Our Projects

Access 2020 Coalition

Access 2020 is a coalition of associations, organizations, producers and individuals working towards a 100% accessible content broadcast day by 2020, by making representations to Parliament, the CRTC as well as federal and provincial governments. Formed in mid-2010 in response to the ongoing vertical integration of Canada's electronic communications system, the Coalition believes that the best way to ensure complete, high-quality captioning and descriptive video is to ensure that this integration process benefits all Canadians, including those with disabilities.

Access 2020 Group of Disability Organizations:

The Coalition is seeking:

  • financial support for technical research to reduce the cost of producing content that is accessible,
  • business modelling to underwrite the cost of producing content that is accessible,
  • education to inform media users about accessibility,
  • development and implementation of harmonized standards for accessible content on digital platforms, and
  • systematic, ongoing monitoring of the quantity and quality of content available to Canadians.

In brief, Access 2020 is using a business case approach to make Canada's electronic media fully accessible to Canadians by the year 2020.

The Access 2020 Coalition is therefore asking the CRTC to ensure that 1% of the value of vertical integration ownership transactions over the next five years be allocated to an Accessibility Initiative Trust. The funds in this trust would be directed to the implementation of projects to achieve complete, high-quality captioning and descriptive video by the year 2020.

Access 2020's January 2011 intervention in the CRTC's hearing of BCE's application to acquire CTV, A Bridge to the Future, was submitted on behalf of:

  • Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians
  • Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf
  • Canadian Council of the Blind
  • Canadian Hard of Hearing Association
  • Canadian Hearing Society
  • CNIB
  • Canadian Association for Accessible Travel Training Tourism Services
  • Easter Seals of Canada
  • Inclusive Design Resource Centre of the Ontario College of Arts and Design
  • March of Dimes
  • Media Access Canada
  • Neil Squire Foundation
  • Sir Arthur Pearson Association of War Blinded
  • Katika Stark (past Chair, NBRS); President, Stark Communications
  • Christine Karcza Consulting I can do this! , and
  • Starling Access Services.

To participate in the Access 2020 coalition, we invite you to E-mail Media Access Canada.