Creating Learning Opportunities: RHFAC Professional Chantal Robert Raises Awareness of Accessibility
Is there a greater feeling than sharing knowledge about something you are passionate about with others? This is a belief that motivated Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility CertificationTM (RHFAC) Professional, Chantal Robert, to build a career in accessibility.
In 2022, Chantal received her RHFAC Professional designation, learning more about how to incorporate accessibility into her work as a Corporate Facility Portfolio Planner at the City of Calgary.
The RHFAC Professional Training course teaches individuals how to use the RHFAC methodology to rate buildings on their level of meaningful access. Upon successful completion and passing the subsequent RHFAC Professional exam, individuals will obtain their RHFAC Professional designation, qualifying them to conduct RHFAC ratings for existing buildings and pre-construction plans.
“RHFAC Professional Training brought a lot of awareness. I look at things differently now that I have this knowledge on accessibility that I didn’t before,” she explained. “It gives me a lot of credibility, and people see me as a specialist in accessibility.”
Expanding Knowledge
Chantal's experience in the course, and her participation in the Accessibility Professional Network (APN), a membership network created to bring together accessibility professionals, has allowed her to continue learning about trends and novel innovations in the field.
Through the APN, she learned of the APN2024 conference. The APN conference brings together architects, engineers, designers, planners, staff from all levels of government, individuals working in the accessibility and inclusion space, APN members, and corporate leaders, among others, to collaborate on how to create an accessible built environment for all.
After hearing about this opportunity, she signed up to attend virtually. Chantal watched many of the panels and noted that the majority of the sessions would be hugely beneficial for her colleagues and teammates.
“APN provides the videos for attendees after the fact, so I thought why not share the panel and have a conversation about the learnings,” Chantal explained. “It was an incredible way to share the knowledge.”
Sharing with a Community
Once the idea was born, Chantal brought it to the Accessibility and Equity community of practice in Facility Planning team at the City of Calgary, a group of individuals who all work to plan facilities for the city. She thought this group would be a great audience with whom to begin a deeper conversation about accessibility. The community is still quite new, so it is evolving and more individuals who work in accessibility from across departments are being invited to participate.
“Our team plans the facilities, so we come into the process before the space planning. At our stage, we need to be able to advocate for accessibility and ensure that the proposed budget allocates enough to do it right,” Chantal explained of her team’s role. “By sharing the information, we can get the buy in about accessibility and raise the awareness of its importance.”
During their first session, the group watched an APN2024 panel session entitled Accelerating Access in Municipalities. Chantal explained that the session stimulated conversation and she has now followed-up with a survey to gauge if the group enjoyed the format and what could be modified to get the most out of these opportunities.
Chantal hasn't stopped there – she continues to seek learning opportunities. For example, her team has an upcoming external neurodiversity consultant set to come present. Chantal saw this as an opportunity. Prior to the presentation, she plans to send out the APN Webinar on neurodiversity to her team to watch, so they can have a baseline of information upon which to draw upon during the presentation.
Accessibility for All
Chantal has a clear passion, and one she is eager to share. “This all started for me because of my mom,” she explained. “She has multiple disabilities, and as I watched her navigate spaces, I started to understand the role of access more fully and wanted to learn more.”
With a background in engineering and interior design, RHFAC Professional Training and her subsequent learning opportunities, have continued to help her elevate her work and advocate for access.
“With this knowledge I can see things that I maybe wouldn't have before and be able to speak up about accessibility and its importance.”
For Chantal, sharing knowledge and raising awareness is critical to creating spaces that work for everyone.
“For me, accessibility is that people, regardless of age, ability, or any other factor, can enjoy different spaces,” Chantal said. “Everyone has access in a meaningful way.”
Join us at the APN2025 Conference
This year's conference is taking place on March 27 and 28, 2025 virtually and in person at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia.
