Dissemin is shutting down on January 1st, 2025

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University of Waterloo, Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, 2(11), p. 161-180, 2022

DOI: 10.15353/cjds.v11i2.892

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Accessibility of Canadian COVID-19 Testing Locations for People with Disabilities During the Third Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Journal article published in 2022 by Sara Rotenberg ORCID, Jane Cooper, Matthew B. Downer
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Preprint: policy unknown
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Postprint: policy unknown
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Published version: policy unknown
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Background: Canadians with disabilities make up nearly a quarter of the population yet faced barriers in accessing information about COVID-19 testing accessibility across the country. Objective: This study aimed to understand the availability of accessibility information for COVID-19 testing sites in Canada. To date, no known studies have evaluated the availability of accessibility information online.Methods: An environmental scan of COVID-19 testing websites was conducted (1) nationally through the provincial/territorial websites for COVID-19 testing and (2) in Ontario, where there was individual location information. Data on key accessibility features were extracted from the website to simulate the user experience of booking a COVID-19 test during March 2021. Results: All provinces and territories provided minimal accessibility information on their provincial or territorial COVID-19 testing websites. Only Ontario included accessibility information for individual testing locations. Out of 170 individual testing locations in Ontario, few had information about accessibility, with only 8.2% listing at least 3 of the 5 key accessibility features measured on their websites.Conclusions: This study demonstrates that, more than a year into the pandemic, there existed a clear lack of accessibility information for testing locations for Canadians with disabilities.