Toronto

Blind woman calls foul on government letters

The province is not doing enough to accommodate people with disabilities, according to a blind woman who is routinely expected to read letters from Ontario's Disability Support Program.

Mail, with small print, from disabilities program ‘ridiculous’ says Toronto’s Chelsea Mohler

Blind spot at the ODSP

10 years ago
Duration 1:59
A visually impaired woman says Ontario's disabilities program falls short on accessibility.

The province is not doing enough to accommodate people with disabilities, according to a blind woman who is routinely expected to read letters from Ontario's Disability Support Program. 

Chelsea Mohler of Toronto does most of her correspondence electronically. She has computer software that reads websites and emails.

But the ODSP — the Ontario program that is meant to help people with disabilities — does not allow people to submit information via the internet, nor will case workers send emails. 

Mohler instead identifies her monthly letters from the ODSP by feel and gets someone else to fill out the forms, reporting any income she has earned. 

"If you get a print notice that asks you to come in and meet with your case worker — and you can't read it and don't respond — your income support could be stopped or withdrawn," she told CBC News. 

"Just on the face of it that's ridiculous," she added. 

Watch the video for the full report.

From a report by Mike Crawley