Draft Minutes for Meeting 5 of the
Accessible Information and Communications Standards
Development Committee (IC-SDC)

Tuesday October 23rd, 2007 and Wednesday October 24th, 2007

 Canadian Standards Association
5060 Spectrum Way, Suite 100
Mississauga, ON  L4W 5N6

Members Present

• Laura Talbot (Chair), Talbotallan Consulting Group
• Kelly MacKenzie, Canadian Hearing Society
• Karen Taylor, Canadian National Institute for the Blind
• Rozalyn Werner-Arce, Community Living Ontario
• Tara Jeji,  Association for Persons with Physical Disabilities of Windsor and Essex County
• Diane Wagner, Learning Disabilities of Ontario
• Sue Morgan,  Independent Living Resource Centre of Waterloo Region
• Geoff Eden, (Individual) (Consumer)
• Francine Drouin, Regroupement des Parents et Amis des Enfants Sourds et Malentendants Franco-Ontarien (RESO)
• Dan Shire, IBM Canada
• Robert Pearson, Sun Life Financial
• Doug Jure,  Bloor-Yorkville BIA, Ontario Restaurant, Hotel and Motel Association
• Martha Johnson, TD Bank/Trust Companies
• Bill Munson, Information Technology Association of Canada for Ontario
• Rt. Rev. George Elliott, The Anglican Diocese of Toronto & Provincial Synod of Ontario
• Lari Langford, Ontario Library Association
• Sherrill McCall, Cambrian College of Applied Arts & Technology
• Ontario Federation of Labour/ Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario
• Don Halpert, Ontario Hospital Association
• Beth Cooper, Ontario Public School Boards Association
• Jeanette Parsons, Council of Ontario Universities
• Mary Reid, City of Ottawa/ Association of Municipalities of Ontario
• Elizabeth Daly, Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario (AMTCO)
• Patricia McDonell, City of Toronto
• Rose Langhout, Ministry of Government Services
• Eileen Mahood, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
• Israel Lyon, Ministry of Economic Development and Trade/Ministry of Small Business and Entrepreneurship
• Stacey Young, Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities

 Guests

• Ellen Passmore, ADO
• Jelena Payne, ADO

Support Unit

• Scot Weers, ADO
• Nelly Tion, ADO
• Sheila Mawji, ADO
• David Dilks, Lura Consulting
• Marsha Cheddi, Canadian Standards Association

Format of Committee Minutes and References:
For the purposes of referencing committee documents and items in the minutes, CSA has adopted the reference system used by ISO (International Organization of Standardization):

• N represents documents / presentations; and
• M represents the minute items / sections

IC-SDC Meeting 5 Documents and Presentation Material

SUMMARY OF ACTIONS

ACTION 1:  M. Cheddi to email the updated Committee Charter to the IC-SDC to review the updates from IC-SDC Meeting 4.  These updates included replacing the term “disposition comments” and adding a procedure regarding the authorization of guests at meetings.

ACTION 2: Support Unit to provide committee members with list of individuals on the Sector Roundtable Committees before the next meeting.

ACTION 3:  A small sub-committee, including the Chair, with the assistance of the support group, to incorporate the changes decided by the IC-SDC during the Meeting into Draft 1.0 to be used for consultation staring in early Nov. A template for consultation purposes is also to be drafted and provided.  Committee members to forward feedback received on the initial draft of the IC Standard to M. Cheddi by December 3rd for compilation and discussion at Meeting 6.

ACTION 4:  Support Unit to provide information on how signage can be scoped and handled within the draft at the next meeting.

ACTION 5: Support Unit to establish sub-committees to provide recommendations on how to address: web, software, and hardware, special requirements, and potential drafting updates, including plain language, to the general requirements section of the standard before the next meeting.

M5.1 Call to Order

• L. Talbot, IC-SDC Chair convened IC-SDC Meeting 5 at 9:30 AM.

M5.2 Housekeeping and Facility Safety

• M. Cheddi reviewed the facility safety and housekeeping procedures with the committee.

M5.3 Opening Remarks

• L. Talbot, IC-SDC Chair welcomed committee members to IC-SDC Meeting 5. 
  
