Access 2 Accessibility (A2A) is a central resource hub. Our events on-line and in real life provide informational presentations, workshops, social interactions and more. Keep checking back to learn about upcoming events that may be of interest to you.
February 10, 2021
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm EST
Virtual Event on Microsoft Teams
GET ACTIVE! GET INVOLVED!
Guest Speaker: Archie Allison
Director Access and Awareness , Variety Village.
Join us to share ideas and resources to welcome people of all ages and abilities to participate together! We are excited to promote accessible and inclusive sport/ recreation to ensure everyone can enjoy the benefits of healthy active living.
Archie Allison Biography
Mr. Allison began his career working with persons with disabilities when he was hired as a Program Instructor at Variety Village in 1984 and is currently the Director of Access and Awareness. Mr. Allison has been a tireless advocate for people of all ages and abilities. He has received many awards recognizing his work and advocacy. During his career at Variety Village Mr. Allison has assisted in creating many programs for children with disabilities. These programs focus on providing all children, regardless of their abilities, a barrier-free environment and curriculum in which to play. He has been a staunch advocate of inclusive participation. Mr. Allison was an active coach in Track and Field, taking athletes to the Windsor Games and Junior Games in Miami. From 1985 to 1990 he established integrated Leadership Camps providing opportunities for teenagers of all abilities to learn from their peers and gain independence while practicing important life skills. In his current position Mr. Allison leads a team who deliver Integrated Outreach and Physical Education programs to over 10,000 students in Ontario each year. Mr. Allison also instructs weekly classes at The University of Toronto, Humber College and Centennial College, where he teaches courses based on inclusive recreation. He has created and taught various certification courses on behalf of Variety. These courses are both theoretical and practical in nature. When he is not teaching, Mr. Allison sits on many volunteer committees devoted to the inclusion and advocacy of those with disabilities in the greater Toronto area. Some of his positions:
To contact Archie:
Archie Allison
Director, Access and Awareness
aallison@varietyontario.ca
(416) 699-7167 Ext. 236
January 27, 2021
7:00pm - 8:30pm EST
Virtual Event on Microsoft Teams
Stress Management Tools
Guest Speakers:
Dr. Katherine Plewa, Marcela Correa and Pauly Plewa.Co-Founders of Enterprise Stress Management
Join us as Dr. Katherine, Marcela and Pauly discuss stress management tools. Afterwards there will be a Q&A.
Work Hard, Rest Harder:
January 28 is Bell Let's Talk Day so this topic / virtual event is timely planned. During Covid we know people have developed, or even increased, their levels of stress.
Bios:
Dr. Katherine Plewa, Founder & CEO
Katherine is a healthcare professional and clinical neurology consultant with a breadth of experience in research, rehabilitation, athletic training, and nutrition. She studied Kinesiology at McMaster University, receiving her BSc with honours in 2009, followed by a Master’s from the University of Western Ontario in 2011. She received her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toronto in 2018, and today, she works as a clinical consultant with an interest in neuroscience, holistic health and wellness, teaches internationally, and continues to chase motorsports championships while developing new ways to manage stress in the workplace.
Marcela Correa Villada, Co-Founder & CTO
Marcela holds an MASc. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toronto. She has a breadth of experience evaluating and interpreting the needs and abilities of individuals with physical, learning, and mental health challenges. With more than 4 years of experience in testing, customizing, and training on assistive technologies, Marcela has extensive knowledge conducting accessibility testing in multiple platforms by analyzing user experience under multiple conditions and using technologies such as screen readers, switch access, voice recognition, and alternative format. Marcela is a member of the Board of Director of Access 2 Accessibility, a non-profit organization that aims to help support, empower, and network people with disabilities.
Pauly Plewa,Co-Founder & VP of Community Engagement
Pauly is a true racer at heart, having raced motocross for 11 years at the highest level of amateur racing in Canada and the USA. In 2012, on the verge of his AMA professional debut, he suffered a bad crash leaving him instantly paralyzed from the chest down. Being the ambitious child athlete that he was, Pauly taught himself how to walk and race again by applying the tools he learned from his racing career to his rehab. Today, Pauly is chasing championships on four wheels, teaching people about safe driving, and sharing his story about overcoming disability and envisioning wellness.
Check out Enterprise Stress Management website to get more details, click link below:
Home | ESM (enterprisestressmanagement.com)
January 13, 2021
7:00pm - 8:30pm EST
Virtual Event held on Microsoft Teams
NEW YEAR, TIME FOR NEW/UPDATE WORKPLAN
As a new year begins we either create a new plan of action or update our existing one. So we figured let's start off 2021 with looking at how we organize and plan our business.
We will look at the The Business Model Canvas and other planning resources.
