Terms of Reference

Terms of Reference define the purpose and scope of the Digital Accessibility Toolkit project. It includes information regarding the structures of a project, key roles, membership, meeting, and more.

Important information

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Purpose

The purpose of this task force is to collaborate on the creation of a structured platform to centralize Government of Canada (GC) information on accessibility.

The Access Working Group (AWG) would like to enable interdepartmental centralization and sharing of accessibility information produced by GC departments in a central repository and sharing space.

Sharing accessibility resources and work in a central repository would, among other benefits:

enable GC employees better access to centralized information relating to accessibility;
create a space to collaborate between departments in the open;
reduce time and money spent duplicating or searching for other GC departments accessibility work; and
promote the accessibility work that we do in the GC on a public space.

Key role

The Digital Accessibility Toolkit (DAT) task force supports the Public Service Accessibility Strategy Goal 3: Technology Make information and communications technology usable by all.

This task force will:

provide recommendations for creating the Government of Canada (GC) central repository for GC created accessibility resources and work;
support the implementation through various phases of work; and
discuss and initiate supporting activities to identify which information / materials would be appropriate to shared.

The Digital Accessibility Toolkit (DAT) will leverage accessibility expertise across government, showcase best practices, and promote inclusive design and accessible by default.

The key roles will be defined based on the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) ARRM Project - Accessibility Roles and Responsibilities Mapping project.

Reporting structure

Co-chairs will be leaders in the accessibility community within the Government of Canada (GC). The chair(s) may change over time as appropriate.

The Digital Accessibility Toolkit (DAT) operates under the umbrella of the Access Working Group (AWG) and will make periodic reports to that working group.

Mandate and decision-making authority

The Digital Accessibility Toolkit (DAT) is a recommendation-making forum that has a mandate to:

position the Government of Canada (GC) to meet or exceed Information and Communications Technology obligations of the Accessible Canada Act and the goal of the Accessibility Strategy for the Public Service of Canada to "make information and communications technology usable by all";
make recommendations for a GC central repository to share accessibility information created by various GC departments, minimizing duplication of work across departments
improve consistency of accessibility and identify best practices for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) accessibility information;
increase awareness across participating departments through the Access Working Group (AWG) and Interdepartmental ICT working Group;
leverage expertise, foster information flow, and broaden knowledge across the GC; and
make recommendations for future phases of the project -- for example expanding access to other jurisdictions that are collaborating with the GC on ICT accessibility.

Membership

Digital Accessibility Toolkit (DAT) members belong to multiple stakeholder departments who have knowledge in digital accessibility.

Members

Co-Chair(s):
- Shared Service Canada (SSC): Shawn Thompson, Accessibility, Accommodation and Adaptive Computer Technology (AAACT) Program (Development lead)
- Canada School of Public Service (CSPS): Julie Bélisle Boutet, Digital Accessibility in Learning (Content lead)
Contributing resources:
- Open Government Working Group
- Canadian Digital Services (CDS)
Different subject matter experts, other than accessibility
- Legal
- Plain language
- Official languages
- Open data
- Development
- Communications
Secretariat services:
- Accessibility, Accommodation and Adaptive Computer Technology (AAACT) program

Operating procedures and frequency of meetings

This task force meets weekly, or as required. Agendas will be prepared for each meeting and meeting materials will be circulated in advance of the meetings. Members are invited at all times to add agenda items.

Members are expected to be working members, drafting and editing materials and making recommendations.

In the event that the member is unavailable for a scheduled meeting, the member may appoint an alternate who has equivalent background and/or knowledge of the subject being discussed.

A brief summary of the project progress will be provided at minimum at every other Access Working Group (AWG) meeting.

The methods of contributing could be as done in one or more of the following ways:

Github discussion forum in the open;
1. GitHub,
2. email, or
3. anonymously via web form.
Task force meetings

Final decisions will be published on the Github discussion forum.

The Terms of Reference will be reviewed at minimum annually and adjusted as required.

Scope

While ideally the project have a four phases approach, the focus of this task force will be on Phase 1 only as early 2023.

Phase 1: Site Architecture (detailed in separate document)

What to post, how to organize, publishing procedures, maintenance cycle, documenting process.

Phase 2: Publishing

Authoring tool / Content Management System (CMS)

Phase 3: Expand

Expanding the various topics and subjects or adding new topics

Phase 4: Maintenance cycle

Establishing a proper maintenance cycle, including the review of the current content, adding new content, and testing the functionality and accessibility of the site.

Resources

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Date modified:: 2023-10-06

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