Advocacy group for blind Canadians says Ottawa’s funding application was inaccessible

Kristy Kirkup, Ottawa, The Globe and Mail, March 3, 2021
An advocacy group for blind Canadians is accusing the federal government of negligence after the organization applied for a funding program to support people living with disabilities through an online process it says was not accessible to those with visual impairments. The Alliance for Equality for Blind Canadians (AEBC), a national charitable organization that advocates for the inclusion of individuals who are blind, deaf-blind and partially sighted, tried to apply for funding to help build capacity for their organization, Ottawa-based lawyer Anne Levesque said. But there was a huge problem: The application process was only online, the form was not accessible and there was no option to fill it out in another way, she said. “It’s really beyond belief,” Ms. Levesque said. The organization wants the government to take action to address what it calls systemic discrimination by Employment and Social Development Canada.