The collaboration between AQEIPS and the SAC
For the past year, we have been working on an ambitious project with the Service aux collectivités (SAC) at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), with the aim of studying the accessibility practices with regards to the services offered to students with disabilities in postsecondary institutions across Quebec. This collaboration has yielded four concrete recommendations for digital accessibility in schools, a major issue for students with disabilities.
This project shines a light on the great pertinence of fostering collaborations between the field of community organizing and academic institutions as we build towards a society that strives for inclusivity.
Read the report here:
Digital accessibility in post-secondary institutions – where are we at in Québec?
What is the SAC?
For the past 45 years, the Service aux collectivités (SAC) has been collaborating with social groups that are traditionally underserved by universities, in order to respond to their specific needs, within the lens of collective or cultural promotion (https://sac.uqam.ca/).
This service supports projects led by feminist groups, unions and community organizations by fostering collaborations between those groups and students and professors alike. Many of the projects supported by the SAC have led to major changes, notably in political, social and cultural areas. Its Student chapter allows students to actively contribute to community projects by bringing their skillsets to participating organizations. This initiative offers concrete support for groups based on their direct needs. It also brings enrichment to the engagement of students in the field of community organizing and ensures the continuity of such projects.
A successful collaboration
The collaboration between AQEIPS and the SAC has resulted in our project: the Evaluation of digital practices with regards to services offered to students with disabilities in post-secondary institutions across Quebec. This project allowed us to identify the areas for improvement in terms of digital accessibility in post-secondary institutions, and to formulate recommendations that may contribute to transforming current institutional practices.
(FR only) See also:
Vers des sites plus accessibles pour les étudiants en situation de handicap
This project represented an enriching encounter between Maude Chartier-Desjardins, a doctoral student in educational sciences, and AQEIPS. For us, one of the most striking aspects of this collaboration lies in the exchanges between a student researcher and a community organization, with the objective of collaborative research. This model of collaboration generates a beautiful relationship where the knowledge of students and communities meet to build together.
This is all the more valuable in a context where community organizations are faced with limited financial resources, which are often insufficient to meet their ever-growing needs.
We salute and thank the SAC for its 45 years of engagement, of changes and change and democratization of knowledge. We wish to highlight what the future of partnerships in academia should be: mutually beneficial collaborations that place the needs of communities at the heart of academic concerns.
(FR only) See also:
Photo credit: Jean-François Hamelin.