Making the Arts Accessible

By Jaclyn Law and Jutta Treviranus

Stretch is an exciting new multimedia initiative aimed at improving inclusion of people with disabilities in Canadian arts and culture. The goals of the Stretch project include challenging and stretching perceptions and conventions within the arts so that they are inclusive of people with disabilities. (Stretch will be hosted by ZedTV at http://zed.cbc.ca). Stretch is supported by Heritage Canada and several organizations, including the Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (ATRC), the Canadian Abilities Foundation, York’s Critical Disability Studies, the De-ba-jemuh-jig Theatre Group, the National Broadcast Reading Service, Ryerson’s School of Disability Studies, Advanced Broadband Enabled Learning (ABEL), AQIEPS and CBC’s ZeDTV.

There also will be a strong focus on engaging youth with disabilities and their peers without disabilities in reflection, self-expression and discourse about how society, groups and individuals relate to people who have disabilities or other perceived differences. Stretch includes a mentorship program for young artists with disabilities (see details on page 45), and online learning materials suitable for high-school and undergraduate programs will be created around related topics (for example, media studies and social change). The project will also provide a forum for First Nations and Inuit perspectives on disability and inclusion.

AN ACCESSIBLE ENVIRONMENT
Accessibility is, of course, foremost in this project. Stretch will use innovative strategies and technologies to make its online environment accessible. Peer describers and captioners will be enlisted to translate information from an inaccessible modality to an accessible one. There are also plans to create an environment that is accessible and engaging to Canadians from a number of language backgrounds, including French and Sign Language. Organizers will seek feedback and input on the efficacy of the access strategies used and their impact on the overall work.

PERSPECTIVES ON INCLUSION
As an adjunct to the popular online and broadcast show ZeD, Stretch will collect video, animation, visual art and music that express perspectives on inclusion. The collection will include a special focus on First Nations and Inuit perspectives on disability and inclusion. The online collection can be divided into three categories: 1) Existing Works; 2) Works to be Developed; and 3) Second Order Works.

During the course of the project, partners will digitize, caption, describe, markup and Metatag a large collection of existing works created by or about people with disabilities. Several partners will create new works that explore commonalities between cultures that have been previously marginalized. Most importantly, the collection will act as a catalyst and source material for what the team refers to as “Second Order Works.” The collection will set the tone for and inspire the events, contests, forums and collaborative activities on the topic of inclusion.

This dynamic and evolving collection will be drawn from a number of sources. It is anticipated that in the first year, at least 30 videos, 55 visual art pieces and 15 other works in various media will be presented on the theme “Perspectives on Inclusion.”

CULTURALL PROJECTS
There are many unmet challenges in making the exchange of culture online accessible. These will be addressed through an applied research network called CulturAll. The CulturAll Network is a national, multi-sector network developing innovative approaches, tools and strategies that will ensure that inclusive design becomes a naturally integrated component of Canadian cultural production and acts as a catalyst for innovation and creativity.

Through CulturAll, researchers from across Canada, led by the ATRC, will work with artists, content producers and curators employing various media to discover new ways of creating inclusive cultural experiences that meet the needs of both artist and audience. Examples of the research projects to be conducted through CulturAll include: a project called TransformAble, which will develop a freely and openly available web service that can be used by websites with digital cultural collections to transform the website presentation and cultural resources so that they are personalized for individual needs. For example, if a person who has a vision disability logs into a cultural site, the size of the text will be increased, the colours of the background and text will be adjusted to enhance the contrast, and important information will be relocated within view. Similarly, if a person who has a hearing disability visits the same site, any videos requested will be displayed with captions. These transformations will be in accordance with the person’s previously stated preferences.

Many cultural website developers in Canada are not familiar with accessibility guidelines or policies or do not see accessibility as a priority when designing their sites. However, most developers of complex websites use a content management system to create and maintain their site. Another project within CulturAll will enhance a popular open source content management system so that it guides and encourages developers to create accessible websites. When implemented, accessible authoring will be an integrated as part of the process rather than as an afterthought, even if developed by producers or authors who are not knowledgeable about or motivated to create accessible content.

A third project will research and create processes that make content in one sensory modality available in another in a creative, integrated and achievable manner. These processes will move beyond the traditional post-production translation alternatives such as captioning and video description, which provide specialized access for people with disabilities, to processes that provide direct access through a number of alternative senses. With this project, pictures will be heard and sounds will be seen.

ACCESSIBLE WEBCASTS
Live cultural events present the greatest accessibility challenge. During live events there is no time for planning or design beyond the short briefing interpreters occasionally receive. All interpretation must be on an impromptu basis. By developing and evaluating a number of live webcasts that include real-time captions, audio descriptions and sign translation, another CulturAll project will address questions such as: what tools can assist the interpreter of live events, and how can the interpreter be better integrated as a member of the performance team?

Through these and other projects, CulturAll hopes to ensure that everyone in Canada can participate in the Canadian cultural exchange online.

If you are interested in mentoring a young artist, or if you are a young artist seeking a mentor, please contact the Canadian Abilities Foundation by emailing info@abilities.ca. To submit content for Stretch, please contact Simon Bates at simon.bates@utoronto.ca.

Jutta Treviranus is Stretch’s Project Lead. Jaclyn Law is the managing editor of ABILITIES Magazine.