Accessiblity Training

---

People are often hesitant to talk about disability because they are scared of using the wrong words, plus they don’t know what they don’t know. This training will address that discomfort directly by empowering staff with the language and knowledge to talk about disability sensitively and confidently. It includes exploring terminology used to talk about disability, the different ways that people experience disability, and barriers that people might encounter. 

Communications staff may know they need to make materials accessible, but don’t always understand why or how. This training demonstrates how people with disabilities interact with websites, emails, social media, and reports. It covers common barriers to communicating well with people who are deaf, blind, have cognitive and/or learning disabilities, and people who are neurodivergent. Staff appreciate learning concrete tools they can use to ensure all communication methods can be accessed by people with a variety of disabilities.

If you have customer-facing staff, they need to know how to interact with customers with disabilities. This training helps teams grow their disability awareness, learn guidelines for approaching a customer with a disability, and understand how to interact with people who communicate differently. Teams leave this training with more confidence so they can serve customers with disabilities well, and ensure they’re meeting organizational standards for quality customer service. 

Good writing is accessible writing. If you want your message to have an impact, it needs to be clear. But many organizations struggle to shift from a formal, corporate voice to one that really speaks to everyday people. How do you embrace plain language while still signaling professionalism? This training covers how your staff can make the switch to plain language writing and appeal to all levels of readers. By embracing a straightforward style of writing, you’re signaling that inclusivity really matters.

Most web developers understand the need to ensure your website and digital assets meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. But few have delved into the experiences of users with disabilities enough to really understand what a difference accessible websites make. This highly customized training dives into digital asset accessibility, with focus on websites. Staff will explore barriers to accessibility and learn different tools for testing and fixing those barriers. Communications and digital teams come away with a greater appreciation for the often simple fixes they can make to ensure digital assets are as inclusive as possible.   

More and more Canadians are being diagnosed with ADHD, autism spectrum disorders and other neurodevelopmental disorders. What does this mean for the workplace? This training increases teams’ disability awareness and sensitivity about the employment of people who are neurodivergent. Learners explore how neurodiversity and disability interact with the modern workplace and the duty to accommodate those workers. Staff and managers learn how to start conversations around disability and neurodiversity that helps improve inclusion in the workplace. 

Human resource professionals understand organizations’ legal requirements when it comes to employment. But they often have not had specific training on best practices in accessible employment. This supportive session helps HR teams and people managers increase their confidence when it comes to hiring, onboarding, training and retaining people with disabilities. Topics include accessible hiring and recruitment, interview procedures, accommodations, employee mobility and performance management. Learners come away fully understanding what accessibility and accommodations in the workplace really mean. 

Adaptive technology refers to the wide range of tools that people with a variety of disabilities can use to assist them in their everyday lives. This introductory session provides teams with an overview of some of the adaptive/assistive technologies that may be most relevant to them, their customers and stakeholders. Teams come to understand digital tools such as screen readers, speech-to-text software, keyboard only access, and physical tools like switch controls. We cover how those tools are used by people with disabilities, and how they enable access to organizations’ IT and communications platforms. By learning more about these technologies, staff better understand how to create communications that are responsive to these technologies. 

Procurement is an often-overlooked area for accessibility but can have a major impact on a company’s employees, as well as their customers and stakeholders. This short, simple training aimed at procurement officers will help them analyze current practices and establish touchpoints where simple accessibility analyses can be inserted into existing processes.