Monday, November 18, 2013

AODA: Why do I have to notify the public when there is a disruption of services?


In Ontario, under the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service, as of January 1, 2012, organizations are required to publicly notify customers of temporary disruptions of services or facilities or if they are expected to be temporarily unavailable in the near future, including the steps to take to access alternative methods. This includes planned as well as unplanned service disruptions. Any disruption of services or facilities that people with disabilities need to access your products or services requires proper notification.

A best practice is to prepare the templates in advance and decide where you want to post the notification. You may want specific templates prepared for chronic problems or anything with a regular scheduled maintenance shutdown. Allocate the responsibility to specific staff or departments and let them know the notification has to answer all of these questions:
  • What is the reason for the disruption?
  • How long do you anticipate the disruption will last?
  • What alternative facilities, if any, are available?
If the disruption means the customer cannot access your services, you may also inform them on your website, if you have one, and perhaps on the telephone. Some organizations may decide to post the disruption notice on the pole by the parking spots for people with disabilities. This tells a person with a disability not to bother disembarking and proceed to find what they need elsewhere. Do what you reasonably can to provide information that can reach your customer as efficiently as possible.

Make your policy and procedures clear to everyone

Example: The only elevator to reach your organization is under repair for the expected duration of three days. You post the notice of disruption of service on your website, post a sign at the site of the disruption and post a notice at the entrances. You offer a different method to reach the customer. You may offer appointments to meet the customer at a mutually agreeable and accessible location.
If you are an organization obligated to keep documentation, you will:
  • Record who is responsible for what action
  • Decide what level of detail about your organization you want to provide the public and government
  • State in your policy that you will provide a notice of disruption of services, and include the legal obligations
  • Decide if you want to include the departments responsible for providing notification; you may not want to provide a specific name of a person responsible, but you may want to include the title of the person or the department in charge
Assess all the assistive devices and services you provide people with disabilities and come up with a plausible case scenario in the event there is a disruption of service. You know your minimum legal obligations and what work needs to be done.

Why is this regulation just for people with disabilities?

People with disabilities need this information in order to proceed with their daily plans and change them when necessary. On the other hand, this is just good customer service that really benefits everyone. Your clients will likely appreciate the additional information. A parent with a baby carriage or anyone using a cart benefits when they are informed the elevator or escalator is not functioning. A person with a baby carriage or a few children has become used to using the accessible washroom that often has a dual purpose of acting as a family room. There are so many benefits everyone enjoys now because of laws originally intended to aid people with disabilities.

How do you notify your customers of disruptions to services?

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 

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