We summarized the feedback gathered from the lived experience user testers, following feedback from multiple users of differing disability perspectives. 

The Supreme Court of Canada was developing a new website, and wanted to ensure it was barrier-free. After LTRT helped write their first accessibility plan, we were happy to provide support to Court's web development team. This included training the web team and performing two reviews of the website under development. The review reports allowed the team to identify problems early on and learn how to avoid creating barriers in future web development efforts. The team used the reports for barrier remediation and as a guide as they developed the site. Finally, LTRT offered office hours where IT staff could discuss problems they are having or ask questions as they worked.