TORONTO – A coalition of some of Canada’s largest accessibility organizations is accusing BCE of ignoring Canadians with disabilities.
Access 2020 says that Bell’s response to interventions filed in regards to its pending purchase of CTV “failed to address the issue of accessibility – or even mention the word”. In fact, the group continued, not only did Bell’s reply not respond directly to the coalition’s suggestions, paragraph 111 of its response says that “all Canadians with access to television can view the programming”.
Not so, said Beverley Milligan, executive director of Media Access Canada, which is heading up the coalition.
“Over 800,000 blind Canadians cannot ‘view the programming’ and another 1.2 million cannot hear it”, Milligan said in a statement. “The current industry-driven approach to inclusion simply is not working. Canadians need the CRTC to step in to represent their interests – and to ensure that our Coalition’s plan for 100% accessibility by the year 2020 is implemented.”
Access 2020’s intervention recommended allocating 1% of all TV ownership transactions through 2016 to a trust fund that would enable every communications company in Canada to offer completely accessible television content, on every platform, within ten years.
The coalition also includes Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians, Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf, Canadian Council of the Blind, Canadian Hard of Hearing Association, Canadian Hearing Society, CNIB, Canadian Association for Accessible Travel Training Tourism Services, Easter Seals of Canada, Inclusive Design Resource Centre of the Ontario College of Arts and Design, March of Dimes, Neil Squire Foundation and Sir Arthur Pearson Association of War Blinded.
