AS:015 Reimagining the Accessibility Solutions podcast - An Interview with Linda about Season 2

Welcome to the accessibility solutions podcast hosted by Linda hunt, an award winning accessibility consultant, speaker and author. With over 30 years experience in senior management roles and a deep passion for creating inclusive environments. Linda brings us unmatched expertise and credibility to our discussions join us as they explore transformative power of accessibility and inclusion in today's world. Through captivating conversations, Linda shares her wealth of knowledge provides practical solutions and sheds light on the latest trends and advancements in the field. Whether you're a business owner or disability advocate, or simply curious about the world of accessibility, this podcast is your go to resource. Get ready to unlock new perspectives, break down barriers and embark on a journey of empowerment. Are you ready to create a more inclusive world? Let's begin. Welcome to the accessibility solutions podcast.

Linda, I'm so excited to talk to you. First of all, I want to congratulate you on a full year of podcasting. What an incredible experience. It's been so much fun to watch your show launch. And to get to know, where you're looking at season two, why don't we start by telling us a little bit about your experience podcasting, and how you're evolving and transitioning to this new season?

Yeah, so great to be here, Braden, I started the accessibility solutions podcast in May of 2022. And my original thought was that I wanted to talk about how accessibility is good for business. But what really came out in the guests that we had on the podcast was that there was a greater audience and that audience would be people that would be listening to persons with disabilities, that have had challenges and how they can overcome them. And just, you know, kind of their stories, their lived experiences, we've had guests on that have innovative ideas or innovative products for persons with disabilities. And then we've done, you know, we've done the accessibility that is good for business and the fact that businesses need to be compliant with accessibility legislation. So moving into season two, we've kind of broadened the scope, who our audience is, and what the subject matter of the episodes starting in season two are going to be. And they're going to be more focused on just our motto is making the world accessible. And that just encompasses so much, whether it's persons with disabilities, people who have who supply equipment or innovative ideas in terms of making the world accessible, it's you know, businesses. And businesses realizing that accessibility is good for business, and then what their compliance requirements are in terms of accessibility legislation. So we're just, you know, being able to broaden the scope of, you know, everything that we're going to be talking about season two, so I'm really excited about, you know, season one was a good trial of, you know, what we thought the podcast was going to be, but just season one also was a good opportunity for us to see just how much more we could do with the podcast.

As you mentioned, the power in the impact of personal stories, why don't you share with us how you became an expert in accessibility?

Yeah, so I actually have a business degree and spent a number of years working as a business consultant for the federal government. 25 years ago, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. And I went on to volunteer with the MS Society of Canada. And then it actually, I was sitting on the provincial board of directors, and they needed a new executive director. So it allowed me to take my education and experience in business and move it over to being executive director of a national health charity. And that's really I think, when I got involved at that point, my disability didn't have physical disability as a result of my MS, at that point. But we, you know, in working with the clients and the supporters of the MS Society, we, you know, I realized just how much work needed to be done in the world of accessibility. And in Ontario in 2005, when I was executive director of the MS Society, the provincial government actually enacted legislation, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, and the goal of that legislation was to make the province fully accessible in 20 years, which would be by 2025. So it's now 2023. So we've got less than two years to go and we're not there yet. There's just so much work to be done. And then when you start looking at, people don't realize, 22% of the population has some form of disability and we have an aging population and over the Just 65, that percentage is 40%. So accessibility is just such an important component for everybody, every business to consider. Now, me, myself have actually got to the point where now I'm a power wheelchair user. And so accessibility is something that I have to consider literally everyday of my life in terms of where I'm going to go shopping. If I'm going to go to a restaurant, if I'm going to go to the theater and I drive a wheelchair accessible van, where am I going to be able to park at. That the ramp is going to deploy? Are there going to be curb cuts? Am I going to be able to get in the door with an automatic door openers, just you know, for, people with disabilities, just you know, going out into the community and conducting your everyday life, accessibility has to be a consideration. So it's just so important for people to realize that, you know, what, people who don't require accessibility features, as I always say, they don't know what they don't know. And that's a, you know, kind of a perfect example of the work that we do is to really educate and inform why accessibility is so important.

