Research on Accessibility Standards Examines the Impact of Regulations on Social Change for Persons with Disabilities
Government consultation is becoming popular. It is now an essential component to developing accessibility standards for persons with disabilities. The enactment of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) in 2005 was the first proactive accessibility standards legislation to be created in Canada. Since that time, other provinces are taking part in the trend, including Manitoba which enacted its legislation in December 2013, and Nova Scotia which is in the process of developing its legislation. There is also talk by the federal government of a Canadians with Disabilities Act.
With such interest in consultation, it’s a very timely moment to inquire into whether persons with disabilities feel that this consultation is working. Professor Laverne Jacobs and her team of research assistants are looking into this question. With funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Fulbright Foundation, Jacobs has been interviewing persons with disabilities and organizations dedicated to disability issues (ODDIs) to learn more about their experience participating in consultations for the development and review of laws that affect their everyday lives laws.
Among the outcomes, Professor Jacobs and two of her research assistants are co-authoring an article that evaluates how the consultation process is faring. “The idea of using proactive regulation to collaboratively develop accessibility standards is one that is now being considered by other countries. Yet, there is little if any research on how the standard development process works in the context of creating accessibility regulations and how it could be improved. Our research will contribute to this lack of gap so that other jurisdictions may have some lessons learned to consider”, Jacobs asserts. Jacobs is also writing a book presenting her findings on persons with disabilities and consultation within the framework of understanding the legal implications of the shift from using reactive statutory human rights laws to proactive accessibility regulations in order to address disability discrimination.
This research study forms part of Professor Jacobs’ larger scholarly project to consider the impact of administrative law and regulatory processes on the lives of individuals in society. From standards to benefits, regulations often involve government- designed administrative processes that impact the everyday citizen. While much research is focused on how and when courts can intervene to oversee matters, much more work needs to be done on how did these processes are institutionally designed and how every day individuals are affected by them. Persons with disabilities are one important demographic group.
Prof. Jacobs and her students examine law’s impact on persons with disabilities as well as the influence of persons with disabilities in shaping the law in her seminar Law, Disability and Social Change (LDSC) at Windsor Law. Students write critical reflections on these topics which Professor Jacobs publishes on her research project website. Professor Jacobs’ research and teaching intertwine administrative law, statutory human rights law, constitutional law, and critical disability theory. “I gained invaluable insight into the challenges and inequities persons with disabilities face in our legal system but also became aware of the countless possibilities for social change and was inspired to play a part in transforming society”, says Stephanie Skinner, JD/MSW 2015.
In 2014, while a visiting Fulbright Research Chair at the University of California, Berkeley, Prof. Jacobs organized a conference at Berkeley Law that looked at current pressing issues of equality for persons with disabilities in both Canada and the United States. Two of her research assistants from Windsor Law attended this conference which was co-sponsored by Windsor Law. Those papers ae forthcoming in the Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice, for which Jacobs is Editor-in-Chief.
Victoria Cino (JD 2016), a current Disability Legal Studies Fellow, describes her experience as part of the project: "Dr. Jacobs is a passionate advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities. It has been a privilege to be a part of her team and to help increase awareness of national and international disability issues."
More about Professor Laverne Jacobs and the research project “Combating Disability Discrimination by Regulation” may be found at the research project website: www.lawdisabilitysocialchange.com
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