Transcript
Transcript: Disability Inclusion in the Public Service of Canada: Julio's Story
Music plays
[Visual: Animated white Canada School of Public Service logo appears on a purple background, pages turn, a maple leaf appears in the middle of a book that also resembles a flag, with curvy lines beneath.]
[Visual: The logo disappears, and the screen divides into four squares, with a white banner across the middle which contains the title in blue. Each square contains an image of a different person engaged in a different activity. In the top left corner is a man in a blue shirt and black pants, in a wheelchair. He approaches and stops a short distance from a flight of two stairs, with his arm outstretched towards them. After a moment, he drops his hands, and then reaches up with one hand and scratches his head. The square in the top right corner has a picture of a man in a green and white t-shirt. He is holding both hands over his ears, and dots and squiggly lines emanate out from his body, as though he is in discomfort. The square on the bottom left contains a picture of a man in a red and white shirt. He is wearing dark glasses, and is standing next to a yellow photocopier. He runs his hand along the side of the photocopier, and then drops his hand to his side without using the machine. The square on the bottom right contains a blonde woman in a blue shirt standing in front of a counter with a sink at one end. Above the counter, high above the woman's head, is a shelf with coffee mugs on it. The woman reaches her hand up towards one of the coffee mugs, but is unable to reach it, and lets her hand fall again.]
Narrator: Barriers to accessibility are obstacles that make things more difficult, and sometimes impossible for those of us with disabilities.
Barriers to accessibility
[Visual: The top left square, containing the man in the wheelchair, glows with a red outline, and as it does, the flight of two stairs flattens out and becomes a ramp with a handrail.]
[Visual: The top right square, containing with the man holding his ears, glows with a red outline, and as it does, the red dots and squiggly lines emanating out from the man cease, and circles with different shades of pink bloom outwards from the man's head, and he removes his hands from his ears.]
[Visual: The bottom left square, containing the man in the red shirt with the photocopier, glows with a red outline, and as it does, a small blue circle forms on the side of the photocopier, with a line extruding from it. At the end of the line, a larger blue oval forms containing Braille writing, a magnification of the Braille on the side of the photocopier, which the man runs his hand over.]
[Visual: The man in the top left square moves his wheelchair and ascends the new ramp.]
[Visual: The bottom right square, containing the woman trying to reach the coffee cup, glows with a red outline, and as it does, the high shelf on the right side slides down until it is just above the counter, and more shelves with coffee mugs appear. The woman reaches up and takes a coffee cup off the lowered shelf.]
[Visual: The man standing next to the photocopier presses a button, and paper feeds through the top of the photocopier, and a stack of copies piles up in the rectangular opening at the bottom of the copier.]
Narrator: Barriers exclude people. But when we understand and remove these barriers, we create an accessible federal public service that is inclusive for everyone. Let's look at an example.
[Visual: Julio, seen from the waist up, is in the centre of the screen. He is wearing a blue button-up dress shirt, and has short black hair neatly parted to the side to frame his featureless face. He waves hello with his left hand raised up near his head.]
Narrator: Julio has been working in the federal public service for around eight years.
[Visual: As Julio drops his left hand, the view zooms out to reveal that Julio is seated in a red wheelchair. Julio puts his hands to the wheels on the wheelchair and moves himself forward by spinning the wheels. He is in a blue building, with blue windows set high up in a brick wall. As Julio moves forward, he comes to the base of a small flight of two stairs, and stops at the bottom. At the top of the stairs is a blue door.]
Narrator: His left leg was recently amputated, and he now uses a wheelchair to get around.
[Visual: Julio puts his right hand to his head, and red circles emanate out from the top of his head, as though he is distressed.]
Narrator: There are two stairs that lead to his office, which create a barrier, and prevent him from going to work.
[Visual: Julio drops his hand from his head, and puts his hands on his wheelchair wheels, spinning them again to move himself backwards, away from the stairs, back to where he started.]
[Visual: As the narrator speaks, a portable ramp with yellow raised edges comes down from above, and comes to rest on top of the two stairs.]
