RGD once again invites graphic design professionals to complete an online survey on accessible design.

A year into RGD’s Accessibility project, made possible with support from the Government of Ontario, as part of the EnAbling Change Partnership program, this survey aims to measure the changes in awareness to accessible design issues. Responses will be evaluated in direct comparison with last year’s survey results to measure the impact, if any, RGD’s project has had on the design community.

Since the original survey was completed, RGD presented the industry with a one-day conference (last January), launched a dedicated ACCESS-ABILITY website, and published a best practices handbook. Future initiatives include a webinar series on accessible design (taking place in February and March), as well as a lecture tour to graphic design programs at Ontario’s colleges and universities.

All survey participants will be entered into a draw for a chance to win a free registration to DesignThinkers 2011 (Nov. 3-4 in Toronto) if you fill out the survey by Monday, December 20!

To complete the survey, please visit www.rgdontario.com/accessibledesign.

If you have any questions or thoughts on this project, please contact Christina Mastruzzo, Communications Coordinator, at christina@rgdontario.com.

“Imagine your life cut off from the ability to access information,” says Lionel Gadoury R.G.D., President, RGD. “Professional graphic designers strive to make communications clear and compelling, turning ideas into interactions. Inclusivity is essential to effective design and through this program, RGD is helping designers as they work to make our world more navigable and easier to understand.”

DOWNLOAD the RGD AccessAbility Handbook.

Available in both printed and accessible pdf formats, the handbook is free to anyone interested in designing more accessible and inclusive communications. Covering print, web and environmental design, it offers ideas on how to do better design – what factors to consider, what questions to ask, and where to find more information. Also included are accessibly-designed case studies contributed by R.G.D. Members, such as a traveller’s handbook for York Region Transit, CNIB’s website and the signage and wayfinding for Toronto’s Pearson Airport – Terminal 1.

“Accessibility is about much more than ramps and automatic doors,” says Madeleine Meilleur, Minister of Community and Social Services and Minister Responsible for Accessibility. “How we receive and process the information around us determines, in large part, the extent to which we are able to participate in the world in which we live. The work that RGD is doing to promote accessible information and design is important because it will offer designers the tools and insight they need to begin to break down barriers in these areas.”

The printed version of ACCESS ABILITY will be distributed to all RGD professional members and to post-secondary schools offering graphic design across Ontario.

If you have any questions about this project and/or you would like to obtain copies of the printed handbook, contact RGD by phone at 1.888.274.3668 or by email at christina@rgdontario.com.

To view the transcripts of these presentations, follow the links below:

Designing Signage for Universal Accessibility: Working with the CNIB on Pearson’s Terminal 1 Presented by Wayne McCutcheon R.G.D., Entro Communications

Projects at the ROM to meet the new AODA Customer Service Standards Presented by Dave Hollands, Royal Ontario Museum

The Ultimate Accessibility Challenge: Designing an Exhibition about Disability, History and Activism Presented by Debbie Adams R.G.D., Adams + Associates Design Consultants

Through Their Eyes: Designing the Reflections book for Chartwell’s National Appreciation of Seniors Day Presented by Brad Walker R.G.D., Charwell Seniors Housing REIT

Other transcripts from the conference can be found under the Guest Experts section of the website.

Information Design Dissected – Presenter View from RGD Ontario on Vimeo.

Presentations from Debbie Gillespie & Naveesha Maharaj, Jenn & Ken Visocky O’Grady, Derek Featherstone, Gregory Neely R.G.D., Antonio Garcia and Mies Hora can be found at http://vimeo.com/channels/accessability and viewed in both presenter and slide show formats. Case study presentations from Wayne McCutechon R.G.D., David Hollands, Debbie Adams R.G.D. and Brad Walker R.G.D. have also been added.

Transcripts of the presentations will also be made available in the upcoming weeks. Please check back soon.

The handbook will feature best practices guidelines in categories of accessible print, web and environmental graphic design, as well as at least two case studies per category.  The website will feature many more case studies and will be updated on an ongoing basis. RGD Ontario will be printing 5,000 copies of the handbook and distributing them across Canada.

In order to be considered, the project exemplifying accessibility must have been completed within the past five years.

Members of the Accessibility Project’s Advisory Committee will select the projects that will be featured in the handbook and on the website.

Interested parties are asked to submit the following information to Christina@rgdontario.com by Monday, April 12.

CREDITS:

• Project Name
• Design Firm/Department
• Date of Completion
• Category/Media (i.e. Web, print, etc.)
• R.G.D./Prov. R.G.D. (if any) and their role on the project
• Client Name

ABOUT THE PROJECT:

• Project Description (with emphasis on how it relates to accessibility)
• 1-2 Images

For further inquiries, contact Christina Mastruzzo, Accessibility Project Coordinator, Christina@rgdontario, 1.888.274.3668 x 27.

Naveesha Maharaj and Debbie Gillespie, Accessibility Consultants, CNIB

Lionel Gadoury R.G.D., President of RGD Ontario, introducing Derek Featherstone Web Accessibility Expert, Further Ahead

Presentation: Accessibility and the Built Environment by Gregory Neely R.G.D., Managing Partner, Forge Media & Design

Jenn & Ken Visocky O’Grady, Co-founders of Enspace

Presentation: Information Design Dissected by Jenn & Ken Visocky O’Grady

Presentation: Information Design Dissected by Jenn & Ken Visocky O’Grady

Lionel Gadoury R.G.D., President of RGD Ontario, introducing Naveesha Maharaj and Debbie Gillespie, Accessibility Consultants, CNIB

Introductory Remarks by Alfred Spencer, Director of Outreach and Compliance, Accessibility Directorate of Ontario

Featherstone says accessibility needs to be part of the design process

He said the importance of accessible for the web is not just in meeting the guidelines, but about good design and planning. “Too much of accessibility happens between the implementation and launch of a project when the costs are highest,” said Featherstone.

