Mohawk College faces backlash for shuttering one-of-a-kind Accessible Media Production program

Bobby Hristova, reporter, CBC News Hamilton, June 9, 2022
Mohawk College is facing criticism over its move to shutter Accessible Media Production — its one-of-a-kind program geared toward making Canada more accessible to people with disabilities. The eight-month, online, post-graduation certificate program teaches students how to create accessible content, like captions and described video, and delves into disability legislation and inclusive writing. It also includes a capstone project. While the Hamilton-based college says the program will be replaced by micro-credentials and no content will be lost, the program’s creator, who is also the lead on developing the micro-credentials, is skeptical.
Disability Advocates Press Mohawk College to Reverse Wrong-Headed Cancellation of its Much-Needed Accessible Media Production Program.
The last thing Ontario needs is for yet another backwards step on the obstacle-strewn road to making Ontario accessible to 2.6 million Ontarians with disabilities. Yet that is what has just harmfully been done by Mohawk College, a community college that is fully funded and overseen by the Ontario Government. For several years, Mohawk College has offered an excellent Accessible Media Production graduate certificate program. It gives desperately needed training on how to produce disability-accessible websites, electronic documents, videos and the like. Digital accessibility is a vital part of the goal of Ontario becoming disability accessible by 2025, as is required by Ontario’s Disabilities Act.