I spent Saturday morning at the first annual Accessibility Camp Toronto. Hosted by the wonderful @Jennison, the event was an “unconference” about web and technical accessibility. Most of the people in the room were techies, but there were also a number of students, teachers and communications professionals. It was great to see such a broad cross-section of participants and to dive into some of the challenges of accessibility. It’s heartening to see these types of events come together, because accessibility will soon move from “nice-to-do” to “must-do”.

Disabled Canadians are the largest minority group in the country, numbering 14% of the population. This number is expected to grow as our population ages, which is something we’ll be looking at during this year’s Roadmap: 2030. Specifically, we will look at the policy and programs needed to address the needs and priorities of an aging population in a session called “The Boom Effect“; and we will look at the community engagement and collaborative policy development that went into the creation of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, and its Customer Service Standard in a session called “Building an Accessible Ontario“.

I’m excited about these sessions because I believe that accessibility is the next big frontier in diversity. Most people I speak with are amazed to discover that disabled Canadians are our largest minority group, because these communities and individuals tend to be an invisible minority. When we think of disability, we often look for specific clues: a wheelchair, a cane, a guidedog… However, the spectrum of ability is wider than that. With an aging population, our disability rates will go up (as Charles Silverman once said “if we live long enough, we’ll all be disabled”) and when accessibility becomes an issue for the Boomers, it will be an issue for us all. That’s a generation that will push to make their experience known, and will not accept limits. Bless them.