Canada is known as “Hollywood North.” That’s because so many television shows and series, and theatrical and television films have been, and are filmed, in this country. They include Supernatural, Schitt’s Creek, Hudson and Rex, Deadpool, Star Trek Beyond, Star Trek Discovery and Hot Zone: Anthrax. According to figures from the Motion Picture Association, film and television production in Canada employed over 240,000 people in 2021/2022. That includes everyone from acting talent and extras, to sound editors and technicians, to camera operators, to makeup artists, to set carpenters. But of all the people who work on all these productions in all these capacities, how many are people who have a disability? What exactly is the state of disability representation and inclusion in the film, television and modelling industry in Canada? And how is disability portrayed in it? That’s what we explore in this second and final part of our series on disability in the media. Our three guests have some powerful industry-insider insights. Katie MacMillan, Founder and Director of Operations, Kello Inclusive agency Actors Natasha Urkow and George Alevizos, who both have a disability Show notes: Learn more about Kello Inclusive, the only talent agency in Canada representing only disability talent: https://www.kelloinclusive.org Find out about the CBC Television series, PUSH: https://www.cbc.ca/mediacentre/program/push Learn more about ACTRA: https://www.actratoronto.com Listen to part 1 in this series: https://youcantspellinclusionwithoutad.podbean.com/e/ep-17-disability-in-the-media-pt-1-—-disability-coverage-in-the-media/

Disability is the world’s largest minority group — one that all of us will likely join at some point in our lives. According to World Health Organization figures, 1.3 billion people globally have a disability.   People who have a disability are just regular people, living their every-day lives one day at a time...like all of us. Celebrating triumphs in life, and coping with life stresses...like all of us. But that’s not necessarily the message that comes across in media stories about disability.  Myths and misconceptions about disability are still prevalent. And journalists and the media play a critical role in how people who have a disability...how disability itself...is perceived...and the level of disability awareness among the general population.  That’s what we’re exploring in this episode, part one in a two-part series on Disability in the Media.   Beth Haller teaches Disability Studies and Media Studies at Towson University in Maryland. Gus Alexiou and John Loeppky are both freelance journalists who have a disability.   Our three guests have some powerful insights into the state of disability coverage in newsrooms, and disability-related stories produced in them.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. So we thought, what better time to launch a new, occasional series we’re calling, Making the Journey.   It’s a fitting title for this series. Because when a business leader or owner makes the conscious decision to become intentional about disability inclusion in their organization, it really is a long-term journey.  In Making the Journey, we talk one-on-one with business leaders about the twists, turns, challenges, awkward conversations, successes and lessons learned along the way in their disability-inclusive hiring journey.   For the first instalment of Making the Journey, we talk with Joe Hoffer. He’s a partner at Cohen Highley LLP in London. And he’s an ODEN Business Champion.   Cohen Highley forged a disability inclusion path for other businesses in Southwestern Ontario to follow...and they are. This is an insight-packed, engaging conversation.    Show Notes:  – Learn about the ODEN Business Champions League:  https://www.odenetwork.com/businesses/business-champs-league/  – Business resources:  https://www.odenetwork.com/businesses/business-resources/  – Business benefits of disability-inclusive hiring:  https://www.odenetwork.com/businesses/business-benefits/  – Tip Sheet: 7 Tips for Making Sure Your Business is Disability Inclusive:  https://www.odenetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ODEN_7_Tips_Disability_04-FINAL-EN-FINAL-ua.pdf  –Tip Sheet: 7 Tips for Ensuring Disability is Part of the DEI Conversation in Your Business  https://www.odenetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/EN_7_Tips_BIZ_02-FINAL-FINAL-ua.pdf

If you’ve never heard about some of the disability innovation things happening around the globe....like Africa’s first Assistive Technology Accelerator project called Innovate Now....or StreetCo, a pedestrian GPS app developed in France to help people with reduced mobility safely navigate city streets....or the World Health Organization’s first official collaborating centre on assistive technology....you’re probably not alone.  Disability innovation is happening around the globe...but is it truly happening *globally* in the collaborative sense of the word?  That’s the question we’re exploring in this episode with our three guests: Professor Jutta Treviranus (OCAD University); Valarie Wafer (Chair of the Rotary International Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force); and Christine Hemphill (Founder and Managing Director of Open Inclusion). Have a listen to this engaging conversation about the global state of disability inclusion.

There’s more conversation about disability inclusion in business and employment, than ever. It’s been driven by some rapid changes in the nature and future of work. All this conversation is a good thing. But, it’s a discourse that’s been going on in Canada for over a hundred years. For all intents and purposes, the modern conversation in Canada about disability inclusion started during World War One. It was originally focused on wounded veterans who were repatriating home with a disability; their employment prospects; their employability; and just how they were perceived by and fit into Canadian society and employers of the day. The nuances have changed since 1917 and 1918, but the conversation about disability inclusion in business is still going on in 2023. Now, it’s mostly rolled into the over-arching business conversation about diversity, equity and inclusion. So how much has really changed in Canada? How much has the needle moved? Where is it right now? And how much more does it need to move? Questions we explore in this episode, with guests Michael Bach, Yat Li and Anita Huberman.

