Use double quotes to find documents that include the exact phrase: "aerodynamic AND testing"

In the pre-Internet world, accessibility focused primarily on addressing physical barriers, such as by installing ramps or adding Braille buttons in elevators.  

Over time, an evolution has happened in what’s considered a disability. Changes have also happened in the types of barriers and environments that people face as they live, play and compete. So, it’s fitting that the United Nation’s theme for International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3) is “Transformative solutions for inclusive development: the role of innovation in fuelling an accessible and equitable world.” 

This blog post explores why accessibility is important. It also suggests strategies for coaches and sport organizations to prioritize and improve accessibility, specifically involving technology and communications.  

Accessibility matters 

international day of persons with disabilities logoAccessibility is a human right.  

And it’s essential for 1 in 5 Canadians (22% of the population), aged 15 or older, who live with at least 1 disability. That includes many young adults, 13% of people aged 15 to 24 years.   

People living with disabilities may have one or more of the following visible and invisible disabilities: 

Laws differ by jurisdiction. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act requires not-for-profit organizations to create an accessibility policy, provide information in alternate formats, train employees on accessibility, and more.  

As of fall 2022, only 5 provinces (BC, MB, NL, NS, ON) and no territories have adopted accessibility laws to ensure their citizens with disabilities aren’t prevented from participating fully and equitably in society. With the Accessible Canada Act, the Government of Canada plans to be barrier-free by the year 2040. That’s good news for anyone working for or seeking services from federal departments, Crown corporations, banks and more.  

Strategies in the sport context 

New barriers will crop up. Be ready to quickly spot and deal with them. For example, during the pandemic, some venues had sanitizer dispensers that could only be triggered by a foot pedal. Recognizing that people using a wheelchair or people with balance and dexterity issues might need an alternative, the venues could have either had a masked volunteer pump the dispenser or installed a sensor-driven dispenser.  

officials sitting around a table conversingAttitudinal barriers can get in the way of a positive sport experience when people cling to biases, stereotypes and misconceptions about people with disabilities. Model respectful behaviours and informed communications. Expect the same from others. 

Technology can enable when websites, online forms, mobile apps and digital files are designed and shared for accessibility. When that’s overlooked or done poorly, technology becomes a barrier. Plan for accessibility from the start. 

Revisit organizational policies and processes to address systemic or bureaucratic barriers. For example, offer more options than paper schedules and in-person registration. And just because loud music has always played throughout a venue, the volume could easily be turned down during hours when that venue hosts participants who are neurodivergent or who have had a traumatic brain injury.   

Information or communication barriers abound. They could arise if a coach’s mask prevents participants from lip reading, but a quick fix might be a clear viewing panel in the mask. Print handouts are less useful for participants with dyslexia or low vision, but accessible digital files can be read aloud by assistive technologies.  

Sample ways to improve accessibility  

Here are hands-on examples of how to improve accessibility relating to communications and technology.  

Websites and forms 

Videos, electronic signs, animations, podcasts and multimedia elements 

Photos, logos, emoji, figures and graphs 

Documents and words 

Video conference in the business team meeting during Covid-19Live events 

Key takeaways 

With so many Canadians living with diverse disabilities, and as people increasingly rely on digital services, it becomes vital to provide accessible communications and technologies. Often people without disabilities find they too experience benefits from more accessible options.  

Prioritizing accessibility helps observe the rights of people with disabilities and it also contributes to being inclusive in sport. 

Boards in sport organizations can improve their effectiveness by functioning as a team of equals. The importance of teamwork is easily appreciated in sport. For effective teamwork, individual board members need to recognize that their authority exists only as a group, with the board chair serving as the steward-leader to the board.

For many charitable or not-for-profit sport organizations, funding is the main topic of discussion on most days. As they look to continue their missions or potentially create new, innovative, and inclusive programming, two questions regularly come up:

The financial pressures of operating, keeping staff employed and running impactful programs have always been a challenge, adding to this stress are the additional financial pressures of COVID, which continue to be incredibly difficult to overcome.

According to the Jumpstart State of Sport Report, released in March 2022:

A group of kids with skateboards from the Cousins Skateboard Community non-profit

One way for sport organizations to help ease their financial burden is by applying for grants.  Funding agencies can include the federal or provincial government, corporations, or other non-profits. For example, viaSport British Columbia has compiled a list of grants for which sport organizations may be eligible.

