Saturday, May 25, 2013

Make AODA training count for more than compliance

Customer Service Standard of the AODA states:

· -if your company is 20 or more employees they must be trained and report the training in accessibility and disability.

· -The Integrated Accessibility Standard also contains training requirements for accessibility and the Ontario Human Rights code.

The best employers and proactive HR managers will go beyond just meeting the AODA training requirements. You can make the greatest impact for your employees and for your organization by using your AODA training as tool for increasing employee engagement/. For many organizations AODA training is compliance-driven.

Thoughtful incorporation of AODA standards and effective AODA training can be linked to employee engagement. Corporate social responsibility (CSR), including sustainable business practices, is increasingly tied to employee expressions of engagement and alignment with the organization. Studies show that companies with high CSR values also score higher in employee engagement.

The best way to make the link between CSR and the AODA is a thoughtful and specific application of AODA standards and training to your industry. Taking the time to identify and develop practices unique to your company, clients and processes is a way to show your employees that accessibility for Ontarians with disabilities is part of your organization’s sustainable business practice. The more specific you can make your training, and the more directly you can link it to your vision and values as a company, the more value the training will have.

Training time is one of the most valuable assets to a company and is also highly valued by employees. Dig a little deeper to figure out how and why your organization really wants to be accessible for Ontarians with disabilities in a unique way. Make your AODA training count!

What does your training plan look like??

If you are interested in learning more about Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) or how to make accessibility a natural part of your business through the application of Corporate Social Responsibility, please contact Sandra Broekhof @ 416-579-1035 or sandra_broekhof@sympatico.ca or visit www.accessibilitycompliance.ca

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Font sizes and accessibility

The issue about font size and why only certain font types are preferred when talking about accessibility, deserves another review on behalf of people with varying vision loss. People who are blind use a screen reader. Screen readers can read basic paragraphs and are a whole other topic. This article is about meeting the needs of people who for whatever reason have a vision disability and can still read. The font size and type you choose to use when creating all sorts of documents is an easy way to make it accessible for people who have some type of vision loss but can still read.
With respect to fonts, Arial and Verdana regular (i.e., not italic) are considered the easiest to read, and both are free. Minimum font size should be no less than 12 points. The preference is 14 points. The Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) website provides simple Clear Print Accessibility Guidelines (PDF document) recommending 12 to 18 points, depending on your font type. Recommendations include:

Use fonts with a medium heaviness
Avoid light type with thin strokes
Avoid artistic fonts
Use bold type instead of italics for emphasis and resource references

The guidelines are quick to read and memorize. There are reasons for each recommendation and simple alternatives provided.
Documents that have not been written using accessibility rules, such as strong colour/tonal contrast, are also a problem. Use high colour/tonal contrast for text and backgrounds, for example, black or dark blue on a white or yellow background. You can also reverse the colours.
There are more recommendations when the discussion turns to other methods of sending your information. Other considerations for your emails include:

Avoid using complicated backgrounds, designs and watermarks. Complicated backgrounds are often difficult to read for everyone, with or without a disability. Without these options, there are still beautiful methods to provide information
Choose off-white to avoid glare. Bright white can cause glare, which can make information difficult to read for people with a variety of vision disabilities. Glare also causes eyes to get tired
Use colours only in titles or highlighted information
Avoid crowding your text
Design simplicity is the key to success

What is your alternative when you are angry? Use words to express your anger. I am frustrated that in our communications something as simple as a larger font maybe misconstrued as an angry email.

Monday, May 6, 2013

How can assistive technology help employers and other organizations?

Studies have shown that employers often do not hire applicants with disabilities or retain employees with disabilities, because they do not know or understand how the individual can perform the essential functions of the job with the use of an assistive device. Nevertheless, assistive technology can play a critical role in complying with reasonable/individualized accommodations. Providing a reasonable accommodation to an employee with a disability can include the acquisition or modification of equipment or devices.

For the purpose of the AODA, the Customer Service Standard requires that

· all providers of goods or services develop a policy on allowing people to use their own personal assistive devices to access the goods and services provided and on any situations where such use may not be permitted. The policy should also address any measures the organization offers to enable people with disabilities to access its goods and use its services. This may include assistive devices, services or methods offered such as alternative document formats, or assistance by a staff person.

