This year National AccessAbility Week is from May 28th to June 3, 2023. This week provides an opportunity to:
- celebrate the valuable contributions and leadership of people with disabilities in Canada
- highlight the work of people, organizations, and communities that are removing barriers
- reflect on ongoing efforts to become a better, more accessible, more inclusive Canada
At Langara, we are committed to continually addressing and improving accessibility needs on campus. Recently, a college-wide accessibility committee was formed in accordance with the new Accessible British Columbia Act. We are looking forward to upcoming guidance from this committee so that we can ensure that we are doing our utmost to make sure Langara is a place that makes everyone feel a sense of inclusion and belonging.
Please take a look at ED-TECH's blog post on AccessAbility Week at Langara.
May 27 to June 3 - ACCESSFest 2023
- Join us for ACCESSFest 2023! A week long celebration in honour of BC Access Awareness Day and the Disability community, taking place May 27 – June 3, 2023 in Downtown Vancouver. All activities are FREE and open to all! Highlights include an Art Show, a Banner Making Workshop and much, much more!
May 26 - Advocating for Better Resources for People Living with Disabilities
- Stop by the Coquitlam Public Library for an engaging speaker panel featuring people living with disabilities.
May 30 - AccessFest: Vancouver Art Gallery Accessible Tour
- In partnership, the Kickstart Disability Arts and Culture, ACCESSFest, and the Vancouver Art Gallery, are delighted to offer an accessible tour designed to welcome the disabled community during Access Awareness Week. The access tour will provide an opportunity to explore works featured in the exhibitions Shary Boyle: Outside of the Palace of Me and Hard Edge.
May 31 - Shameless: The Art of Disability
- For this free community film screening, Kickstart Disability Arts and Culture will screen the film Shameless: The Art of Disability (71 min) by Bonnie Sherr Klein. Using this film, Kickstart will open up a conversation about art, activism, and disability communities by looking back at a snapshot of a very complex history and bringing it into conversation with where we are at in the present day. After viewing the film the audience will get to partake in a community dialogue that engages artists, activists, and arts administrators who are dedicated to disrupting the normative ways of the art world.
June 1 - AccessFest: DISRuptive Poetry Workshop with Rabbit Richards
- Join Rabbit Richards for a poetry workshop as part of AccessFest 2023!
June 1 - Surrey Access Walk and Roll 2023
- Celebrate National AccessAbility Week with SAS, CLBC Surrey-White Rock-Delta Community Council, UNITI and the City of Surrey!
June 2 - AccessFest: DISRupt the Slam Poetry Night
- Co-presented by Under The Table Poetry, this poetry night will DISRupt you in all of the most exciting ways inviting you into the queered and cripped world of poetry nights run by and for our communities. With host mitcholos and feature poet Rabbit Richards, be prepared to witness some world changing magic on stage.
June 2 - 2023 National AccessAbilitiy Week Celebration Dialogue
- Mainland Community Services Society (MCSS) is very excited to announce the upcoming National AccessAbility Week celebration entitled, "The Creating Inclusive Communities Dialogue" (CICD) which is a multi-stakeholder dialogue for both community leaders and change-makers working across AccessAbility sectors in British Columbia. CICD seeks to engage community leaders and changemakers to advance systems change conversations and innovative solutions to issues impacting Persons Living with Disability in BC. This dialogue is part of a growing conversation about addressing the systems that affect Persons Living with Disability. Through a number of awareness-building activities, we would sustain the conversation to provide a “Highlight on Accessibility and Inclusion: Addressing Systemic Discrimination” - a project fully funded and supported by the Federal Government of Canada.
June 2 - The Power of Inclusive Mindsets: The Rick Hansen Foundation
- In honour of National AccessAbility Week, the Rick Hansen Foundation is hosting a live panel discussion on the power of inclusive mindsets. Attitudes account for some of the greatest barriers faced by people with disabilities on a daily basis. When we challenge our assumptions of what disability is, and begin to uncover our unconscious biases, we set in motion the steps needed to create lasting change and a truly inclusive society for people of all ages and abilities. Attend this live panel to learn how you can confront attitudinal barriers and challenge perceptions in order to work towards an inclusive mindset.
June 3 - AccessFest Parade and Main Stage
- Join the culminating celebration of BC Access Awareness Week with a parade together from Emery Barnes Park ending at šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square [Vancouver Art Gallery North Plaza]. Stay for the main stage for performances with opening acts Tawahum Bige, Angelic Goldsky, and KeAloha will bring to the stage a combination of musical brilliance and poetic wonder. Headlining act Glow Motive will close out theweek long celebrations. This powerhouse duo with a vivid sparkle that disability communities have to offer to this world.