Information for BC Independent Schools and Distance/Distributed Learning Programs
Welcome to ARC-BC
These resources are accessible to registered users only.
Accessible Resource Centre - British Columbia
Providing Alternate Format Materials to BC Educators to Promote Access to Learning for Students with Perceptual Disabilities
The Accessible Resource Centre - British Columbia is a BC Ministry of Education and Child Care funded response to the growing demand for digital accessible format alternatives to hard-copy print learning materials. The goal of ARC-BC is to provide BC students with perceptual (or print) disabilities and their educational teams with high quality digital alternate format materials that align with British Columbia's K-12 curriculum.
Is ARC-BC for my student?
ARC-BC materials are produced in accordance with Section 32 of the Copyright Act of Canada on behalf of students with perceptual (or print) disabilities. A perceptual (or print) disability results in significant difficulties seeing, holding, or understanding a work in its original format and generally encompasses:
Current News
Dear ARC-BC Users,
As we head into Fall 2023 and with World Teachers' Day just last week, the ARC-BC team wanted to send thanks and appreciation for all the incredible work you do to support more equitable access to learning in school communities across the province!
Connecting Students with Print Disabilities with the Materials They Need.
Now that we’re into October and you’re more familiar with students’ access requirements, we wanted to send a reminder that ARC-BC has thousands of titles in digital accessible formats available for download on behalf of students with print (perceptual) disabilities. If the student’s class is using a hard copy textbook, workbook, or novel and a digital accessible alternative is needed, check us out! Our best tip for searching for materials in the ARC-BC online repository is to search by ISBN to ensure that your results show not only the title needed, but also the correct edition.
Can’t Find It? Request a Title or Format.
If ARC-BC doesn’t have the title you are searching for, or we have it, but it is not in the best format for the student, send us a production request! Timelines to delivery vary based on the complexity and content of the material as well as how many other requests we’re working on at the moment. However, we may not need to produce from scratch! ARC-BC has partner agencies across Canada and so if we can borrow to fill your request more quickly, we will!
Professional Learning and ARC-BC
The work of Accessibility Committees schools and districts across the province have highlighted the importance of accessibility across the learning experience. Join our new ARC-BC Outreach Coordinator, Victoria Woelders, and the ARC-BC team for one of our free workshops. Popular offerings include:
- Getting Started with ARC-BC
- Apps to Access ARC-BC Materials
- Creating Accessible Documents – Designing for Digital Inclusion
Help Us Reach Every Qualifying Student
We also want to ask for your help in connecting every student with a print (perceptual) disability with digital accessible learning materials. If you have a colleague serving students who may qualify for access to ARC-BC, please share this message. ARC-BC registration is 100% online, self-paced, and takes around 8-10 minutes to complete.