Welcome to Stretch 2.0!

"Accessibility" and "Inclusion" are not just nice-sounding slogans, they are concepts that are helping to drive innovation around the world. Ontario is at the forefront of this movement with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), which has set an ambitious goal of an accessible Ontario by 2025. To meet this goal, Ontario needs designers, programmers, architects, researchers and others, who can stretch their minds and their skills to create buildings, products, services and systems that are more accessible to people with disabilities and more usable by everyone!

The Stretch 2.0 Contest and Classroom Speaker program can help Ontario secondary school educators introduce inclusive design to their students in a fun and engaging way. We hope you will join us in the 2012/2013 school year!

  Follow the Stretch 2.0 Contest on Facebook!

Classroom Speakers

New in 2012/2013: Stretch 2.0 will be providing free classroom speakers to introduce and discuss the topic of accessibility and inclusive design with secondary school students.

Note: Depending on the popularity of this offer, it will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Contest

Are you an Ontario high school student looking for a design challenge that will let you  stretch the boundaries?

The Stretch^2.0 Accessible Design Contest is a chance to stretch the boundaries of inclusion - by working on art or computing projects that include everyone, regardless of ability or disability.

Contest Categories:

Category 1: Accessible Computing projects such as: Accessible websites (including web applications) Accessible mobile apps Assistive technologies

Category 2: Accessible Art (paint, drawing, sculpture, interactive, etc.) projects such as: Art that can be experienced by audience members with disabilities Art that critically explores accessibility and disability

Contest Entry:

• The design contest is open to all Ontario students in grades 9-12.
• Contestants will submit captioned videos demonstrating and explaining their software or artwork.
• Deadline for contest entries: May 1, 2013
• For complete entry details and the contest rules, please see the Contest Details.

Contest Prizes:

• There will be a grand prize of an Android tablet awarded to the student winner of each contest category!
• There will also be a draw of the participating schools to award two more Android tablets!
• Prizes will be awarded in June 2013.
• The grand prizes are being donated by Bell Mobility.

Contest Organizers

The contest is being organized by the Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC) at OCAD University.

Teacher Zone

Working on a Stretch Contest entry can help your students meet some of the objectives of the Ontario Secondary Curriculum for both Computer Studies and Art. To learn more, please visit the Teacher Zone.

Why is this version 2.0 of Stretch? The original Stretch project (opens in new window) was a multi-partner initiative aimed at discovering innovative ways to include people with disabilities in Canada's online cultural exchange. The project involved artists, performers, secondary students, teachers, researchers and people from both the First Nations and disability communities. The participants worked together to create an online collection of artworks, videos, learning resources and tools aimed at encouraging others to stretch their imaginations and their perspectives on inclusion online.

Support and Sponsors

Stretch is a youth outreach initiative that is part of the AEGIS(Ontario) project, a multi-partner project that is working with provincial and international partners to ensure that emerging information and communication technologies (ICT) are designed inclusively, thereby supporting Ontario’s commitment to equal access and preparing Ontario’s ICT businesses to meet the growing global demand for products and services that provide accessibility to people of all abilities.

The ÆGIS Project (Ontario) is supported by the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Research and Innovation: