WAT Tutorial

What is assistive technology?

Assistive technology includes any item, piece of equipment or system that is used to increase, maintain, or improve how a person performs some task of daily living. Assistive technologies and services are generally specific accommodations for individuals who need to overcome some physical or technological barrier they encounter in the workplace. Thus, an assistive device differs in concept from a universally designed mainstream product (See the Accessible Procurement Toolkit) because the barriers faced by some people cannot be overcome without specific, personalized intervention.

For example, a computer can be made accessible for a person who is blind by having screen text converted to audio or Braille. Similarly, a desk can be modified to accommodate a person in a wheelchair.

It is generally assumed that a universally designed mainstream product will be more easily modified or adapted for use with assistive technology than one that is not universally designed.

Why is it important to have accessibility in an office environment?

If products and services in an office are not directly accessible or are not capable of working with assistive technology, they cannot be used by everyone. This, in turn, can deny people the opportunity to become employees or customers of your organization.

Purpose and Main Features of this Web Site

The Workplace Accommodation Toolkit (WAT) web site was designed by the Assistive Devices Industry Office (ADIO) of Industry Canada as a resource to inform managers about the types of assistive devices and services available to help them integrate employees with particular disabilities, and for anyone interested in learning more about assistive technologies and services.

Products for People with Disabilities (The Workplace Accommodations Toolkit):

There are cases when standard products (see the Accessible Procurement Toolkit) made accessible are not sufficient to meet the needs of an employee or customer with disabilities. In these cases it may be necessary to acquire a product specifically designed to meet a particular need. The Workplace Accommodations Toolkit (WAT) therefore covers such disability-specific products as screen readers, sound enhancement tools and devices used to enlarge the size of print.

When to use:

Use the WAT database to find general information about products and services designed to meet the specific needs of an employee or customer.

Starting Categories of the Workplace Accommodations Toolkit

WAT is organized both by product and disability categories.

WAT Product Categories

1. Assistive Technology
2. General Office Accommodations
3. Office Ergonomics
4. Services for persons with disabilities

WAT Disability Categories

1. All User Categories
2. Cognitive Impairment
3. Deaf-Blind
4. Dexterity Impairment (Arms/Hands/Fingers)
5. Elderly
6. Hearing Impairment
7. Learning Disability
8. Mobility Impairment
9. Speech and Language Impairment
10. Visual Impairment

Toolkit Uses

The WAT database provides general information about assistive technologies and services that are used by people with disabilities. Assistive technologies can also be used by anyone in situations where equipment with standard capabilities cannot be used.

Such information includes technical data, standards, policies and best practices in order to:

• Research appropriate products and services
• Make informed purchasing decisions
• Find tips for integrating assistive technology into the office environment

Please note that this toolkit does not provide information about or links to manufacturers or vendors of assistive devices or services, nor does it list or link to technology by brand or model name. However, armed with general information found in the toolkit it should be possible to use your favourite Internet search engine to learn more about specific technologies and vendors. One source of information that can be used to identify Canadian assistive technology companies and service providers is the Canadian Company Capabilities database provided by Industry Canada

.

Other users

While developed for federal government managers, the toolkit is also useful for anyone interested in learning more about the range of assistive devices and services available for use by people with disabilities.

People with disabilities may want to use the toolkit to research products and services that are applicable to their own circumstances.

In addition, the toolkit is a research tool for:

• Rehabilitation specialists
• Accessibility consultants and researchers

Does the toolkit have everything that I need?

It is important to emphasize that the toolkit was designed to be an instructional guide only. It is an appropriate starting point but should not be considered as comprehensive or the only information to be consulted.

The needs of people with disabilities vary widely. As a result, the products and services recommended for a particular need may not be appropriate for every person.

We recommend managers do the following in addition to using the toolkit:

• Consult a rehabilitation expert, especially when hiring a person with disabilities or modifying the office for an employee who has acquired a disability.
• Consult employees and customers with disabilities regarding their needs.
• Visit our other major resources on accessible products and services, the Accessible Procurement Toolkit (APT) and the Assistive Technology Links (AT-Links) web site. The APT is a resource for helping you procure universally designed mainstream technologies, while AT-Links provides links to major databases around the world that list accessible products and services, Canadian and international policies and guidelines, and research sources.
• Refer to the Canadian Companies Capabilities web site for a directory of appropriate suppliers
• http://www.apt.gc.ca/wat/wb10010E.asp

How to use the Toolkit

Product and Service Category Tree:

The web site is easy to navigate. You will notice that at the top of each page, there is text indicating where you are within the site.