In this blog, I will provide some strategies for crafting a convincing grant application, using the Jumpstart Charities (Jumpstart) Community Development Grant (CDG) program as an example.

Familiarize yourself with the details of the grant

To start, carefully read all background material and instructions regarding the grant application. The last thing you want to do is complete an application and then realize that your organization isn’t eligible. Make sure your organization’s programming fulfills the brief set forth by the funding agency.

For example, the Jumpstart CDG program has two funding streams.

In this instance, applicants should identify which funding stream best suits the needs of your organization.

In the case of the Jumpstart CDGs, both streams address systemic barriers to sport and recreation in the following communities: 

With further focus on

As an applicant, ensure that your programming participants match up with the funder’s target population.

Many grants also set out to support a specific type of activity, like arts and culture, education, or health and fitness. Check and see that your program aligns with the type of activity the funder is seeking to support. For example, in the Jumpstart CDG grants, getting kids involved in sport and physical activity is the goal. Therefore, when applying, even if the main objectives of your program may include things like supporting mental health, increasing classroom engagement, crime reduction, or substance use reduction, in order to be eligible for a CDG physical activity must be the medium used to achieve that objective.

Finally, take note the application deadline. Funding agencies that receive a lot of interest are unlikely to prioritize late applications.

Time to start writing

Once you have determined your program idea meets the key priority areas and populations of funding, and the timeline of your program fits, it is time to start your application.

When writing a quality application, be sure to answer the specific questions being asked. Further, it is incredibly important to be able to describe the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How of your program.

Little boy playing rugby, sent in by Jumpstart non-profit

Who

Describe the specifics of the target population. You can do this by asking yourself:

What

Describe in detail, what your program entails. You can do this by asking yourself:

Where

Describe the setting that your program will take place. You can do this by asking yourself:

Children engaging in a huddle before their soccer game

When

Describe in detail when you program will take place. You can do this by asking yourself:

Why

Describe in detail the need in the community for your program. You can do this by asking yourself:

How

Describe in detail how your program will specifically fulfill the need that has been identified in your community. You can do this by asking yourself:

Finally, if you have questions about a grant application be sure to reach out to the funder for clarity.

If you would like more information to see if your organization and program are eligible or to start your application for a Jumpstart CDG, please use this link.

Community Development Grants | Jumpstart (canadiantire.ca)

Preventative rules, policies, and regulations are one way sport organizations can protect their athletes from injury. For example, helmets in skiing and snowboarding have reduced the risk of brain injury, the elimination of body checking in hockey age groups has reduced the risk of concussion and there is new evidence in mouthguards better protecting athletes in contact sports.

Delegating without an accountability loop leaves an organization’s board of directors at risk. To delegate safely and support role clarity, the board can do 4 things: (1) specify the results it wants and boundaries for actions and decision-making that must be respected in pursuing those results, (2) document what happens, (3) implement a systematic, rigorous reporting system, and (4) evaluate performance based on predetermined, documented expectations.

To create a Safe Sport environment, research with Canadian sport administrators points to a need for changes to policy and education at all levels. Focusing on harm prevention is not sufficient. Sport organizations also need to promote positive values and human rights.

Many sport organizations collect data on their programs and best practices, but what happens with those findings? Unfortunately, this data often gets piled into internal reports and largely forgotten. This means that valuable learnings aren’t shared with those who can use them to inform future practices and advance the sport system.

As many organizations are ramping up for the upcoming sports season and are beginning to think about program evaluations, now is a good time to consider how organizations can use knowledge mobilization (KMb) principles to optimize evaluation findings.

In this blog, SIRC will review what knowledge mobilization is and why it’s crucial for the sports sector. SIRC will also provide tips and resources to help organizations plan knowledge mobilization activities. 

Understanding knowledge mobilization

Knowledge mobilization is the process of sharing evidence-based findings with an audience who can use those findings in practice.

