Disability Screen Office Releases “Reframing Access: A Best Practices Guide on Disability Inclusion in Canada’s Screen Industry”
TORONTO, June 4, 2026 — The Disability Screen Office (DSO) has just launched the much-anticipated “Reframing Access: A Best Practices Guide on Disability Inclusion in Canada’s Screen Industry”. This resource offers a roadmap for industry professionals to design more equitable workflows and ensure screen industry workplaces (on set, in the production office, and beyond) are accessible to everyone. This research was made possible thanks to lead support from Accessibility Standards Canada’s Advancing Accessibility Standards Research Program and the Canada Media Fund’s Sector Development Support program, with additional support from Rocket Fund Canada, Ontario Creates, Creative BC, Bell Fund and Picture NL.
Reframing Access features practical, step-by-step guidance on how to build accessibility into every stage of the production lifecycle, from development and financing to writing, casting, crewing up, on-set processes, and post-production. The guide outlines common barriers faced by disabled creatives, shares strategies to remove them, and offers tools for planning accommodations, improving workplace practices, and fostering disability inclusion both above and below the line.
Key topics include:
- Development & Financing: Guidance on creating opportunities for disability-led productions, reflecting disability in key creative roles, and budgeting and scheduling with accessibility in mind.
- Hiring & Casting: Strategies for finding and working with disabled creatives, including how to hire accessibly, from planning auditions to putting together a writers’ room.
- Specialized Support: How to work with service animals and disability service providers, including sign language interpreters, Deaf consultants, and personal support workers.
- On-Set Production: Best practices for creating accessible sets and locations, implementing accommodations on set, securing accessible infrastructure like transportation, trailers and craft services, and using assistive technology on-set.
- Post-Production: How to consider accessibility in post-production in both in-house and third-party post-production contexts, and how to integrate assistive technology into the editing suite.
- Accommodations: Detailed information on screen industry employers’ legal duty to accommodate employees with disabilities, as well as breakdowns of different types of accommodations across the spectrum of disability experience.
Focused on dismantling systemic barriers, this guide is an essential resource for anyone looking to recruit, hire, and support disabled creatives in the sector. It is built for industry leaders who want to modernize their existing processes, as well as for producers, writers, and crew members working to create authentic representation and accessible workplaces within the Canadian screen industry.
Online Launch Event
We’ll also be hosting a virtual launch event celebrating the publication of Reframing Access on June 11, 2026, at 1 PM EDT (11 AM PDT / 2:30 PM NDT).
This free event will bring together disabled creatives, industry professionals, and community members to discuss the future of accessibility in Canada’s screen sector and explore how productions can build more inclusive practices across every stage of the workflow.
The conversation will highlight key themes from the guide, including accessible hiring, on-set accommodations, post-production accessibility, and removing systemic barriers in the industry.
Why This Matters
27% of Canadian adults live with at least one disability, and that includes many people who work in the Canadian screen industry or who are interested in entering the field. Reading Reframing Access is a great way to learn the foundations of making the work environment accessible to the disabled creatives, whether that’s on set, in the writers’ room, in the production office, or in the post-production studio. This guide helps the reader integrate accessibility practice into their work, remove workplace barriers, and support employees in accessing the accommodations they need.
Ultimately, this resource is designed to help broadcasters, producers, and creators turn accessibility commitments into concrete, actionable practices across the Canadian screen sector.
About the Project
Reframing Access is a key outcome of the Mapping Representation and Barriers to Participation by People with Disabilities in the Screen-Based Media and Broadcasting Sectors research project, Canada’s first-ever study on the participation of people with disabilities in the Canadian screen industry workforce and the barriers they face while working or trying to access work opportunities. This best practices guide is based on the DSO’s findings from Canada’s Screen Industry Survey on Disability, a national accessible survey with 872 responses from screen industry professionals; as well as 14 focus groups held across regions, languages, and industry segments with participation from 105 individuals with lived experience of disability. These engagements allowed the DSO to translate lived experiences into practical, actionable recommendations.
