Technology evolves at an incredible pace — imagine that in the time it takes to develop a specific solution or an accommodation for a device, the technology in question may already be outdated. While developing solutions allowing people with disabilities to access technology still remains a priority, it’s also important to influence accessibility on a broader scale.

That’s where Neil Squire’s internal research and development team comes in. With funding from Accessibility Standards Canada, our research and development team conducts innovative research that informs accessibility standards, ensuring that future technologies are accessible for Canadians with disabilities. To conduct our research, we collaborate with disability organizations across Canada. This approach strengthens community engagement and highlights the critical role research plays in driving meaningful change.

“Our goal is to identify trends where technology is leaving people with disabilities behind, and the Accessibility Standards Canada funding allows us to do that research in an effective way,” says Harry Lew, Manager of Research and Development. “There’s a direct translation between the research that we do and some standard down the road.”

“We are a key player in that area because we have that internal research and development capability.”

Ensuring access to emergency services and communications is an important area of focus. Having previously studied the accessibility of potential next-generation ways to contact 911, our research and development team identified the need to study the accessibility of emergency alerts. This is especially important as Canadians with disabilities may need more time to react during an emergency where access to help and services may be limited.

We are exploring how emergency alerts affect people with disabilities directly and how communities and emergency officials can coordinate inclusive evacuation strategies.

“We’re flooded with a lot of information on the alerts and there’s a lot of things that you need to do and understand. Having it in a format that is relevant and accessible to you is really important,” Harry explains. “When it does affect you directly, you need to access it instantly and you have to understand the information.”

Our research and development team have conducted a survey receiving feedback from people with a wide range of disabilities — mobility, cognitive, hearing, vision, deafblind, and speech — on the barriers they faced in understanding emergency alerts, and how the alerts can be improved.

“We’ve been trying to reach out to communities that have been underserved,” Harry says. Having conducted the survey, they are now beginning to work with focus groups, testing different types of emergency alerts. This is particularly timely research with an opportunity to make an impact, as the CRTC is conducting consultations on improving the National Public Alerting System.

This article originally appeared in our 2024-2025 Annual Report.