By: Lui Greco
In 1999, CNIB developed the first edition of Clearing Our Path to help create accessible environments for people who are blind or partially sighted. Based on national and international standards, the document provides accessibility guidelines for public spaces.With updates in 2009 and 2016, Clearing Our Path has become a valuable resource, but much has changed since including the introduction of provincial and federal accessibility legislation and the arrival of a variety of innovative solutions to enhance accessibility.
With funding from Accessibility Standards Canada, CNIB embarked on a project to update the guidelines. In February, we welcomed more than 500 attendees to our first ever Clearing Our Path virtual summit.
The summit sought to gather feedback from various stakeholders on how CNIB’s Clearing Our Path guidelines can become even more relevant in the future. Attendees included persons with disabilities, municipal planners, elected officials, and design professionals.
We have begun drafting a detailed summary of stakeholder feedback. Once complete, the summary, along with relevant research, will be provided to Accessibility Standards Canada to improve federal accessibility standards pertaining to public buildings and spaces to create a more accessible Canada for people who are blind or partially sighted.
To learn more about the guidelines, visit clearingourpath.ca.