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Spotlight on ACCESSibility Micro-Learning Series: Procurement (INC1-V33)

Description

This video features a discussion on removing barriers to accessibility by improving the procurement system and provides recommendations regarding the Public Service Accessibility Strategy.

Duration: 00:07:25
Published: May 3, 2021
Type: Video


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Spotlight on ACCESSibility Micro-Learning Series: Procurement

Transcript

Transcript

Transcript: Spotlight on ACCESSibility Micro-Learning Series: Procurement

[Music]

[Visual: The words, "Spotlight on ACCESSibility  Micro-Learning Series:" appear, with the word "Procurement" in a larger font.]

Narrator: Spotlight on ACCESSibility Micro-Learning Series: Procurement.

Spotlight on ACCESSibility Micro-learning Series: Procurement

[Visual: The title fades out, and the words "Personal Story" appear.]

Personal Story

Narrator: Personal story.

[Visual: The title and background disappear, and Evonne Bergsma-Dutil stands speaking.]

Evonne Bergsma-Dutil
Values and Ethics Directorate at
Public Services and Procurement Canada

Evonne Bergsma-Dutil: Accessible and inclusive client services and support could actually remove many, many barriers. It's an incredible place to start.

[Visual: The view expands to show the rest of the panel. Sitting to Evonne's left is a woman. To Evonne's right, Arianne Reza, sits. To her right is Patrick Comtois, and to his right is a man.]

Evonne Bergsma-Dutil: I would like to tell you a story, to help you see a different perspective, and also to share a few obstacles and barriers that I have experienced in the workplace.

[Visual: The word, "Imagine".]

Imagine

Evonne Bergsma-Dutil: So, imagine. It's October 2016, and you're on your way to the office, carpooling with your good friends.

[Visual: The title and the background disappear, and a shot of Evonne Bergsma-Dutil appears, speaking to the panel.]

Evonne Bergsma-Dutil: You are on Highway 417 heading towards downtown Ottawa. It's a typical morning for everyone else. But imagine something went wrong. You were in a car accident with six cars and a big truck. You are the only survivor in your car.

Evonne Bergsma-Dutil: Imagine, it is now October 22nd 2019, and you have been back to work for about a year. You finally feel you are getting quite accustomed to walking with your cane, with your leg brace, and you've got braces on both hands. You're getting used to it.

[Visual: An animated white car drives up to an underground parking kiosk, and slows to a stop.]

Evonne Bergsma-Dutil: Today, as you drive up to your underground parkade at the office, you lower your window so you can swipe the parking card across the card reader.

[Visual: A close up of an animated hand reaching out, holding a card with a magnetic swipe strip.]

Evonne Bergsma-Dutil: As you grab the card with your left hand, you drop it.

[Visual: The card drops out of the person's hand, and falls in slow motion.]

[Visual: The animation disappears, and Evonne Bergsma-Dutil addresses the panel.]

Evonne Bergsma-Dutil: It's very smooth, and it's really hard to hang on to.

[Visual: The animation of the car parked next to the parking kiosk reappears. The person's arm reaches through the window of the car, stretching toward the kiosk with the card in hand.]

Evonne Bergsma-Dutil: You pick it up again, you stretch your arm through the window, and as usual,

[Visual; Lines radiate out from the car window, where the person's shoulder would be, moving quickly upward, flashing.]

Evonne Bergsma-Dutil: pain rips your shoulder and neck, and you drop the card on the road.

[Visual: The card falls in slow motion of out the person's hand.]

[Visual: The animation disappears, and is replaced by a shot of Evonne Bergsma-Duti addressing the panel and the audience.]

Evonne Bergsma-Dutil: So you move the car forward a bit so you can get out, and you pick it up.

[Visual: The animation reappears. The person's arm reaches out and picks up the card on the ground, laying beside the car's tire on the left, and the parking kiosk on the right.]

[Visual; Three lightning bolts appear and flash, moving toward the person's outstretched arm, who is lifting the card.]

Evonne Bergsma-Dutil: And as you do, someone from the cars behind you, honk at you with impatience.

[Visual: The card drops, and falls in slow motion.]

Evonne Bergsma-Dutil: Well, you're startled, and you drop the card again.

[Visual; The animation disappears, and is replaced by Evonne Bergsma-Dutil addressing the audience and the panel.]

Evonne Bergsma-Dutil: Now you're embarrassed. You take a deep breath.

[Visual; The animation reappears. The hand, holding the card, reaches toward the parking kiosk. The card enters the card reader slot, and the word, "Accepted" appears and flashes on and off in a little window at the top of the kiosk.]

Evonne Bergsma-Dutil: You swipe the card in the card reader, and you get back in the car.

[Visual: An overhead view shows the car driving along the parkade, next to a dotted line to the right.]

Evonne Bergsma-Dutil: And you head on further down the parkade, knowing that you just have to do this card swiping thing again as you get into your next section.

[Visual: The car slows as it approaches a motorized gate with another parking kiosk in front.]

[Visual; The animation disappears, and is replaced by Evonne Bergsma-Dutil addressing the audience and the panel.]

Evonne Bergsma-Dutil: There's got to be a better way to do this.

[Visual: The words "Facts and myths" in a larger font, appear, with the words "about accessible procurement" below.]

Facts and myths
about accessible procurement

Narrator: Facts and myths about accessible procurement.

[Visual: The title screen disappears, and is replaced by a shot of the panel. Arianne Reza addresses the panel and the audience.]

Arianne Reza
Directorate of Procurement at
Public Services and Procurement Canada

Arianne Reza: Federal procurement is an annual spend of 21 billion dollars a year. That's a lot of opportunity to influence the industry.

[Visual: A drawing of a sheet of paper appears in the centre. The title, "Accessible Canada Act" appears at the top of the page.]

[Visual: The piece of paper slides to the left, and the word, "Accessibility" appears on the right. A dotted line stretches down, and connects "Accessibility" to the word "Procurement," which appears below.]

Arianne Reza: With the new legislation coming out and the work that went into the last couple of years, we've been really focused at unpacking how accessibility and procurement need to meet early in the journey.

Accessible Canada Act
Accessibility
Procurement

[Visual: The graphics disappear, and are replaced by a shot of Arianne Reza, addressing the panel.]

Arianne Reza: And there's a couple of key myths that I'd like to just raise here, and talk to people about.

[Visual: A box in the upper right of the screen contains the words, "Myths about accessible procurement".]

Myths about accessible procurement

The first myth is that it's difficult to integrate accessibility into the supply of goods and services when we are trying to meet the diverse needs of all people with disabilities.

[Visual: The text "Myths about procurement" appears.]

"It's difficult to meet the diverse needs of all people with disabilities"

Arianna Reza: The truth is, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to accessible procurement. The question of ensuring universal design is about being flexible in the design, to allow for further adaptations if necessary.

[Visual: The text disappears, and a large white diamond shape draws itself into existence. Beneath the diamond, the words, "One size fits all" appear and are immediately struck through.]

One-size-fits-all

[Visual: The diamond shape changes into a puzzle piece. Other puzzle pieces form around it, until the whole background is covered in puzzle pieces, with the highlighted piece fitting into place.]

[Visual: The images and text disappear, and Arianne Reza appears, speaking to the panel.]

Arianne Reza: The next and final myth I'd like to bust with you, I have many, but I wanted to highlight the two that our team is working on.

[Visual: A box in the upper right of the screen contains the words, "Myths about accessible procurement."]

Myths about accessible procurement

[Visual: Beneath the words "Myths about accessible procurement," the words "Accessibility is expensive" appear.]

"Accessibility is expensive"

Arianne Reza: Accessibility is expensive. We often encounter that when we're planning a procurement.

[Visual: The rectangle with the text slides up, and another rectangle slides in below. Inside are two animated clocks. The one on the left has a pink arrow sticking out and pointing to the left, and the clock on the right has a pink arrow sticking out and pointing to the right. Both clocks' hands spin rapidly around the clocks. Beneath the clocks, dollar signs light up as the clock hands stop moving. The clock on the left stops at nine o'clock with one dollar sigh out of four lit up. The clock on the right stops at five o'clock, and has three out of four dollar signs lit up.]

Arianna Reza: And in truth, it's more expensive to try to incorporate an accommodation into something that wasn't designed to be adaptable.

[Visual: The images disappear. The words, "Front End" appear above a circle. Below the circle, the words, "1-2% of total project costs" appear.]

Arianne Reza: Incorporating accessibility costs, is about 1 or 2% of total project costs at the front end. 

Front End
1-2% of total
project costs

[Visual: The text disappears, and is replaced by a shot of Arianne Reza addressing the panel.]

Arianne Reza: So when you're thinking about buying something or designing it, it's a very small cost, versus 110% if we are remediating after the fact.

[Visual: The graphic and text return, and a dotted line grows out to the right of the pink dot. A large pink dot appears to the right. Above the dot, the words "Remediating After" appear, and beneath the pink dot, the words, "110% of total project costs" appears.]

Remediating After
110% of total
project costs

[Visual: The text disappears, and is replaced by a shot of Arianne Reza addressing the panel.]

Arianne Reza: So not only is it poor planning, poor approach to inclusiveness, not acceptable, but the cost to the Canadian taxpayer is extreme. 

[Visual: The words, "Five important elements" appear in a larger font, with the words "of accessible procurement" beneath.]

Five important elements
of accessible procurement

Narrator: Five important elements of accessible procurement.

