Guide to hosting a public review session for draft standards
Public review session guide
Public review sessions support the development of accessibility standards by bringing together diverse perspectives and lived experience. By supporting informed dialogue, these sessions help ensure draft standards better reflect the needs of people with disabilities and the broader community.
This guide includes tips for preparing and leading a public review session. It provides practical direction on planning your session and submitting clear, structured feedback during the public review period.
If you have any questions about the guide, please contact us at info.accessibility.standards-normes.accessibilite.info@canada.gc.ca.
Delivering a public review session
You can choose to hold a public review session in-person or virtually.
During draft standard public review periods, our website will contain the following tools to assist you in conducting your independent feedback session:
- The full draft standard in HTML and Word
- A plain language overview in HTML, Word, and American Sign Language
- An online feedback form
Instructions on how to submit your public review comments
Step 1: Prepare your session
- Choose a date, time, and attendees.
- Sessions typically last 1.5 hours, but you can adjust the duration.
- Public review periods generally last 60 to 90 days. Choose a strategic date during the public review period to give participants enough time to review materials and the draft standard. You will also want to hold your session early enough within the review period to ensure you can gather the feedback and send it by the deadline.
- Send invitations as early as possible.
- Create an accessible session and provide accommodations to those who need them to participate.
- Send materials to participants in advance and in accessible formats.
- You can inform us that you are holding the session by emailing us at: info.accessibility.standards-normes.accessibilite.info@canada.gc.ca.
Step 2: Assign roles
- Facilitator - This person leads the discussion, ensures all participants have an opportunity to share their perspectives, and keeps the conversation focused on the standard under review. They also manage time, encourage respectful dialogue, and help clarify any points of confusion.
- Presenter - This person provides participants with information about the draft standard being reviewed. The facilitator and presenter can be the same person.
- Note-taker - This person records public review comments (no names, just content). When your group has more than 6 people, consider splitting into smaller groups to review each section of the draft standard. Each new group needs its own facilitator and note-taker.
Someone will also need to gather supplies for the session, which can include a laptop or tablet, and copies of the materials provided in advance. If the session is in-person, additional supplies could be used to identify key points (i.e., paper and pens, whiteboard/flipchart and markers or post-it notes/sticky dots).
You can also record your session or use AI tools to summarise the conversation.
Step 3: Conduct your session
Here is a suggested agenda for your session:
- Welcome and introductions - Set a collaborative tone for the session.
- Purpose - Review the agenda so participants understand the purpose of the session, and at what point they will be providing their public review comments.
- Presentation on the draft standard - Provide highlights of the draft standard under review. Use plain language and be concise to allow for more discussion time.
- Question and feedback period - Providing detailed comments during the public review increases the likelihood that they will be incorporated into final standards. Encourage participants to structure their comments with the following information:
- The section number
- The kind of comment they are making:
- Editorial (such as spelling, grammar, formatting and accessibility)
- Technical (such as dimensions or application of the standard)
- General comments on a section
- The details about their suggested change by answering 3 questions:
- What should be changed?
- What should it be changed to?
- Why it should be changed?
- Close out your session:
- Highlight the main points to confirm public review comments were captured correctly.
- Thank participants for their input.
- Remind participants that they can send additional public review comments using the online form.
- Ask participants to encourage others to provide their comments before the deadline.
Step 4: Follow-up
- Provide your public review comments to Accessibility Standards Canada by following the instructions provided on our website.
- Share the feedback with participants and ask them if they would participate in other draft standard public reviews.