ISI Live was recently contracted to webcast an event for the International Day of Persons with Disability. At this event we streamed the keynote presentation at the National Archives building and it was the most ambitious undertaking I’ve seen or heard about and certainly the most accessible. The webcast included English, French and Floor audio feeds as well as Closed Captioning in English and French. There was lip reading for both English and French audiences as well as American and French Sign Language (LSF), all available to viewers tuning in from all over the world. It was inspiring to see not only what it took to organize an event of this scope, but also the care that was given to ensure that EVERYONE could participate.

Topics addressed during the keynote ranged from technology, duty to accommodate, the future of inclusion, invisible disabilities and much more. From the back of the room, nestled into a crowded tech table I listened intently to the day’s speakers. It not only gave me a tiny bit of insight into some of the issues that face many Canadians but also a lack of accommodation to those that may require it. I felt frustrated and inspired at the same time. “Be there” has been our tag line, our call to action, our mission statement. During a re-brand of our company I remember how excited the team was when we rallied around this idea and now having participated in this webcast, it had never been so relevant.

In 2016 ISI will devote focus to enabling true accessible webcast technologies. Inclusion for all regardless of device or impairment. ISI still has a lot left to learn in terms of accessibility but we make a promise to work towards removing the barriers that might dissuade absolutely everyone from the ability to ‘Be There”.