Good afternoon.
On behalf of the Canadian Association of Disability Service Providers in Post-Secondary Education, CADSPPE, we would like to thank the legislative committee for the invitation to appear today.
CADSPPE is a national group of professionals committed to the ongoing creation of accessible, equitable, and inclusive post-secondary learning environments for students with disabilities. The CADSPPE membership includes disability service providers from colleges, technical institutions, and universities as well as anglophone and francophone professionals.
Across Canada students with print disabilities, such as those who are blind or who have reading disabilities, have limited access to textbooks and course materials that are readily accessible to them. During the last decade there have been major advances in assistive educational technologies for people with disabilities, such as screen readers that can take a digital file and read it aloud to a student who cannot see the written word or is unable to comprehend the written word due to a severe reading disability.
This technology opened opportunities for students with perceptual disabilities, which makes up the single largest group of students with disabilities in Canada's colleges and universities. Students are now able to utilize sophisticated text-to-voice software programs that can convert digital text into formats that allow a student to listen to their textbooks and required course material.
Many provincial student loan programs already recognize the value of this technology to students with disabilities. As a result, students who qualify for student loans may qualify for grants to purchase the necessary software and hardware that are required to access the digital formats of their course material. However, the hardware and software does them little good if they can't access the digital materials required, such as an electronic version of a textbook.
Unlike their non-disabled peers, a student with a perceptual disability cannot simply go into their college bookstore and purchase an accessible copy of a required text. As a result, they become dependent on disability service providers to undergo the labour-intensive process of trying to convert a print copy of a textbook into a format that meets their needs. This process can take weeks, resulting in the student falling behind in their studies as they wait for textbooks in a format they can actually use.
In the case of text provided by publishers, students must rely on permission from the publishers to obtain text in alternate format. They also must rely on disability service providers to assist in obtaining those texts, as publishers, citing concerns about copyright, will not provide alternate format texts directly to students. Some publishers make excellent supports available and students receive the alternate format copies of information. In other cases, the alternate format may take weeks to reach the student, and some are not available at all.
When manual scanning is necessary, students must purchase a print textbook, cut the spine of the book to allow for scanning, and then physically scan the page to allow for the translation of a screen-reading program. The scanned information must then be edited for accuracy, as the electronic translation process is not always accurate. Across Canada disability service providers struggle to keep up with the many requests for scanning and editing text. Some post-secondary institutions, especially those in rural areas, do not have the staffing, the expertise, or the equipment to support students in scanning and editing all of their required readings.
The Government of Canada must insist that publishers make texts and materials readily available to students with disabilities. Ideally, students with disabilities would purchase their alternate format texts from the bookstore in the same manner other students purchase print textbooks. Furthermore, we urge the committee to include clear legal provisions that will require publishers and producers of print and non-print instruction materials sold and used in Canadian institutions to provide structured e-text files of those instruction materials to institutions upon request and in a timely manner. We see the legal thrust of the proposed law on copyright placing the burden of providing access to e-text files upon those responsible for creating and marketing the instruction materials in the first place.
Students with disabilities are not asking for a free ride when it comes to textbooks. They are willing to purchase their textbooks just like every other student. What they're asking for is the right to go into their local university or college bookstore and buy the textbooks that are accessible to them at the same time as their peers. Without this right, students with perceptual disabilities will continue to face barriers to what should be a fair and equitable Canadian education.