[Visual: The title disappears, and Patrick Comtois addresses the panel.]

Patrick Comtois
Shared Services Canada

Patrick Comtois: I'm very happy to be here today and to be representing the Sharing Service of Canada. To talk about what we do - we initiate, to make sure to buy in the field of information technology and communications. To purchase goods and services that are accessible.

[Visual: Patrick Comtois addresses the panel.]

Patrick Comtois: And I would like to present to you, if you'd like, five important elements that I am going to talk through, I will go through all 5 of these elements.

Five important elements of accessible procurement

Patrick Comtois: The first element is what I would like to call the foundation. So, it is important that we have a common vision, that we have a clear direction, and are capable of reaching our objective.

1. Set your foundation: Determine the common vision

[Visual: The text disappears, and is replaced by a shot of Patrick Comtois addressing the panel.]

Patrick Comtois: The second piece I'd like to, I'd like to talk about is once we have the foundation, is, is a framework and the enablers. So how do we make this happen? 

[Visual: The text reappears, and the second point appears below the first.]

2. Create a framework: identify enablers to make your project happen

[Visual: The third point appears below the second .]

[Visual: The text disappears, and is replaced by a shot of Patrick Comtois addressing the panel.]

Patrick Comtois: The third thing I would like to talk about, I'd like to talk to you about education, it's very important to educate and then to do the training for the people in the community who will be putting in place the acquisitions, the purchasing processes. My fourth point -

3. Educate: Educate and train the community

[Visual: The text reappears listing the points. As Patrick recaps each point.]

[Visual: The fourth point appears below the third in white, highlighted pink.]

4. Execute: Pilot your project and try new things

Patrick Comtois: I guess now that we know we have the foundation, we have the framework in place, we educate the community, then let's do it, you know. Let's execute, let's pilot things, let's try this. It may not be perfect, but we've got to start somewhere, and we've got to do it.

[Visual: The fifth point appears below the fourth in white, highlighted pink.]

5. Self-measure: Determine if you have met your objective

Patrick Comtois: So the fifth element I'm going to talk about - you have to measure yourself. In order to measure what we do, we must ensure that what has been done will achieve the goal.

[Visual: The text disappears, and is replaced by a shot of Patrick Comtois addressing the panel.]

Patrick Comtois: So the 'measurement' aspect is very important to ensure that we have reached our objective, and to correct the previous steps, and to correct what hasn't worked and to ensure that in the future, the practices that we are going to put in place will meet the objectives we need.

[Visual: The words, "Accessible procurement contracts" appear.]

Accessible procurement contracts

Narrator: Accessible procurement contracts.

[Visual: The title disappears, and is replaced by a shot of the panel. Magid Kandar addresses the panel.]

Magid Kandar
Directorate of Procurement at
Public Services and Procurement Canada

Magid Kandar: I'll be speaking about procurement and accessibility from the everyday shop in a corporate service perspective and what we're doing.

[Visual: A drawing of the Parliament Building appears.]

[Visual: A sheet of paper appears to the left of the Parliament Building. The paper is covered in horizontal lines representing text. Beneath the paper, the words, "Procurement Requests" appears.]

Magid Kandar: So we're the unit that works with clients, we receive the procurement request, and we award the contracts.

Procurement
Requests

[Visual: A second piece of paper appears to the right of the Parliament Building. The paper is covered in horizontal lines representing text. Beneath the paper, the word "Contracts" appears. A dotted line extends across to connect the two papers.]

Contracts

[Visual: The graphics disappear, and a shot of the panel appears. Magid Kandar addresses the panel.]

Magid Kandar: When we have a procurement request or a question, we look at it simply as we share the same goal. So, including accessibility now, we have a common goal. Let's all include accessibility in our procurement, and how can we include it and get there.

[Visual: Magid Kandar addresses the panel.]

Magid Kandar: So from the perspective of the everyday procurement shop, it's about starting the conversation. It's about learning and continuing to learn. It's about educating, and keeping it simple. And when clients have the question, the technical authorities do not have the answers, or don't know, it's being there. It's being present, it's helping them, and sharing the same goals so we can all make this happen.

[Visual: The words, "Spotlight on ACCESSibility  Micro-Learning Series:" appear, with the word "Procurement" in a larger font.]

Spotlight on ACCESSibility Micro-learning Series: Procurement

Narrator: Spotlight on ACCESSibility Micro-learning Series: Procurement.

[Visual: The words, "For more information, please consult" appear. Below, the words, "The Canada School of Public Service's Website" appear. Below that, the words, "Please find the links in the video description below" appear.]

For more information, please consult
the Canada School of Public Service's Website
Please find the links in the
video description below.

Narrator: For more information, please consult the Canada School of Public Service's website. Please find the links in the video description below.

Music ends

[Visual: Text fades out.]

Fades to black

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