Please tell us about your experiences or challenges related to disabilities, including mental health.
Even if you do not identify yourself as having a disability, but you experience challenges in working or getting around at VIU, we would like to hear from you.
In 2022 the British Columbia government passed the Accessible BC Act with the goal of having government institutions identify, remove and prevent barriers experienced by people with all types of disabilities. VIU's job is to 1) create an Accessibility Plan; 2) set up an Accessibility Committee comprising at least half people with disabilities (students and employees), and 3) to create a feedback mechanism for people to comment about the plan.
Accessibility Plan
To create an accessibility plan, we need to know what kinds of barriers you experience at VIU.
Most disabilities are invisible and can be anything from mental health issues to hearing loss, chronic pain, hearing difficulties, learning disabilities, colostomy bags, "bad knees" or joints, and so many more. Some are temporary and some are permanent.
You may not identify as someone with a disability, but you may still experience barriers in other peoples' attitudes, filling out forms, some rules and regulations, technology, communication, information and other things that are not so obvious.
As a place to start, the Canadian government classifies ten types of disabilities: seeing, hearing, mobility, flexibility, dexterity, pain-related, learning, developmental, mental-health related, and memory.
Many types of barriers exist, such as, architectural or physical, organizational or systemic, attitudinal, technology, communication and information.
Please use the form below to send us your concerns.
Your contributions are anonymous and cannot be tracked back to you. If you would like us to contact you, please send the Universal Access Team an email at UniversalAccess@viu.ca
If you would like more information about VIU's many accessibility initiatives, please see our website at viu.ca/UA
Thank you in advance for your help,
Linda Derksen, PhD, Universal Access Lead