Much of the information in his presentation centered on designing for people who use screen readers. This included ensuring there is another way to perceive images, such as descriptive texts and, he said images that could be added as text rather than images, such as a schedule should be.

He added that screen readers use picture names, so ensure your files are labeled with information that supports the image, not a generic file name. “We can’t just think visually,” said Featherstone. “If we do, we’re sunk.” Contact: Furtherahead.com, Rgdontario.com

by Val Maloney (orginally published in Design Edge, 3 February 2010)

Jenn and Ken Visocky O’Grady speak to a packed house at the Access-Ability Conference

TORONTO—Last week RGD Ontario hosted Access-Ability, a day-long event focusing on graphic design for a more accessible world. Morning speakers included the engaging duo Jenn and Ken Visocky O’Grady, founders of Lakewood, Ohio-based creative think tank Enspace and authors of The Information Design Handbook and A Designer’s Research Manual.

Since they hail from south of the border much of their advice related to the American Disabilities Act design guidelines. But they are relevant when discussing the guidelines set out in the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act to make the province accessible to people with disabilities by 2025.

Here is a list of information and advice from their talk, Information Design Dissected:

• People read the shapes of whole words, not individual letters.
• Statements in all caps as well as condensed and extended letterforms are more difficult  to read.
• If using a “fancy font” repeat the information in a more legible one below.
• Recognize that one in 20 people have some sort of colour viewing deficiency. Visit Vischeck.com for a simulation of your design as someone who is colourblind would see it.
• ADA Guidelines suggest a 70 percent difference in colour contrast between background and type.

> Visit Enspacedesign.com

by Val Maloney (orginally published in Design Edge, 1st February 2010)

Accessibility is no longer an option. It’s a necessity.

The Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario (RGD Ontario) is helping to lead the way to a more accessible province for everyone through a partnership with the Ontario government.

Through the EnAbling Change Partnership Program, RGD Ontario will work with the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario to develop tools that will educate the design community on accessible design.

These resources, which will be finalized by June 2010, will help graphic designers meet requirements in the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

“This partnership will help the graphic design industry to improve accessibility so people with disabilities have more opportunities to work, live, buy products and access services across Ontario,” says Minister of Community and Social Services Madeleine Meilleur.

Through this partnership, RGD Ontario will help make Ontario accessible by 2025.

“We are proud to play this important role to improve accessibility — it means more customers for our businesses and more talent for our workforce,” says Hilary Ashworth, Executive Director, RGD Ontario.

Do you have an accessibility success story you’d like to share? Tell your story by contacting RGD Ontario Access Ability using our online contact form.

For more information on how to improve accessibility for people with disabilities, visit www.ontario.ca/AccessON.

TORONTO, ON (Jan. 26) – Making graphic design more accessible is the subject of an upcoming conference hosted by the Association of Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario (RGD) on January 29. Attendees at ACCESS-ABILITY: Design Accessibility Conference will hear from industry experts from across North America as they reveal ways to transform design so that it may be accessed, understood and enjoyed by all.

When: Thursday, January 28, 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Where: CNIB, 1929 Bayview Avenue

Speakers:

Debbie Gillespie and Naveesha Maharaj, Accessibility Consultants, CNIB, review tools and information needed to make businesses more inclusive, demonstrating how to improve accessibility when communicating with clients, suppliers and the public.

Jenn & Ken Visocky O’Grady, co-founders of The Information Design Handbook, explore connections and convergences between human perception, thinking and learning: how we transmit knowledge, share concepts and process information through language; and how structure and legibility affect the visualization of messaging.

Derek Featherstone, Web Accessibility Expert, Further Ahead, invites attendees to learn fundamental issues that pose barriers to web accessibility and how to implement simple solutions to these issues in order to build accessible websites.

Gregory Neely R.G.D., Managing Partner of Forge Media & Design, discusses the impact the AODA has on environmental graphics, signage and wayfinding for the built environment and shares key considerations and best practices designers can use today to ensure their work meets the goals of proposed legislation tomorrow.

Antonio Garcia, Art Director, AIGA Center for Cross-Cultural Design, encourages designers to think beyond the familiar in order to create compelling, engaging and relevant work responsive to today’s diverse audiences. Connecting the dots between ethnography,
authenticity and forward thinking design, Antonio uses real world projects to illustrate the importance of cultural understanding.

Mies Hora, President of Ultimate Symbol and author of Official Signs & Icons 2, illustrates the power of non-verbal communication using a case study of his work with the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. He shares his newly minted MTA Pictograph System – a collection of 90 symbol signs dedicated to globalize accessibility in an increasingly multilingual environment.

RGD Ontario

Representing 2,800 professionals and students, RGD drives the development of professional graphic designers by shaping their competence in visual communication, strategic innovation and client and project management. RGD grants graphic designers who qualify the right to use the designation Registered Graphic Designer (R.G.D.). For more information, log onto http://www.rgdontario.com or contact Christina Mastruzzo, 1.888.274.3668, christina@rgdontario.com.