· Alternative formats, addressed under the Customer Service, Information and Communication Standards of the AODA, allow users to communicate and access information and library and educational resources. People interact, learn and communicate in diverse ways.

· Learning opportunities are increased when flexible ways of engaging with learning materials are provided. Considering how people communicate is important for knowledge to be exchanged. Alternative formats take into account these diverse ways of exchanging information.

· The Information and Communication Standard requires that educational institutions and their employees know how to produce accessible or conversion-ready versions of textbooks and printed material and be knowledgeable at interacting and communicating with people with disabilities who may use alternative formats and devices.

· The Accessibility Standard for Employment will help Ontario businesses and organizations make accessibility a regular part of finding, hiring and supporting employees with disabilities. This includes knowing what processes will be modified to individually accommodate applicants and employees with disabilities

So it is important to try to understand assistive technology and the services that rehabilitation engineers can provide to meet the needs of your customers, applicants and employees with a disability.
Industry Canada’s comprehensive list of assistive device companies can be searched by province and disability, as well as alphabetically. It includes links to accommodation consultants, accessible web consultants and multiple format companies, and provides a short and long description of each.

Let me know where you stand in terms of assistive technology. Will you be ready for the compliance deadline?

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Components of the Multi-Year Accessibility Plan

The Integration Accessibility Standard requires that all organizations prepare a Multi-Year Accessibility Plan. The first companies have to submit this by January 1, 2014. The requirements include that organizations must:

Establish, implement, maintain and document a multi-year accessibility plan, which outlines the organization’s strategy to prevent and remove barriers and meet its requirements under this regulation;
Post the accessibility plan on their website, if any, and provide the plan in an accessible format upon request; and
Review and update the accessibility plan at least once every five years.

The Government of Ontario, as a leader in the implementation of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, has developed an accessibility plan.

· To begin the process of developing this plan to compliance, the organization must:

· Assess their current operating environment

· Review its practices and premises (to understand how best alter and improve accessibility)

This assessment allows each organization to

· Examine how it currently treats persons with disabilities

· How it can do better in policy and physically to include all people with disabilities in all parts of your organization

· Allow you to compare your current policies with the Integrated Accessibility Standard compliance requirements

· Assess the work that needs to be done in the future

It is crucial that the assessment include input from a wide range of people: employees, customers, accessibility experts, persons with disabilities—anyone who might use the organization’s products, services, facilities or public spaces.

An Accessibility Compliance Consultant can help:

Plan for Compliance including a pre-assessment
Develop Key messages for all staff
Develop resources/tools to aid toward compliance
Support key relationships
Assist in the development of a multi-year accessibility Plan
Plan for audits

Let me know where you stand in the development of the Multi-Year Accessibility Plan. Will you be ready for the compliance deadline?

Principles of the Accessibility for Ontarians for Disabilities Act

The Standards of the AODA and the Accessibility for Ontarians for Disabilities Act talk about principles of Accessibilities. These principles are important for people with disabilities as they help achieve accessibility. These principles as they move to practices that help with full inclusion. These principles include dignity, independence, integration and equal opportunity. We must start to discuss the meaning and practice of each principle to help form the practices of a barrier free Ontario. Organizations must create policies, practices and procedures that are guided by the principles.

What does the principle of equal opportunity mean?

In general, equal opportunity means that people with disabilities have an opportunity to equally participate or access goods or services. This means that they have the same chances, options, benefits and results as others. People with disabilities should not have to make any more significantly effort to access a good or service. It should not be an inconvenience. This helps maintain that equal opportunity have the same chances, options, benefits and results as others. Sometimes, equal opportunity can be best reached by taking steps to ensure that individuals need are taken into account when planning the goods or services.

The staff needs to assist people with disabilities to understand the variety of products available, especially if the customer cannot access the goods or services. The customers need to be listened to ensure that each good and service is granted.

Can you share any examples of how a good or service is designed to respect the principle of equal opportunity for people with disabilities?