Core trainings from Untapped Accessibility

Untapped Accessibility offers in-person and virtual workshops that improve accessibility awareness and support a cultural shift for organizations. The length and format of any session can be customized to fit your organization’s budget and capacity. We recommend 90-minute sessions at a minimum to allow for more interactive elements such as polls, group discussions, and independent reflection activities.

Designed and delivered by professionals with lived experience of disability and a deep knowledge of accessibility, our training sessions can be customized to ensure we’re meeting your team where they are on their journey. We offer general sessions for everyone in your organization and more specialized sessions that focus on particular departments or business areas.

Sessions for all staff

Foundations of Accessibility and the Accessible BC Act

This 90-minute session is a foundational introduction to the key principles of accessibility and the Accessible BC Act. The primary goal of this session is to provide all internal audiences with a current and common foundation in accessibility knowledge, as well as preliminary insights on how this content impacts their work. Sessions are interactive, with polls and breakout groups to encourage engagement. By the end of the module, participants will be able to:

Identify current language and out of date terms for disability.
Identify the key differences between the social model of disability and the medical model.
Describe the key requirements in the Accessible Act and how your organization is complying with the Act.
Understand common barriers for an organization like yours and how your organization can address such barriers.

Accessible Allyship/Interrupting Ableism

Unconscious bias and ableism are woven into the fabric of our everyday lives. Interrupting ableism and practicing meaningful allyship is all of our collective responsibility. In this 90-minute session, we will examine ableism as a system of oppression and uncover the ways that it has shaped our perspectives. In our exploration of allyship, we will outline strategies for being an active bystander and practice useful skills like messing up & moving on, and calling out & calling in. By the end of the training, participants will be able to:

Define terms such as ableism, unconscious bias, allyship, and active bystander.
Understand the role of allyship in interrupting ableism and promoting inclusion.
Practice essential allyship skills, fostering a more inclusive and equitable workplace culture.

Accessible Meetings

This 90-minute session is designed for anyone who plans, hosts, and facilitates meetings. We will explore key considerations and strategies for ensuring every aspect of a meeting is accessible to all. From initial planning through to post-meeting evaluation, the session will focus on practical tips for anticipating potential barriers, planning for accessibility, and ensuring accommodations are available.

Upon completing this session, learners will be able to:

Identify and address common meeting barriers.
Apply an accessibility lens to all aspects of planning and preparing for a meeting.
Host an accessible meeting.
Evaluate meetings for accessibility.

Departmental trainings

Accessibility in the Employee Life Cycle

Designed for HR or People and Culture teams, this 90-minute session will examine the common barriers that show up in each stage of the employee lifecycle. With a key focus on understanding the accommodation and disclosure process, the session will also dig into key behaviours of an accessible organization. This interactive session will include customized learning, and group discussions based on real examples from your organization. By the end of the training, participants will be able to:

Understand the common barriers encountered throughout each stage of the employee lifecycle – recruitment, hiring, onboarding, development, and retention.
Define the terms accessibility, accommodation, and disclosure as it relates to disability in the workplace.
Identify key behaviours indicative of an accessible organization.

Accessibility for People Leaders

Designed for people managers anywhere in your organization, this 90-minute session defines the difference between accommodation and accessibility to uncover a broader picture of inclusion in our workplaces. Leaders have the capacity to spark changes in culture across organizations, and in this session, we will explore how to build inclusion into the foundation of your work. By the end of the training, participants will be able to:

Distinguish between the concepts of accommodation and accessibility.
Understand the key role leaders play in interrupting bias and creating culture shifts in their organizations.
Identify opportunities within their roles for providing equal opportunity, being accountable, and measuring the progress of their efforts.

Accessible Environments

Designed for your Facilities team, this 90-minute session will explore how we can identify and remove barriers in our offices and public spaces. Environments are bigger than just the built environment. This session will examine the accessibility of spaces, including the physical, sensory, and social elements. By the end of the training, participants will be able to:

Recognize barriers that exclude people with disabilities from communities, buildings, and programs.
Understand the various components of environments beyond just the physical elements, including sensory and social elements.
Identify opportunities for improvement in creating more inclusive spaces.

Accessible Community Engagement

Designed for teams responsible for conducting public engagement with disability communities, this 90-minute session introduces the key principles for engaging with disabled stakeholders, including accessible session design, inclusive language, psychological safety, and how to showcase your commitment to accessibility in effective and meaningful ways. By the end of the training, your team will be able to:

Identify the basic principles of inclusive language and psychological safety in an engagement setting.
Describe strategies for creating safe environments for people with disabilities and facilitators during engagement activities.
Develop appropriate engagement questions and design structures for accessible events.

Plain Language for Teams

Designed for communications professionals or anyone who is responsible for communicating with the public, this 3-hour workshop can be delivered in a single session or broken into two 90-minute sessions. Participant teams will learn the essentials of plain language communication through engaging storytelling and interactive exercises. Participants will have the opportunity to workshop existing communications pieces from your organization’s website or other materials. By the end of the training, participants will be able to:

Define plain language.
Analyze the needs of their audiences and understand the diverse ways people learn.
Design or edit documents to ensure clarity and accessibility.

Accessible Client Service Training for Teams

Designed for frontline customer service or client service teams, this two-hour session is the next step in applying a foundational understanding of accessibility to making practical adaptations to your client or customer services. This session is based on Untapped’s CAP Framework. Your team will learn how to understand the sometimes-hidden demands, expectations, and assumptions we make in our interactions with clients or the public. By the end of the training, participants will be able to:

Describe the three domains of the CAP Framework.
Communicate what you know about the existing accessibility practices of your services.
Use the CAP Framework and brainstorm ways to remove barriers and improve accessibility of your services.

Intro to Web Accessibility (WCAG)

Designed for Communications and Digital teams, this 90-minute session introduces the topic of web accessibility – what it is, who needs it, and why it’s so important. The session introduces the Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and key concepts of digital accessibility. The key focus remains on the people with disabilities who represent the user on the other side of your screen. Participants will view a real-time demonstration of someone navigating your organization’s web content using a screen reader. By the end of the training, participants will be able to:

Understand the purpose of the Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and know how to access it as a resource.
Analyze the needs of their audiences and understand the diverse user experience of people with disabilities.
Identify barriers within their existing web content and brainstorm solutions.

Leadership for Advancing Accessibility

Designed for executives and senior leaders, this 90-minute session will support those with decision-making power and influence to understand their role in championing accessibility. Leaders will gain an understanding of their opportunities to develop a more inclusive and accessible organization for all. By the end of the session, leaders will be able to:

Differentiate between accommodation and accessibility, and explain recent shifts in our understanding and definition of disability.
Describe the benefits of applying an accessibility lens to how they work.
Identify the behaviours of an accessible leader and an accessible organization.
Describe common barriers that emerge in key business areas.