Depending on the knowledge you plan to share, your goals with your knowledge mobilization may vary. In the sports sector, common goals of knowledge mobilization are to:

Common goals in the sport sector: inform best practices, identify gaps in program design, demonstrate program success, and initiate policy change

Knowledge mobilization helps close the gap between what is known and what is done. Closing this “knowledge-to-action” gap can advance the sport sector by providing sport stakeholders with information that enables them to enhance practice, policies and programs. For example, knowledge mobilization can be used to synthesize the latest evidence on the topic of Safe Sport to inform the creation of policies and protocols that encourage safe, welcoming and inclusive environments for everyone involved in sport.

Did you know several terms are used to describe the process of creating and sharing knowledge. While we are using the term 'knowledge mobilization' you may also hear the terms 'knowledge translation', 'knowledge transfer' or 'knowledge exchange'

Mobilizing your knowledge

You may consider mobilizing knowledge whenever you complete a research project or evaluation with findings that could impact the current state of policies, programs or practice in the sport sector. This could include research and evaluation projects that you complete internally in your organization or in partnership with an academic researcher or institution. 

For example, suppose you were evaluating the barriers newcomers to Canada face to participating in your community’s youth hockey program. After completing your evaluation, you could share your findings internally to identify strategies that may help improve accessibility and participation. You could also share these findings externally to begin discussions with other organizations who are facing or have faced similar challenges. Sharing your findings and best practices often leads to positive discussions and collaborations, which help move sport forwards. 

While knowledge mobilization activities often happen at the end of a project or evaluation like in the example above, this is not always the case. You may choose to engage in integrated knowledge mobilization, which is when you work with a group of knowledge users throughout your evaluation or project. 

Flow chart with first main box saying 'which KMb is right for you?'. A split arrow then points to two separate boxes. The first box says 'Integrated KMb: involves end-users throughout the process'. The second box says 'End-of-project KMb: Mobilizes findings after the project is complete'.

With integrated knowledge mobilization, you rely on the unique expertise and experiences of your end-users to inform every step of the research project, from identifying your research question to sharing your research findings. Taking a more integrated approach to your knowledge mobilization helps ensure that you are answering questions that your end-users have and that the way you disseminate the findings will be relevant and meaningful to them.

Identifying how and with whom to share your knowledge

Knowledge mobilization deliverables can take many forms, including but not limited to infographics, videos, reports, workshops and social media posts. When selecting how you will mobilize your knowledge, it is important to consider with whom you hope to share the knowledge, as different groups have different learning styles and preferences. For example, if you are targeting athletes with your dissemination, you may rely primarily on social media. However, when targeting coaches, you may rely more on videos or infographics that could be shared within a newsletter or learning module. In many cases, sharing your knowledge using various dissemination tools is beneficial as it helps ensure you reach all your targetted end-users.

In the sport sector, common end-users include: coaches, parents, policymakers, officials, athletes and sport organizations.

Tips to help you get started 

  1. Think about what knowledge you want to share. Consider why sharing this knowledge is important. How will it contribute to the sport sector? 
  2. Tip: considering the unique needs of your end-users when selecting how to disseminate your information can help improve the impact of your project. Identify your end-users. Think about what end-user(s) you want to reach with this knowledge. Why is it important that they learn about this information? 
  3. Create a list of key messages. Identify the key points that you want to share. Make sure these points are clear, concise and written at a level your targeted end-users will understand.
  4. Consider how you want to share your knowledge. Look into different dissemination tools and identify which will be most appropriate for your end-users. When deciding on the dissemination tool(s) you will use, you should also consider the timeline for your project and the cost of the different dissemination tools. 

Recommended resources

  1. Ontario Centre of Excellence for Child & Youth Mental Health – Knowledge Mobilization Toolkit: http://www.kmbtoolkit.ca
  2. Government of Canada – Knowledge Translation Planner: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/corporate/about-health-canada/reports-publications/grants-contributions/knowledge-transfer-planner.html
  3. The Hospital for Sick Children – Knowledge Translation Planning Template: https://www.sickkids.ca/contentassets/4ba06697e24946439d1d6187ddcb7def/79482-ktplanningtemplate.pdf
  4. The Hospital for Sick Children – The Plain Language Writing Checklist: https://www.sickkids.ca/contentassets/92c5abda231e44b6832f5e3effeacdf8/plain-language-checklist_jan2017-sickkids-kt-program.pdf

Interested in mobilizing your knowledge? SIRC offers a KMb service to help sport organizations increase the impact and reach of their evaluation findings. To learn more, reach out to research@sirc.ca

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