So many considerations, and you're talking long-term disability, but something that people don't even consider as those short term disabilities as well, yeah,

Yeah, I had a friend of mine, just in January, you know, slipped on some ice, broke his ankle, then he had to start. So you know, has a cast needed to use a knee scooter needed to be able to use a wheelchair at work, he was on crutches, I mean, this is just somebody that's like, broke their ankle. So now they have a temporary disability. And that temporary disability, I mean, in his case is, you know, a good two to three months, and didn't live in an accessible house, you know, had to, you know, figure out how to get upstairs, like just all of the things that until that happens to you. And as I say, any one of us, is one diagnosis, one accident, one illness away from potentially having to deal with a disability. And so the fact that the world should be accessible, that just means that there should not be any barriers for anyone, persons with disabilities or anyone to getting where they need to go accessing goods and services, you know, just everything in there, you know, you shouldn't have to plan like, like a major mission, just because you want to go to the grocery store. And for me, I travel a lot. And a lot of the work that goes into me traveling, is all of that pre-planning right down to, you know, checking out the hotel, checking out the restaurants that are on site, flying like, you know, there's just so much work that goes into planning, because the world is not fully accessible. And that's, you know, that's the reason, that person with disabilities have to do so much research.

You're sharing the impacts of the aging population, and the impacts of accessibility for legislation. But what is the economic impact for these business owners and operators?

Yeah, so when, you know, when you're talking about 22% of the population has a disability, and if your business is not accessible, that's a huge market share that now you're not able to tap into, and the fact that 40% over the age of 65 has some form of a disability, you know, again, as the population ages that number is only going to increase. So for a business to not be accessible. You're not, and we're not talking necessarily just about physical accessibility, but it could be anything related to your business. So now you're not open to that person with a disability. But I like to refer to the impact of their sphere of influence. So me, for example, if you've got a restaurant that's not accessible, and I'm going to go out for dinner with a bunch of friends, now, it's not just me that's not coming to your restaurant, it's me and maybe the group of six or seven of us, that's not coming to your restaurant because it's not accessible. So the sphere of influence is really, so it's not just like so you've got the 22% of the population, but their sphere of influence is really, you know, something that does impact your bottom line, you know, you go out and there's a meal and it's a couple $100. Well, if I couldn't get it if I couldn't get into your restaurant, me and my friends are not coming. The other financial impact. And we say accessibility is good for business is that even persons that are, you know, are not living with a disability, they respect the fact that company has, you know, taking the time to either hire someone with a disability or they have obvious accessibility improvements in their business. So it just shows that you're embracing that kind of culture of inclusion. And then the other project that we work a lot on with our clients is the concept of inclusive hiring. So everybody knows there's like, a major labor shortage and persons with disabilities are the most underutilized talent pool that there is. So by being open and inclusive in your business, and being able to hire persons with disabilities, now, your businesses is going to be thriving as a result of the fact that you're fully staffed. So we're, you know, it's just from a business perspective, it's, you know, like, we say, accessibility is good for business on a number of levels. And that's outside of the compliance regulations. I mean, every business does have compliance requirements, and to not be in compliance or opening yourself up to, you know, fines for not complying with legislation. So that's the other area that impacts your bottom line, if you to get reported for a violation of the legislation, then, you know, you're looking at fines, you know, could be up to $50,000. A day for a corporation.

Wow, that's a big fine. Yeah. What if I'm a business owner, and I'm listening to this? And I'm thinking, Okay, I haven't considered accessibility from the time I opened my door, what's the first thing I should be doing now to resolve that?

Well, I mean, we say that the first, you know, the first step to working with us is just booking that battle to see where you are, first of all, what are your requirements? And what is it that you want to accomplish from the standpoint of accessibility. A lot of businesses we work with, is literally on compliance with the legislation, but there are other businesses that might be, they might be retrofitting their facility and under the building code if you're doing a new build, or a major retrofit, and that triggers your requirements under Section 3.8 of the Ontario building code. So now and I tell everybody accessibility is much cheaper to build it in than it is to bolt it on later. So you know, if you're looking at any kind of expansion, renovation, that kind of thing, then you want to include an accessibility expert in the planning stages. So you get it right at the at the beginning. But yeah, we are our main way that we work with clients, or we first started interacting with them is that they'll just they'll book our free counsel, which is just a, it's a discovery call, in terms of what is it that you as your business wants to or needs to consider in terms of accessibility, so and, you know, and then we go from there. So you know, we look at what your requirements are under the legislation, what you you know, what you want to accomplish within your, if you've got a physical presence, that I mean, the legislation also applies to, you know, new or redevelop websites. I mean, there's just so much information and communication, just know all of that kind of stuff that touches almost every touchpoint, or department in your business that has, as you said, as a business owner, and you're like, Okay, we've done nothing in the world of accessibility, where do we where do we get started? That's, you know, that's kind of what we're here to do is to guide businesses through the process of whatever it is from an accessibility perspective.

