CBC/Radio-Canada consults Canadians about accessibility

by Randy Pinsky

According to the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability released by Statistics Canada in 2022, 22 percent of Canadians over the age of 15 have some form of disability. In seeking to become a barrier-free media organization, CBC/Radio-Canada hosted public in-person and virtual “Let’s Talk Accessibility!” consultations across Canada from November 28 to January 31.

The consultations were designed to elicit public discussion around three main themes: What is the feeling around how people with disabilities are portrayed in the media? What are the biggest barriers people with disabilities face when consuming content from the public broadcaster? And, how can the CBC/Radio-Canada improve its relationships with different communities?

 Accessibility manager, Rachel Desjourdy, and senior administrator of the corporation’s National Accessibility Plan, Jérôme Bergeron, discussed six issues considered to inhibit full participation in society: employment, the built environment, information and communication technologies, procurement of goods and services, transportation, and design and delivery of programs and services.

 “As Accessibility Lead for CBC/Radio-Canada I am really pleased with the interest and participation we have for our consultation sessions,” said Desjourdy, herself hard-of-hearing. “We had the privilege of hearing from hundreds of Canadians with disabilities across the country, and look forward to using these insights to build our first national accessibility plan.”

 As part of its mandate of inclusion, the media organization used live closed captioning and sign language interpretation.

 Closed captioning is already available for all programming, including digital platforms such as CBC GEM, with increasing live transcription and sign language interpretation for news conferences.

 One participant brought up disability representation. “We can tell our own stories. Allow us to see ourselves on mainstream TV,” she said, commenting on able-bodied actors playing people with disabilities on programs such as Glee and Speechless.

 “If we had more positive coverage of what people with disabilities accomplished on a daily basis, maybe we would feel more useful and understood, and it would encourage others to do more.”

 As an example, she mentioned Jillian Mercado, an American actress with spastic muscular dystrophy, who stars in The L Word and was hired not because she was in a wheelchair, but due to her acting talent.

 Actress Selma Blair, who has multiple sclerosis and who competed in Dancing with the Stars, was also mentioned. Was it inspiring that she participated or was it cautioned about having unrealistic expectations about ability when there is different access to resources.

 Another concern was media misrepresentation especially around invisible disabilities.

 “When they keep getting our stories wrong, like saying it’s ‘just fatigue,’ it leads to so much unintentional harm,” noted chronic illness advocate Sabrina Poirier, who participated in the Weymouth, Nova Scotia consultation on January 18. She appealed to journalists to “genuinely listen and let patients share their stories as they see fit, as opposed to short sound bites.”

 “We’re not that different,” said another participant. “We just have different challenges.”

 The findings from the consultations will be used to inform CBC/Radio-Canada’s National Accessibility Plan, scheduled to be released by June.