Attendees are welcome to share tools and programs they use to stay on track and how they create their Working Plan.
Do you use tools with specific accessibility features? Are these tools you have been using for a long time or a new one you are trying out this year?
December 09, 2020 7:00pm - 8:30 pm EST
Virtual Event on Microsoft Teams
TIME TO TALK ABOUT INVISIBLE DISABILITIES
Do you, or someone you love, have an invisible disability(s)?
Maybe the first question should be “What is considered an invisible disability (ID)?”
When we hear the word ableism, does this only apply to people with ‘visible’ or ‘physical’ disabilities’?
In the “disability world” are all disabilities considered to be equal? Do people with physical disabilities acknowledge that there are those with invisible disabilities and they too should be considered?
Let us have an open discussion around invisible disabilities:
COVID-19 hit everyone around the world, where we have seen disproportionately within certain sectors of society have been hit hardest, especially with seniors and people with disabilities.
December 3rd was the annual celebration of International Day for Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) day and the theme was 'Building Back Better'. But did we see COVID-19 supports to for people during the pandemic, and in the building back better, concrete services and supports addressed specifically towards people with disabilities? If there were concrete supports for people with disabilities, were invisible disabilities recognized?
You are invited to join with Access 2 Accessibility members who will openly discuss their invisible disabilities. You can share your story and add comments and/or questions regarding this important topic. We will be joining as one community in support and collaborations with one another. This is an opportunity to help and to support one another by raising each other up who are going through this difficult time and forge towards a better future.
November 25, 2020
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm EST
Virtual Event on Microsoft Teams
BUILDING ENTREPRENEURS & PROFESSIONALS, WITH DISABILITIES PROGRAM
We invite you to join us in discussion and feedback on how to enhance A2A's Entrepreneurs & Professionals, with Disabilities Program.
Currently A2A has our MeetUp page and Facebook group page for Entrepreneurs & Professionals, with Disabilities. We were delivering in-person events at 3 locations every month since 2018. But, now with the pandemic and closures those have been on hold. A2A wants to build on those with more resources.
We had told attendees at the events that our goal was to develop "Hi-Lighting Entrepreneurs & Professionals, with Disabilities" Series which will be interviews hosted on our YouTube Channel. Now that our Channel is launched we want to discuss how these will be delivered and their benefits to people we interview.
Our goals for the series:
Let's discuss other ways to support each other's businesses. As people with disabilities we are a large sector of society. If we come together to support and promote one another we can reach even higher career and entrepreneurial aspirations
November 20, 2020
ABILITIES EXPO
Virtual Event held on Zoom
Link to the recorded event presentation: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0g0W6rmb-beF5KFw2q1PgjRT1_hcaUma
Access 2 Accessibility's members Carol-Ann Chafe and Mary Daniel are speaking at this year's Ability Expo Virtual Experience Event.
Their Workshop is: Building Your Employ-Ability
They will be speaking at 4:30pm - 5:15pm EST
(1:30pm-2:15pm PST)
To find out about other workshops during the event go to: https://www.abilities.com/virtual/workshops.html
The Ability Expo VE2 is a free 3 day event held from Friday November 20th to Sunday November 22nd. The online event, called Abilities VE2 begins at 9am PST Friday November 20th running 24 hours a day for the three days.
For more details and to register: https://www.abilities.com/virtual/
EMPLOYMENT FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES DURING COVID
October 28, 2020 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Virtual Event held on Microsoft Teams
Community Guest Speaker: Ali Mohamed
October is NDEAM (National Disability Employment Awareness Month). Our guest speaker is Ali Mohamed from The Career Foundation. He will be discussing how people with disabilities are dealing with looking for work during the pandemic.
Anyone wishing to attend, please send an email request to attend to: Info@Access2Accessibility.com
Ali's Bio
Agenda:
Ali's Contact Info:
The Career Foundation
2100 Lawrence Avenue West, Suite 102Toronto,
Ontario M9N 3W3
Telephone: (416) 243 - 0066 ext. 239
Email: amohamed@careerfoundation.org
Website: www.careerfoundation.com
October 13, 2020 7:00pm - 8:00 pm
Virtual Event on Microsoft Teams
AGM and Board Meeting
October 14, 2020 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Virtual Event on Microsoft Teams
LET'S TALK EFFECTS OF PANDEMIC ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Join our panel as we discuss how the Pandemic has affected people with disabilities from a personal and professional perspective. As a community we know that people with disabilities have been affected more than the mainstream public. Let's discuss and let's share resources that have helped us and may help other members of our community
Agenda:
September 23, 2020 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Virtual Event on Microsoft Teams
INTRO TO MICROSOFT TEAMS & ACCESSIBILITY
Community Guest Speaker: Michael Chin
We are all using online resources to connect and work from home even more during these Covid times. Come join us as we learn about using Microsoft Teams as a collaboration hub and virtual event venue, plus we'll delve into its accessibility features. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and get advice on using Microsoft Teams.