I love your motto of making the world more accessible. What steps are you taking in that direction? And how will you know when you're achieving that?

Well, I do spend a significant amount of my time working with businesses that were not accessible and that could be everything from a person with a disability couldn't get in their front door to their website was not accessible and someone that that was either had low vision or they were blind, was not able to access their website, in which case they're not going to use their business. So you know, it's there's so much to be done that I'm pretty sure in my lifetime, I'm not going to be out of a job in terms of accessibility, where I, you know, where I really like to see things happening is that anything new that we're doing is got that accessibility lens from the planning stage, so that we're not building anything that has barriers because right now we're going back historically and remedying barriers for persons with disabilities, and quite frankly, that's the expensive part is that, you know, retrofitting or as I said, it's cheaper to build it in and bolted on later on the I do some work with the accessible housing network, There's a huge crisis in the availability of accessible housing. And so I also work with developers and one of the first things that I'll tell them is, if you're building an apartment building, build it with 36 inch doors, nobody that doesn't need a 36 inch door, mine's walking through a wider door. But if you're a person with a disability, and you're looking for an apartment, or a condo, the fact the condo that I live in, we bought it first time, we looked at it, because it had 36 inch exterior and interior doors. It was, you know, that was like the selling feature, but there's a crisis and accessible housing, people can't find a place to live that's accessible without having to do major renovations. So, you know, for me, it's all about, you know, let's get it right from the start. And the start is, you know, what we're building now so that we're not building barriers in so that we're not going back and remedying barriers, you know, 10, 20, 30 years from now that all new builds are accessible and are built with universal design. Whereas, you know, let's face it, the majority of the work that I do is about remedying barriers that already exist. And you know, there's just you know, so much of that, not just here, but all over the world. And as I said, I do travel a lot. So I'm fairly aware of, you know, if you're outside Ontario, you're outside Canada, you're outside, you know, North America, that there are, but you'd be surprised at some of the things I've done, I've been in little villages in the Caribbean that know what a curb cut is. That's, you know, that's great to see. Otherwise, I'm driving around trying to find a driveway that I can you know, that I can get off the sidewalk. So it's, you know, it's that kind of stuff I find, you know, I'm amazed, I'm like, Oh, look, they've got curb cuts here, or, you know, I'm in a little island in the Caribbean. And I can actually find accessible transportation so that I can get off a cruise ship and go on an excursion for example. So that's the kind of stuff that makes me makes me smile about the world accessibility

Beautiful, Linda. Congratulations once again, on a successful first season. And on the launch of season two, what's one thing you're excited about for season two, you'd like to share with your audience,

I'm really looking forward to the, you know, kind of the guests that we are going to have on and the information that we're gonna, you know, be able to share. And yeah, that's kind of an exciting part. So season two, for me is really going to be you know, less, you know, education and more of, you know, these types of stories. Were talking to persons with lived experience. We're talking to people with innovative ideas and solutions. And you know, we're really talking about making the world accessible.

The stories of real people, love that. Thanks, Linda.

Okay, thank you Braden.

Thank you for joining us on The Accessibility Solutions podcast hosted by Linda hunt. We hope these discussions have inspired you and provided valuable insights into the world of accessibility and inclusion. If you're ready to take the next steps in creating an accessible and inclusive environment. We invite you to book a personalized accessibility solutions consultation with Linda as an experienced accessibility consultant Linda will work closely with you to develop innovative solutions tailored to your unique needs and challenges. Together, you'll navigate the complexities of accessibility regulations, explore inclusive design principles and implement practical strategies to ensure equal access for all Don't miss this opportunity to make a real difference. Visit our website at solutions for accessibility.com And that's the number four so solutions for accessibility.com scheduling a consultation today let's transform your space into an inclusive and welcoming environment for everyone. Thanks again for listening to the accessibility solutions podcast. Stay tuned for more empowering episodes as we continue our journey towards a more accessible world.