Nonprofit Lights, Camera, Access (LCA) has released a new report detailing the myriad employment and accessibility challenges facing Canadians with disabilities working in Ontario’s screen-based industries, with the report highlighting negative assumptions about people with disabilities and architectural accommodations as major hurdles.

The findings in the report, ScreenAccessON, which was funded in part by the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) and presented by consulting firm Nordicity, were compiled from a literature scan, online survey, roundtable discussion and stakeholder interviews conducted over this past spring and summer.

While the authors state that participation in the survey was low (between 42 and 60 respondents), and that results cannot be taken as representative of all people with disabilities working in the industry, they provide a glimpse into the lived experiences of some Canadians with disabilities working in film and TV.

The majority of those surveyed for the report indicated they had a mobility impairment (51%), while 25% stated they had a mental health condition. More than one third of respondents (36%) selected more than one category of disability.

While breaking into the industry is a challenge for most, respondents said this is a nearly insurmountable barrier for people with disabilities. The vast majority of those surveyed for the report were employed in temporary freelance or contract work (74%), compared to only 21% who reported having full-time, permanent work. On average, those surveyed worked 14 weeks in 2015, while one third of survey respondents reported working zero weeks that year.

Many survey respondents ascribed their lack of job continuity not to a lack of skills (of those surveyed, 62% had worked in the industry for more than 10 years), but to employers’ uncertainty about how to accommodate people with disabilities.

The average annual income of survey respondents was $37,100 for 2015, below that of the general population of Ontarians with disabilities ($39,300) and far below the Canadian Media Producers Association’s annual profile for yearly full-time salary in the Canadian film and TV production industry ($60,552).

Furthermore, attitudes of colleagues and senior staff was pointed to as a major barrier to success. Many interviewed stated that they felt their colleagues did not trust them to do their jobs well. Other respondents said they were called “lazy,” while another respondent was told people with disabilities are considered a “liability” in the screen-based industries.

Architectural and technological accommodations were another noted challenge. While physical accessibility seems to be improving, as organizations are mandated to comply with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), problems persist. One respondent remarked that casting offices are frequently inaccessible. Another asked, “How can you get the gig if you can’t get in the door?” Others offered that on set and behind the scenes, obstacles such as cables and stairs always need to be navigated.

The report also offered opportunities for change, including a need to develop AODA awareness, training and education materials tailored to the screen-based industries. Overall, however, the report stated that change can’t happen without greater awareness of the challenges facing people with disabilities.