Michael Chin Bio:
Overview:
To Contact Michael"
Michael Chin
Training | Eaton Centre
michin@microsoft.com | (437) 703-8651
To download the Microsoft Teams App:
September 9, 2020 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Virtual Event on Microsoft Teams
CANADIAN LEGISLATIVE ACCESSIBILITY HISTORY AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
Community Guest Speaker: Thea Kurdi
Recording of the event is on A2A's YouTube Channel, click this link: https://youtu.be/m58hZyMqZQE
Thea Kurdi Bio:
Webinar Description:
Agenda
The webinar will explore the legislative background of accessibility in Canada and introduce the relationship between accessibility and the built environment. The Accessible Canada Act, Human Rights Code, National Building Code and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will be addressed. The importance of implementing accessibility effectively will be discussed through successful real-life examples and features in housing that can be implemented anywhere in new developments or retrofitting.
The importance of providing good accessibility feedback is discussed with some recommendations for participants and facilitators.
To contact Thea:
Thea Kurdi Vice PresidentDesignABLE Environments Inc.
918 Dundas Street East, Suite 212, Mississauga, Ontario Canada L4Y 4H9
Telephone: 905.278.0665
designable.ca
@tweetdesignable
ca.linkedin.com/in/theakurdi/
August 26, 2020 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm EST
Virtual Event on Microsoft Teams
LETS GET BACK TO BASICCS:
BEING ACCESSIBLE In SIMPLE COMPUTERIZED COMMUNICATION STEPS
with Community Guest Speaker: Dawn Campbell
Bio Dawn Campbell
Event Details:
For years Canadians with disabilities have been advocating for an accessible built environment and although progress has been made we know we have a long way to go until that work is achieved. As we continue this work there is another area of accessibility that requires immediate attention. We live in a highly digital world of email, software programs, digital documents and social media. There is an old saying "we don't know what we don't know" and as a champion for accessibility for many years Dawn will reflect on the lesson she has learned around the digital environment since taking on her new role in digital accessibility two years ago. Dawn will delve into some key lessons learned about the basics of being inclusive as we move forward building websites, creating documents and using social media.
Join us as we learn A11y basics in documents, social media etc.. Share your tips in accessibility that we can include in our goal to be more inclusive.
Contact Dawn Campbell:
ACCOUNT MANAGER
Direct: (613) 876-0495 |
Yonge Street, Suite 1801 Toronto, ON
____________________________________________
August 12, 2020 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm EST
Join us in this informative and engaging discussion with Community Guest Speaker: Charles Hall.
RSVP: Info@Access2Accessibility.com
Charles Hall Bio
- Senior Accessibility Designer, CVS Health
- Principle Accessibility Consultant, Access.Today - Invited Expert, W3C Accessibility Guidelines Working Group & Silver Task Force (and member, Functional Needs; and XR Subgroups) - Chair, W3C Inclusive Design for the Immersive Web Community Group - Member, Ferndale Accessibility & Inclusion Advisory Commission
Helping people deliver accessible, ethical, and humane innovations for end users through inclusive design. With over three decades in the industry, I am at an ‘obsessed with giving back and paying forward’ stage of my career. I help people with accessibility issues, and contribute to as many global conversations on the topic as possible through multiple channels and communities of practice.
Synopsis
As part of one of the most ambitious efforts the W3C has embraced for the future of web accessibility (WCAG 3), I proudly stepped up to help author a list of human functional needs from which, new guidelines could be oriented from a point of need. This document intends to serve not only a wide audience of groups and large body of work within the W3C, but aspires to become a standard that serves academia, industry, organizations, and policy for the world at large. This work would greatly benefit from public review and comment. Let’s discuss it.
Contact Charles
Email: charles@access.today
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hallcharles/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/atCharlesHall
___________________________________________________________________________________
July 29, 2020
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Join Access 2 Accessibility members Mary Daniel and Carol-Ann Chafe on the Community Speakers Series, Wednesday. July 29th, 2020 at 7:00pm (EDT).
RSVP by email to: Info@Access2Accessibility.com before 12 noon Wednesday July 29th.
Let's discuss Covid-19 and disability: the pros and cons for people with disabilities
For Mary and Carol-Ann, we've had less physical face-to-face seeing each other, thus, being hands-on learners as we are, it’s been tougher especially when being taught new tools and programs.
Yet of the pros we found was more time to work on Access 2 Accessibility. Plus, could attend more webinars and the online learning around Accessibility tools.