The toolkit is organized in a tree structure, starting with a list of general categories that progressively branch off into more specific subcategories.

When you finally reach a product or service category that is not linked, it means that branch has come to an end.

Three data links for more information:

Listings are accompanied by three data links which contain information you can consider for your contract documentation.

1.  Definition 

All of the listings include a definition link providing a more or less detailed description of the product or service.

2.  Prerequisites  

This link will appear whenever there are substantive considerations that should be examined before the related product or service is acquired. Prerequisites may list minimum suitable configurations, necessary infrastructure or other issues, but only as they relate to accessibility or accommodation issues. The information under this link is important to review prior to making purchasing plans.

3.  Requirements 

When an item is not purpose-built or designed as an assistive device or service — in other words it is also considered to be a mainstream item the Requirements link may appear. The Requirements link provides publicly available specifications and standards that can be used to make an appropriate purchase or instruct suppliers on what rules or guidelines they should be following to modify or develop a product or service.

4.  Advice 

Another source of information is derived from a wealth of best practices and guidelines for the use of assistive technology and the accommodation of employees with disabilities. In the Workplace Accommodation Toolkit such information is listed as Advice.

5.  Environmental considerations 

If a product has known issues that can impact air quality or affect the health of employees with environmental sensitivities, information will be provided through the Environmental Considerations link.

Appearance of the data links

You will notice that the prerequisite and requirements links do not exist for every listing. That is because there may not be generally accepted practices for a particular product or service and in these cases, further research may be needed. It may also be because the specifications of a particular product or service are dependent upon customization and the precise needs of the user or users.

In cases where there is information available for both the prerequisite and requirements sections for the same product or service area, the prerequisite link will appear first, followed by the requirements.

How to Copy Information

You can copy information from the toolkits directly into any documentation related to the purchase of a product or service. The method you will use to copy and paste will depend upon the computer equipment you are using. Use the method most familiar to you.

For most purchasing agents, text will be transferred through the use of a computer mouse and/or keyboard.

This can be done as follows.

1. Highlight the required text from the web site

Using your mouse: Place your mouse cursor at the start of the text, click and then drag your mouse to the end of the text. When finished, release the mouse.

Using your keyboard: Use the arrow keys to locate the text then press the SHIFT key while moving the right arrow key until you have highlighted all of the text needed.

2. Copy the text to the Windows clipboard

Using your mouse: Click the right mouse button and select "Copy" in the list of options (or the left mouse button if your mouse has been configured for left-handed users).

Using your keyboard: Press CONTROL-C.

3. Paste the text into your document

Using your mouse: Open your document (such as a Request for Proposal) and place the mouse cursor at the spot where you want to paste the text. Click your right mouse button and select "Paste" in the list of options (or the left mouse button if your mouse has been configured for left-handed users).

Using your keyboard: Open your document (such as a Request for Proposal) and use your arrow clicks to locate the spot where you want to paste the text. Then click CONTROL-V.

Search the Toolkit

An alternative to clicking on the links in the toolkits to find the information you need is to use the site's search engine.

Search by Key Word

Searching by key word will provide you with a list of all the database links containing those words. Use the key word search if you're not certain of the precise product or service you need and want to scan all available information.

You can search for individual keywords or look for exact phrases.

Glossary

You can obtain a description of the various standards that are referenced in the toolkit through the Glossary.

It's a good idea to review the Glossary to obtain an understanding of why standards were developed and how they were intended to be applied.

Bookmarking the site

The toolkits are part of a database system that generates web pages using identification codes contained within the address of each page. Since the database is updated constantly, the codes, and therefore web page addresses, change often.

As a result, bookmarking a database page in a browser may mean that the page will disappear at some point or contain no information.

To ensure this does not happen, and to obtain the full benefit of the toolkits, you should only bookmark the main page.