• The Chair stated the purpose of this meeting is to discuss the initial draft standard.  The Chair reminded members that the standard setting process is to set an inspirational and attainable “bar” for fundamental and broad based improvements and make progress smartly, rather than to solve all problems. In 5 years there will be another committee moving this process forward.

M5.4 Approval of the Agenda, Process Overview and Plan for the 2 days

• The Committee approved the draft agenda (N83).

M5.5 Approval of the Minutes to the Last Meeting

• The Committee approved the minutes from IC-SDC Meeting 4 (N82).

M5.6 Review of Action Items from the Last Meeting

• M. Cheddi reviewed action items (N82) from last meeting.  All actions were complete.

M5.7 Draft Standard Walk-Through and Discussion

• The Chair noted that that the document will undergo a plain language review once the draft is completed for public review. 
  
• M. Cheddi and K. Boehmer of CSA conducted a section-by-section review of Draft 1 of the “Initial Proposed Information and Communications Accessibility Standard”.
  
• The committee was asked to note aspects of the standard that might serve as guidance while ensuring the requirements within the standard are enforceable.
  
• The overall framework for the standard includes technical requirements with acceptable solutions that meet the requirements.  Organizations will also have the opportunity to provide a functional alternative solution that meets the technical requirements.  The Chair noted that the intent of allowing alternative solutions is to encourage organizations to develop and implement innovative solutions that might help many users or clients.
  
• Many of the technical requirements within the draft standard reflect the learning derived from work currently being undertaken in the U.S by the Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee (TEITAC:  http://teitac.org/wiki/EWG:Draft_Sept_14) to update Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act, and other expert advice.
  
• The committee re-affirmed the “individualization” approach of the standard and the need to require organizations to have a mechanism in place to determine user access needs.
  
• In summary, the IC-SDC agreed:
  • On a consistent framework for presentation of the technical requirements in the standard;
  • With the concept of listing “acceptable solutions” for complying with the technical requirements for each communication method (visual, audio etc.) that will be covered in the standard;
  • That the standard should also enable innovative solutions – beyond the listed “acceptable solutions” – that meet the technical requirements.

M5.8 Implementation and Compliance Presentation from ADO

• The committee received a presentation from E. Passmore and J. Payne of the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario on their work to develop two key components – a compliance assurance framework; and public education and outreach program which will facilitate implementation of the AODA standards. In conducting this work, representatives from various sectors have been consulted.  More information is available at www.accesson.ca.

• Committee members requested a list of individuals that have been consulted from the various sectors.

M5.9 Leading Practices Presentations

• Received presentations from three IC-SDC members:
  • Jeanette Parsons, Council of Ontario Universities, emphasized core principles of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities  Act, 2005, by referencing  relevant human rights cases heard by the Supreme Court of Canada
  • Geoff Eden demonstrated the capabilities of two evolving technologies:  Broadcast Reading – VoicePrint is a non-profit reading service available on cable TV, on satellite and online (www.voiceprintcanada.com); Described Video – AudioVision helps people with vision restrictions “see” the action in movies and TV programs (www.audiovisioncanada.com).  He added that a new TV channel – The Accessible Channel – has just received approval to broadcast TV programs in accessible formats 24 hours a day.
  • A committee member presented Cambrian College’s approach to implementing the Program Quality Assurance Process Audit initiative, and suggested parallels between that process and future efforts to ensure accessible information and communications in an institutional setting once the standard has been developed.

M5.10 Next Steps

• The IC-SDC decided committee members should seek initial and informal feedback on the draft standard from their constituents and networks before the next meeting. Key factors to focus the feedback discussions when seeking guidance were determined as:
  i) the organization of the draft standard and the ‘total package’ of Sections 6 to 9;
  ii) potential opportunities to clarify, improve or add to the content.
• The IC-SDC determined that sub-committees should be established to further improve key sections of the draft standard for inclusion in the next draft.  Additional sub-committees maybe established in the future as the draft standard evolves.

M5.11 Communiqué Preparation

• The committee prepared the IC-SDC Meeting 5 Communiqué.

Adjourn

• IC-SDC Meeting 5 was adjourned at 4:00 PM.

*** Next meeting: December 12th and 13th, 2007 ***

• Print this article
• Email this article