What do you think of when you hear the words, “assistive technology,” or AT, as it’s known for short? And what’s the difference between assistive technology and accessible technology?  From smartphones, to podcast apps, to earbuds, to eyeglasses, to canes, they’re all AT. The World Health Organization (WHO) notes, assistive technology is “an umbrella term.”  There are many things like texting, that have become ubiquitous — that we take for granted, that were developed originally as an aid for people who have a disability.  Globally, according to figures from the WHO, right now there are 2.5 billion people who need one or more AT products to help them navigate their daily lives. With the population aging, that number’s expected to rise.  We use AT every day in business, at work and at home, without necessarily thinking of what we’re using, as assistive technology.  This episode, we get you thinking more consciously about AT. The WHO has its definition of AT; we find out how our three guests define it. And how important is your mindset about assistive technology? We explore that question, too. And we get some insights on the state of AT in 2023, and what exciting things are ahead.    Show Notes:  Learn about the many accessibility features of mobile devices: https://www.gari.info/index.cfm

In the beginning, the Web was pretty much accessible for everyone....because it was originally text based. In 2023, web-page technology and design has advanced light years beyond the original hypertext markup language (HTML) used to build the world’s first websites.   But is accessibility....that universal power of the Web referred to by its inventor, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, keeping pace with modern web technology and design?   More often than not today, websites are the first point of customer contact for any organization. Anyone looking for information is going to go to your website first.  But here’s the thing: The WebAim Million 2023 Report on the Accessibility of the Top One Million Web Pages found that 96.3% of home pages have WCAG 2.0 failures. And that’s down only slightly from 96.8% in 2022.  This episode, we explore why businesses are still lagging behind on making their websites accessible, and what needs to happen to get the Web back to that universality regardless of disability that Tim Berners-Lee envisioned.   We get our three guests’ different web accessibility perspectives on what needs to happen and how to get there; and what we might expect with web accessibility in the years ahead. Listen to this engaging conversation with Ran Ronen, David Berman and Sabine Lobnig.     Read the WebAim Million 2023 report: https://webaim.org/projects/million/

This episode is a check-in...a check-in on hidden mobility disabilities in Canada, and The Hidden Mobility Disabilities Project, or The HMD Project for short.  What are hidden mobility disabilities? Generally, they’re the inability to walk any great distance or stand for a long time.   And The HMD Project has been investigating accessibility as it relates to hidden mobility disabilities.   For the past year, The HMD Project has been exploring possible changes to federal accessibility standards needed to address HMDs. The project’s spearheaded by the Hidden Mobility Disabilities Alliance (HMDA), and funded by Accessibility Standards Canada.  The Ontario Disability Employment Network has been the HMDA’s primary partner on The HMD Project. We’ve been co-ordinating and promoting project participation by individuals and organizations, in a national survey and focus groups.   It’s been just over a year since You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a D talked with the Chief Facilitator of The HMD Project, Dr. Dorothy Riddle. We wanted to find out what Dr. Riddle has been finding out from that national survey and focus groups since our original conversation in June 2022.   In this follow-up conversation, we talk to Dorothy Riddle, along with Ingrid Muschta. Ingrid is ODEN’s Director of Special Projects and Innovation. She has been co-ordinating the national survey and focus group participation.  So what are some of the key findings coming out of the project research? Have a listen to this engaging conversation and find out. You may be surprised to learn — just as the researchers were — that there are many more Canadians with limited mobility issues and disabilities, than you might think. What are the implications of that? Listen and find out.     Learn more about The HMD Project: http://hmdproject.org/  Learn about the Hidden Mobility Disabilities Alliance: https://hiddenmobilitydisabilities.com/

Worldwide, there are an estimated 180 million to 220 million youth who have a disability.   In Canada, there are over 540,000 between the ages of 15 and 24.  Over 100,000 of these youth are not in education, employment or training (NEET). Seventy-seven per cent of this group — over 83,000 young people who have a disability — are potential new employees.  A lot of young, fresh talent is being overlooked for a talent pipeline that can help businesses stay successful in the future. For youth who have a disability, the unemployment rate is significantly higher than it is for young people without disabilities.  In this episode, we look at why there’s an imbalance of opportunities, and how we can build an equitable future for disability talent.   Listen to this conversation with Dr. Jennifer Crowson, PhD, and Carolyn McDougall. Jennifer leads ODEN’s Canadian Youth Success Strategy initiative. Carolyn is an Occupational Therapist at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto. She’s also the Lead for the Hospital’s Transition Strategy — Employment Pathways, and co-ordinates employment programming for over 80 youth who have a disability, annually.     Here are some Holland Bloorview resources:  For youth & families: https://hollandbloorview.ca/services/programs-services/youth-employment-participation-programs (contact Holland Bloorview if you want help connecting with programming or supports in communities outside Toronto)   For employers: Visit the Employer Resource Hub: https://hollandbloorview.ca/employer-resource-hub   For educators: Module 5 of our Project Inclusion series  https://deareverybody.hollandbloorview.ca/project-inclusion/    Canadian Youth Success Strategy:  For more information about the Canadian Youth Success Strategy, contact Dr. Jennifer Crowson by email at [email protected].

When you hear the words, “disability inclusion,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind for you? There’s a lot being written these days about accessibility, and disability inclusion in business and employment. But what about something like disability inclusion and accessibility in research? That's not something many of us have thought about. In this second part of our two-part series on new disability research in Canada, we find out about something innovative being done at the University of Calgary. Multisensory storytelling research — research that’s accessible and inclusive of people who have a disability. If this sounds innovative, it is. It’s a Canadian first. In fact, it’s the first initiative of its kind in the world. It’s adding a whole new dimension to how social research is done. In this episode, we talk with Dr. Kathleen Sitter, PhD. She runs the Multisensory Studio at the University of Calgary. She’s also Associate Professor in the Faculty of Social Work, and the Canada Research Chair in Multisensory Storytelling in Research and Knowledge Translation. Listen to this conversation that will rouse all your senses, and get you thinking differently about accessibility and disability inclusion in research.