Narrator: As a solution, his employer installed a ramp.
[Visual: Julio spins the wheels on his wheelchair, and moves forward up the ramp.]
Narrator: Julio can now get to his office just like he used to.
[Visual: In the upper right corner, two large red triangles appear beside each other, pointing to the left, like the flashing "rewind" symbol. As they appear, Julio comes quickly back down the ramp in reverse, puts his hand back to his head, and the red circles appear again, then he continues to move quickly back until he is in the position he originally started from. As Julio moves backwards, wavy lines across the screen indicate that the video is "rewinding."]
Narrator: But let's think about this for a minute.
[Visual: The "rewind" symbol disappears, and is replaced by a red triangle facing right, the symbol for "play." It stays in the upper right corner for a second, and then disappears as Julio moves forward again at the normal speed.]
[Visual: Julio moves forward, and this time when he reaches the steps, they are not there, instead there is a large permanent blue ramp with a handrail going up to the blue door, which is now open. Julio moves up the ramp without pausing, and goes through the open door, and out of sight.]
Narrator: If the office had been built with inclusive design, the ramp would have already been there. This means Julio would never have been excluded in the first place.
[Visual: Julio moves through a green room in his wheelchair, past a large window, and a desk with a computer on it. He comes to a double door with handles for pushing. An automated door button sits to the left of the door, with the symbol of a person in a wheelchair on it.]
Narrator: It's important to consider physical barriers to accessibility that might be overlooked.
[Visual: Julio reaches out with this left hand and presses the automatic door button. The double doors swing inward and open, and Julio moves through them and out of sight.]
Narrator: Similar to a ramp, automatic doors allow those of us using wheelchairs or mobility devices to get in and out of the workspace.
[Visual: As Julio disappears, a man pushing a blue baby carriage walks through the door coming the other direction from Julio. As he comes into the green room, a woman in red pants walking a bicycle beside her enters the green room, and walks toward the open door. She and the man pushing the baby carriage pass each other going different directions, and keep walking. Behind the man with the baby carriage, a man in a red shirt carrying a large yellow box in both hands held out in front of him enters the green room by going through the open door. He also crosses paths with the woman with the bike, who goes through the open door and disappears. The man with the box and the man with the baby carriage continue to walk through the green room towards the desk with the computer on it.]
Narrator: They also help people with strollers or bicycles, and others who might be carrying large bags and boxes.
[Visual: The pictures disappear, and the text appears in red on a pink and white background.]
Narrator: Let's make workspaces accessible right from the start. Using inclusive design creates a better experience for everyone.
Let's make workspaces accessible from the start!
[Visual: A blue circle appears in the middle of the screen and grows outwards until the whole screen is blue. A group of people slide up from below to fill the screen. At the front, and in the centre, is Julio in his wheelchair, waving hello with his hand. To the left of Julio and slightly behind him is a blonde man in a white t-shirt, and to the left of that man and slightly behind him is the man in the red shirt carrying the large box. To the right of Julio and slightly behind him, is a blonde woman in a green shirt, and to the right of her and slightly behind is the man in the red and white shirt with the dark glasses who was using the photocopier.]
[Visual: Behind the people, a blue and white spiral-bound book, "The Accessible Canada Act" appears. To the right of the book two hands making circles out of thumb and forefinger appear, one right-side-up and one upside down, denoting sign language, and a magnifying glass appears to the left of the book.]
Narrator: Accessibility is a big step towards inclusion, and it starts by taking action.
The Accessible Canada Act
[Visual: The view zooms out slowly, and Julio stops waving, and places his hand on his wheelchair.]
Narrator: Together, let's build an inclusive and accessibility-confident federal public service.
[Visual: Text appears in dark blue on a light blue background.]
Narrator: For more information, please consult the Canada School of Public Service's website. Please find the links in the video description below.
For more information, please consult the Canada School of Public Service's website
Please find the links in the video description below
[Visual: Animated white Canada School of Public Service logo appears on a purple background, pages turn, a maple leaf appears in the middle of a book that also resembles a flag, with curvy lines beneath.]
Music fades out.
END
