CAN-ASC-5.3: Accessible Tourism

Accessibility Standards Canada
Standards Development Organisation:
Accessibility Standards Canada
Contact Information:
Accessibility Standards Canada
Working Program:
View the ASC work program
Designation Number:
CAN-ASC-5.3
Standard Type:
National Standard of Canada - Domestic
Standard Development Activity:
New Standard
ICS code(s):
03.080
03.200
11.180
35.020
91.020
92.040
91.060
97.220
Status:
Proceeding to development
SDO Comment Period Start Date:
SDO Comment Period End Date:
Posted On:

Scope:

The purpose of CAN-ASC-5.3 is to develop a standard that goes above mandatory minimum technical specifications and produces equity-based technical requirements.

There are common areas where persons with disabilities may face barriers related to tourism. These include, but are not limited to:

  • The design and delivery of tourism services
  • Communication such as face-to-face communication, information on travel planning, mobile web content, and digital text-based communications
  • Communication materials throughout the tourist journey including pre-visit information to information when visiting a venue or tourist site
  • Self-service machines such as ticketing kiosks
  •  Specifications for specific facilities such as campground facilities, assembly areas, marina environment, docks and piers
  • The built environment in urban tourism environments and areas of cultural interest such as:
    • historic city centres
    • tourist points of interest
    • pedestrian tourist routes
    • museums, exhibition halls, performance centres, and buildings of tourist interest
  •  the delivery of food and beverage services including self-service shelves and dispensing devices
  • the delivery of services through tourism operations and travel agencies (for example, national parks, national museums, national historic sites)

Project need:

Accessibility Standards Canada was created under the Accessible Canada Act. Its mandate is to prevent, identify, and remove barriers to accessibility for Canadians with disabilities. In pursuit of this mandate, Accessibility Standards Canada develops standards based on the needs of people with disabilities. These needs have been identified in consultations with Canadians with disabilities, including the Governor in Council appointed Board of Directors, who are primarily people with disabilities and have approved the development of this standard.

In addition to these identified needs, Accessibility Standards Canada standards are developed following the principle of “nothing without us”. This means that Accessibility Standards Canada standards are developed with research that has been led by people with disabilities or lived experience, participation of people with disabilities on our technical committees and produce equity-based requirements that take into account the needs and perspectives of people with disabilities. This also means that the public review process for this standard will be accessible, allowing even more people with disabilities to be part of the standards development process.

Note: The information provided above was obtained by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) and is provided as part of a centralized, transparent notification system for new standards development. The system allows SCC-accredited Standards Development Organizations (SDOs), and members of the public, to be informed of new work in Canadian standards development, and allows SCC-accredited SDOs to identify and resolve potential duplication of standards and effort.

Individual SDOs are responsible for the content and accuracy of the information presented here. The text is presented in the language in which it was provided to SCC.