Let's chare what we have found to be obstacles in our life, and in our jobs, during the pandemic. What about obstacles if you are looking for work.
Share your resources, programs, technology and more that have helped you tackle or overcome issues during Covid. What has helped through the lockdown for you not to feel as isolated?
If you had a job could you continue to work from home?
If you were looking for work, did you have any luck during the pandemic?
Have you used this time to upgrade your skills and knowledge such as online courses or webinars?
For a long time in the disability community we have said work from home would open-up more opportunities for people with various disabilities. We have said even to have the opportunity to work part time from home may be what benefits people with disabilities; but many employers pushed back saying this wouldn’t work. Now, during the pandemic we are finding many occupations have become virtual, they have work from home; thus, it supports but many have been claiming, which is that more people with disabilities could find more job opportunities if they could work from home full time or even staggered hours thus allowing for more flexibility.
Come join us as we discuss these pros and cons we have found during the pandemic. We welcome all to participate in a positive, open discussion about what we are learning during this time and how this can help people with disabilities. How can we use what we are learning during the pandemic to hopefully open up more employers minds to flex and remote work, thus accommodating more people with disabilities. We are more than capable of doing many jobs. See us for our Abilities because #WeAreAble
___________________________________________________________________________________
07/15/2020
Community Guest Speaker: Alicia Jarvis
How do you prefer to be addressed?
Person 1st ? or Disability 1st?
Join us in a virtual discussion lead by Alicia Jarvis around which way should people address us, and how do we address ourselves. Attendees are invited to engage with comments and questions.
Alicia Jarvis is a disruptive force for change and thought-leader in an industry regarded for restrictions and compliancy, offering a positive perspective and innovative solutions to complex problems relating to universal usability. Alicia currently serves as the Inclusive Design Practice Lead within RBC’s Digital Design team.
After just 2 years at RBC, Alicia was awarded the RBC Leo Award, which is RBC’s highest performance award. Alicia started at RBC initially as an intern in the IT Accessibility department. from there, she was brought on as a full-time employee in Quality Assurance. She is passionate about enabling inclusive teams, and leveraging diverse ideas to build accessible, inclusive, and engaging customer experiences.
In addition to her experience in Accessibility and Inclusive Design, Alicia has a social science background in Criminology, and prior experience in marketing, content management, research and program development. Alicia has also been a peer educator, peer counsellor, safety ambassador, background performer (extra), and organizational representative. Alicia regularly participates in various meet-ups and workshops and has been a delegate at many conferences, both locally and internationally.
Twitter: @a11yalicia<https://twitter.com/a11yalicia > LinkedIn: ca.linkedin.com/in/aliciajarvis<http://ca.linkedin.com/in/aliciajarvis>
--
Alicia Jarvis, CPACC, CSM (Pronouns: she/her)| Inclusive Design Practice Lead |
RBC Digital Design |alicia.jarvis@rbc.com |T: 416-313-7373 |88 Queen’s Quay West, 24th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5J 0B8
___________________________________________________________________________________
06/17/2020
It has been said that great leaders are born, as if preordained by destiny. Reality tells us that few people are born to lead. Leadership is not an inheritance but a skill that is accessible to anyone, particularly those who dare.
The presentation will attempt to take the "mystery" of what makes a leader. Leadership is a skill that any one can possess. Over the past few weeks we've seen demonstrations of leadership in many forms in people from all walks of life. The presentation will show the different types of leadership, which approaches work and how someone can find their own style.
Bio:
Paul Daniel has been an Audio Producer at Accessible Media for more than 20 years. Before that, he was a Political Assistant in the Ontario government and a candidate in a provincial election. Prior to that he was a newspaper journalist at the (now-defunct) PULSE Magazine. He is a Published Writer. He is currently researching and co-writing, with his friend Joe Zammit, on a political biography of Louis St. Laurent, Canada's 12th Prime Minister.
He has been a member of Trillium Toastmasters, a public speaking organization since, as he says, "Trudeau was prime minister. Pierre, not Justin." He has been an Area Director for Toastmasters and a mentor for a new club. He is a vigorous supporter of accessibility for people with disabilities and has never met a cause he did not believe in.
Twitter: Paul Daniel (@pdaniel2553)
Email: SiberianHusky94@Hotmail.com
___________________________________________________________________________________
ON-LINE EVENT
May 17, 2020 GAAD
Be empowered by technology with Microsoft accessibility tools
Event details:
In a collaboration between Microsoft Yorkdale and Access to Accessibility, we invite you to join us for this free, virtual workshop where you’ll learn accessibility features in Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 relevant to your personal and business life. You will leave empowered to communicate and experience the world through these tools.
During this workshop, you will: