Author: Jonathan Hung

BIG IDeA for Customers

You are the expert in what you need. BIG IDeA lets you tell businesses how they are doing and gives you the chance to be part of the solution to accessibility challenges.

Give help with accessibility and inclusion challenges

Have you ever been at a business and thought about how much more accessible or better it would be if only some change was made? Tell us about your accessibility challenge, and a team may select it at an Inclusive Design Challenge Event. You could participate too and be part of developing an innovative approach. Suggest an accessibility or inclusion challenge that you want us to tackle at our next design challenge.

Participate in design challenges because you are an expert in what the customer needs.

Give recognition to businesses that are doing accessibility well

Have you noticed a small or big change made by a business that makes your customer experience more inclusive or accessible? Tell us about it, and we may showcase the company on our web site.

Add places you visit to the Accessibility Cloud by joining the BIG IDeA Mapathon or use the Business Accessibility Review Form on BIG IDeA.

BIG IDEA ACCESSIBILITY ADVISOR

BIG IDeA is interested in your expertise in accessibility and inclusion. You can help us with Feedback, Challenges, Inclusive Design,  Awarding Badges and participate in other BIG IDeA events. Sign up as an Accessibility Advisor. You will be able to earn advisor badges so that you can show off your contributions and expertise.

BUSINESS ACCESSIBILITY FORM

Become an active agent for improving accessibility in Ontario buy helping us to asses all the businesses you usually visit. Submit a Business Accessibility Review, and we will add it to the Accessibility Cloud.

Resources

There are many great resources to help business owners and operators or organizations understand how to be more inclusive and accessible. You can start by downloading our Guide for Accessibility Tips here:

Cover of the BIG IDeA Accessibility Tips Guide
BIG IDeA Guide

We’ve also collected and created resources here to get you started:

Attitudes, Values and Leadership

Attitudes, Values and Leadership

Good and Services

Good and Services

Employment Practices

Employment Practices

Training and Professional Development

Training and Professional Development

Communications

Communications

Physical Spaces

Physical Spaces

AODA Compliance

AODA Compliance

BIG IDeA for Business

BIG IDeA a Platform to support businesses in Ontario in leading and innovating accessible and inclusive practices.

ACCESSIBILITY IS YOUR BUSINESS

Accessibility is more than ramps and accessible washrooms. Accessibility means more business. Several facts you need to know about this market:

  • Approximately 6,200,000 Canadians have a disability, that’s almost 1 in every 5 Canadians.
  • $55.4 billion CDN is the estimated buying power of Canadians with disability. This number grows to $366.5 billion CDN when you add in friends and family.
  • The prevalence of disability increases steadily with age: 1 in 3 Canadian seniors have a disability.
  • Seniors are Canada’s fastest-growing age group. They are expected to make up 25% of our population by 2036.
  • Globally, there are approximately 1.3 billion people with disabilities. Their buying power is estimated to be higher than USD 1.2 trillion, or USD 8.1 trillion when friends and family are included.

If you want to learn how to make your business more accessible, you can use our free resources

Do you have an accessibility or inclusion challenge that you want to suggest we tackle at our next design challenge?

Get resources and training

We’re gathering and creating resources and training materials to help you learn about and become more inclusive. Visit the Resources section to learn more about:

  • How inclusion increases market share
  • Providing Inclusive Customer Experience
  • Inclusive communications
  • Free Accessibility Training for You and Your Employees
  • Quick and Simple Inclusion Approaches

Get help with accessibility and inclusion challenges

Create a business listing on the Accessibility Map

Let potential customers know what you have in place to make their visit inclusive. Get listed on accessibility cloud–it’s easy to do and will get your business on all of these accessibility applications:

Submit your business to our Inclusion Showcase

Have you made a small or big change that makes your business more inclusive or accessible for your customers? Tell us about it, and we may showcase your business on our web site.

 

News & Events

BIG IDeA is encouraging collaboration and celebrating innovation in many ways. Be a part of the next Inclusive Design Challenge.

News

Continuing Our Work During COVID-19

Inclusive Design Challenges


BIG IDeA hosts Inclusive Design Challenges events that help businesses to solve Accessibility Challenges and sequently to showcase innovative outcomes. Our goal is to help businesses understand the value of accessibility by offering resources and support for inclusive practices. Everyone is welcome, if you would like to contribute or learn more about inclusive design then sign up for a design challenge, or request to be notified of our upcoming Inclusive Design Challenge Events.  Learn more about Inclusive Design Challenges and Inclusive Design Challenge Events.

Assess Accessibility of services and facilitiesSet measurable goalsMike practical improvementsCelebrate achievements

These events bring together businesses, designers, customers with disabilities in order to unfold various real-world Accessibility Challenges and to draft inclusive solutions for them. We call these events Hackathons and we run few of them so far:

– Inclusive Design Challenge with MakerFest 
– Inclusive Design Challenge with IDRC
– Inclusive Design Challenge: Race-to-the-Edge
– Inclusive Design Challenge with TELUS
– Inclusive Design Challenge Showcase: Access Density
– Micro Inclusive Design Challenge – DEEP 2018
– Micro Inclusive Design Challenge for Businesses and Organizations

Upcoming Inclusive Design Challenges

Click here to register for an upcoming Inclusive Design Challenge.

Design Innovation Showcases

We’re going to show you the innovative approaches to accessibility on the BIG IDeA web site and at showcase events.

Have you seen or implemented some great examples of inclusion and accessibility in Ontario? Nominate your example for our showcase.

Mapathons

Would you like to know more about or sign up for mapathons? Let us know at contact@bigidea.one

Would you like to become active for improving accessibility in Ontario? Then become a BIG IDeA Member and help us to asses all the businesses you usually visit. We share the data with Accessibility Cloud. Let others know how accessible places are by completely the Quick Accessibility Assessments Form. 

Participating Business Profiles

Submit your business accessibility profile and get your business on the accessibility map!

BIG IDeA in the News

This page is a collection of news and other media stories about BIG IDeA activities.

About BIG IDeA

BIG IDeA brings together businesses, customers with lived experience of disability and the next generation of business leaders to collaboratively advance accessibility innovation in Ontario and create a culture of accessibility and inclusion. The Inclusive Design Research Centre leads a consortium that is to develop and implement this BIG IDeA pilot. We are developing a platform to support businesses in Ontario in leading and innovating accessible and inclusive practices.

Recognizing Innovators

BIG IDeA supports a process for nominating businesses that demonstrate exemplary and innovative practices so that they can be recognized and their accomplishment showcased online.  BIG IDeA verifies Business innovation in inclusive design through a dual process of continuous constructive customer reviews & accessibility mapping events.

Engaging the Community

BIG IDeA recruits and engages Students, youth and the broader community in innovatively addressing accessibility goals through design challenge events such as hackathons, and design sprints.

Supporting Businesses

Businesses will be equipped to implement and innovate in accessibility through a growing open repository of training modules, tools, resources and reusable accessibility components.

Mapping an Inclusive Ontario

Customers with disabilities and their network will be able to find businesses that address their accessibility needs through aggregated mapping tools of accessible establishments.