Accessibility Standards Canada creates accessibility standards that will apply to the federal government and federally regulated organizations. It also funds research that aims to identify, prevent and eliminate accessibility barriers to create future accessibility standards.
Project Sponsor
Advisory Committee
Bev Milligan is the CEO of Pavo Digital, a company that has been developing a suite of software that makes full use of the features available in the CEA-708 digital standard when captioning. The suite also includes modules for Described Video.
Nazaret Fresno is an Assistant Profressor in the Department of Writing and Language Studies at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Her areas of study include audiovisual translation and media accessibility.
Gavin Lumsden is a Station Manager for Rogers French and English television stations in Ottawa.
Mike Menard is the Manager of Accessibility Services at Corus Entertainment. He has over 20 years of experience in Television Broadcasting, Post Production and Accessibility services. He specializes in operations, professional development, workflow design, cost management and technical infrastructure strategy and is passionate about making entertainment accessible to all.
Melina Nathanail is President of National Captioning Canada (NatCapCan). The company has more than 25 years of broadcast captioning experience and offers both live and off-line (post production) English closed captioning. NatCapCan is the largest closed captioning service provider in Canada.
James Roots is the Executive Director of the CAD. The Canadian Association of the Deaf-Association des Sourds du Canada (CAD-ASC) is the oldest national consumer organization of, by and for Deaf individuals in Canada for having its interests represented at national level.
Chris Sutton is the CEO of the Wavefront Centre for Communication Accessibility. Established in 1956, Wavefront Centre for Communication Accessibility is a B.C. based, multi-service, registered charity that exists to reduce communication barriers by providing access and inclusion for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The only centre of its kind in Western Canada, Wavefront Centre provides a full range of programs and services “under one roof”.
Brooke Woboditsch is the President of CCS. The company provides full-spectrum media accessibility services, including live and offline closed captioning, CART, transcription and descriptive video services for broadcasters, producers, educators, governments, ISPs and production houses.
Project Team
Christie Christelis - Project Manager
Christie Christelis is project manager for all three projects within the Live Captioning Canada initiative. He is President of Technology Strategies International, a technology market research, analysis and strategy firm focusing on information and communication technologies (ICTs). He has worked in the area of accessible communications for more than a decade.
Dr Deborah Fels - Research Director
Dr. Fels has a Ph.D in Human Factors from Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto. She is currently employed as a professor in the Ted Rogers School of Information Technology Management, and the Director of the Inclusive Media and Design Centre at Ryerson University. Her research interests involve inclusive design, access to media and technology for people with disabilities and older adults, inclusive video game design and inclusive business.
Dr Maria Karam - Post Doctoral Fellow
Dr Karam received her PhD from the University of Southamption in human computer interactions, with a focus on sensory computing. Karam is also an entrepreneur, who has invented products for the accessibility market and owns an historic theatre in Toronto.