Project launched to meet Manitoba’s Accessible Information and Communication Standard

The university has launched a new project to meet Manitoba’s Accessible Information and Communication Standard under the Accessibility for Manitobans Act. This standard aims to help organizations identify, reduce and remove barriers for members of the public trying to access information. At the university, this includes all employees, students and visitors using online and campus resources. In addition to legal compliance, the standard regulation benefits our university community by:

• Improving accessibility for individuals of all abilities.
• Removing barriers that exist online, in print, or through technological or interpersonal interactions.
• Reinforcing the university’s dedication to equity, diversity, and inclusion.
• Ensuring community members with accessibility needs can provide input to help the university address specific accessibility concerns.

The standard regulation requires public sector organizations, libraries and educational institutions to:

• Ensure web applications and content are accessible.
• Inform the public and employees about requesting information in accessible formats.
• Provide a feedback process for accessible information and communication.
• Provide training on accessible communication.
• Document all policies, measures and practices related to accessible information.

The deadline for compliance is May 1, 2024.

In the following months, the project team will collaborate with stakeholders to review and update policies, work with website content authors by providing a tool to assess if content meets standards and provide accessibility training on the standard to the university community.

Compliance with the standard is a shared responsibility. Staff in all areas of the university will be asked to help fulfil compliance requirements. For example, all digital content authors will need to remediate areas of their website that do not meet the standard, such as PDFs. The project will provide the training and tools to help authors meet this requirement.

As the project gets underway, more information about what faculty and staff need to do will be available on the Accessibility hub on UM Intranet. Please feel free to contact Project Manager Suvojit De (Suvojit.De1@umanitoba.ca) with any questions or concerns. For more information and additional resources on the standard, please visit The Accessibility Standard for Information & Communication website.

Thank you for your cooperation and support.