The research project was undertaken as part of the Government of Canada’s Advancing Accessibility Standards Research Program. As we work towards a barrier-free Canada by 2040 under the Accessible Canada Act, this study will inform Accessibility Standards Canada as they consider developing new accessibility standards, contributing to a greater understanding of the Canadian screen industry and ensuring that barriers to employment and equity are identified, prevented, and removed at a structural level.
Quotes
Winnie Luk, Executive Director, DSO
Reframing Access is essential reading for everyone across the Canadian screen industry. Informed by our community, lived experience, and industry experts, this guide is packed with practical accessibility knowledge, insights, and guidance. It offers valuable tools for every role across the sector and helps pave the way toward a more inclusive and accessible industry for all. For too long, systemic barriers have kept talented disabled professionals on the sidelines of the Canadian screen sector.
The DSO published Reframing Access to bridge that gap, replacing guesswork with actionable steps that industry professionals and decision-makers can implement. Now they have the ‘why’ and the 'how' to make our sector accessible by design, in every stage of production. Removing barriers will allow disabled creatives to focus on what they do best: telling great stories.
Joy Loewen, VP of Industry Development, CMF
Creators with disabilities have been telling us that our industry's barriers are real and structural—and now we have the data to make an even stronger case. But Reframing Access gives the sector something more valuable than awareness: it gives them tools. Rigorous research, grounded in lived experience, translated into clear guidance that production teams can act on today. The CMF is proud to have supported this work. We're grateful to the DSO and everyone who contributed their time and expertise to make it happen.
Agnes Augustin, President & CEO, Rocket Fund Canada
Rocket Fund Canada is committed to a more equitable screen industry and is proud to support this best practices guide. As Canada’s sole dedicated funder of children’s and youth media, we recognize that the stories we tell shape how young people understand the world and their place within it. For the 27% of Canadians living with a disability, authentic representation on and off screen is essential. We are encouraged to see the industry gain a practical resource that can help foster more accessible, inclusive, and representative production practices across the Canadian media sector.
Karen Thorne-Stone, President & CEO of Ontario Creates
Ontario’s screen industry is an economic engine that is internationally recognized for its excellence, but we can do better in ensuring that the sector and its workplaces are fully inclusive and welcoming for all workers. Understanding accessibility needs, removing barriers, and providing effective accommodations are key to ensuring a more inclusive and equitable screen industry in Ontario and nationwide. Ontario Creates was proud to support the Disability Screen Office to develop this comprehensive best practice guide on disability inclusion that is poised to become a critical tool for every production.
Robert Wong, Vice President, Creative BC
Reframing Access is a resource Canada's motion picture industry has long needed. Creative BC is proud to support a guide that gives producers, writers, crew, and industry leaders the practical tools to build accessible and representative workplaces. Championing an inclusive industry is core to our mission, and work like this will move the industry forward in B.C. and beyond.
Marcia Douglas, Executive Director, Bell Fund
The Bell Fund is proud to have supported the Disability Screen Office's groundbreaking research and the development of Reframing Access. For too long, systemic barriers have prevented talented disabled creatives from fully participating in this industry. Accessibility isn't a box to check; it's how we build an industry that is truly accessible and inclusive will tell better, richer, more authentic stories, and that benefits everyone.
Laura Churchill, CEO & Film Commissioner, PictureNL
PictureNL is proud to support the Disability Screen Office’s Reframing Access guide and the important work behind it. Newfoundland and Labrador’s screen industry is strongest when it reflects the diversity of the communities we serve. This guide provides practical tools that can help productions of all sizes create more accessible and inclusive workplaces, while strengthening our industry through broader participation and representation. We congratulate the DSO on this significant contribution to Canada’s screen sector and look forward to seeing its impact across the country.
