2010_Office_of

Table of Contents

Regional Overview

York Region's 2010 Accessibility Plan

1.	Helping People Live Independently
2.	Making it Easier to Move Around the Region
3.	Making Regional Services More Accessible
4.	Making it Easier to Participate in Regional Government
5.	Changing Attitudes and Raising Awareness
Conclusion

Departmental Accessibility Plans

Community and Health Services

Corporate Services

Environmental Services

Finance

Office of the Chief Administrative Officer

Planning and Development Services

Transportation Services

York Regional Police

Office of the Chief Administrative Officer

Environmental Scan

The priorities identified by the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer
are as follows:

To lead The Regional Municipality of York in implementing the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) Accessibility Standards for Customer Service Regulation and the Accessible Information and Communications Standard.
To increase accessibility on www.york.ca by continuing to research and implement assistive technologies. The web remains a popular channel to access Regional information. The implementation of technologies such as RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds allows customers to customize the Regional website to meet their viewing and navigational needs and preferences.
To increase knowledge of personal preparedness that will allow people with disabilities to respond to emergency situations in a proactive way.

Our Customers

The Office of the Chief Administrative Officer is responsible for corporate administration, strategic planning, internal and external communications, the Corporate Customer Service Strategy and emergency management. Our customers include staff, local municipalities and the community. The Corporate Communications branch is also responsible for the layout and dissemination of information over the Internet and Intranet in a way that supports screen reading software for people who are blind or have low vision. Any documents produced by Corporate Communications will be made available in a format or font size that would be most accessible for a person with a disability.

Accessibility Statement

The Office of the Chief Administrative Officer is committed to providing services that align with the goals of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001 (ODA) and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA). Our practices will respect the dignity and independence of people with disabilities.

The following is a list of the table header meanings:

Progress Report on Accessibility Achievements - 2009
Barrier Identified Gives a description of the barrier and indicates where the barrier was found.
For example, was the barrier in a program, service, by-law, policy, practice or facility?

Barrier Type Indicates the type(s) of barrier (physical, architectural, informational, communicational, attitudinal, technological, policy/practice).

Disability Type Indicates the type(s) of disability affected by the barrier (physical, sensory, cognitive, mental illness or other).

How the barrier was addressed Describes the action taken to identify, remove or prevent the barrier.

Barrier Identification for 2010
By-laws, policies and practices to be reviewed Indicate what will be reviewed to identify barriers.

Methods to be used to identify the barrier Describe the method used to identify barriers.

Timing When will this be completed? The timing for addressing a barrier does not necessarily have to be set within 2010. The nature of the action may be phased in over a number of months or years depending on the resources and priorities of the Department.

Barriers That Will Be Addressed for 2010
Barrier Identified Indicate where the barrier was found.

Barrier Type Indicate the type(s) of barrier � physical, architectural, informational, communicational, attitudinal, technological, policy/practice.

Disability Type Indicate the type(s) of disability affected by the barrier � physical, sensory, cognitive, mental illness or other.

What will be gained by removing or preventing the barrier Indicate how accessibility will be enhanced by removing or preventing this barrier.

Means to prevent/remove the barrier Describe what action will be taken to remove and/or prevent the barrier.

Indicators of success Indicate how customer service will be improved by removing or preventing this barrier. Also indicate any other measure(s) that will be used to determine whether or not the Department was successful in removing and/or preventing this barrier.

Timing The timing for addressing a barrier does not necessarily have to be set in 2010; the nature of the action may be phased in over a number of months or years depending on the resources and priorities of the Department.

Office of the Chief Administrative Officer
Progress Report on Accessibility Achievements - 2009

Barrier Identified	Barrier Type	Disability Type	How the barrier was addressed
Making Regional Services More Accessible
To meet the requirements of the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service (AODA), a corporate document will be developed that sets out the steps to be taken during a temporary disruption.	Informational	All	A temporary disruption process was addressed in the Accessible Customer Service Training and included in the Accessible Customer Service Policy.
Web: Content Management System (CMS).	Technological	Sensory	It is anticipated the technology will be implemented and tested in 2010.
Research to determine what York Region website content should be accessible through RSS technology.	Informational, Technological	Sensory, Cognitive	Research to be completed in 2010.
Changing Attitudes and Raising Awareness
To meet the requirements of the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service (AODA), a corporate training strategy will be created and implemented for providing York Region goods and services to people with disabilities, incorporating the Regulation's core principles of independence, integration and equal opportunity.	All	All	Tier 1 Accessible Customer Service Training is completed. The original estimate was that 60-100 staff would meet the criteria for full day training. In the end, 150+ staff received this training. Tier 2 training for staff, volunteers and agents working on our behalf was completed. The training DVD used for Tier 2 training is closed captioned and has an option for descriptive video built into the main DVD menu. A strategy was developed to ensure contracts for agents working on our behalf include training requirements.
To meet the requirements of the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service (AODA), a process will be developed for responding to customer feedback about the way York Region provides goods and services to people with disabilities.	All	All	A customer feedback process was included in the Accessible Customer Service Policy.
Review department's internal policies, practices and procedures to ensure incorporation of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) Customer Service Regulation's core principles of independence, integration and equal opportunity.	Policy/Practice	All	A review of all internal departmental policies, practices and procedures to identify gaps in the core principles of independence, integration and equal opportunity was completed. The department continues to act as the lead for the corporate implementation of the AODA Accessibility Standards for Customer Service Regulation.

Office of the Chief Administrative Officer
Barrier Identification for 2010

By-laws, policies and practices to be reviewed	Methods to be used to identify the barrier	Timing
Changing Attitudes and Raising Awareness
Incorporate the Accessible Customer Service Policy into specific departmental policies and practices.	Internal departmental policies and practices will be reviewed against the corporate Accessible Customer Service Policy.	2010
Changing Attitudes and Raising Awareness
Incorporate the Accessible Customer Service Policy into specific departmental policies and practices.	Internal departmental policies and practices will be reviewed against the corporate Accessible Customer Service Policy.	2010

Office of the Chief Administrative Officer
Barriers That Will Be Addressed for 2010

Barrier Identified	Barrier Type	Disability Type	What will be gained by removing or preventing the barrier	Means to prevent/remove the barrier	Indicators of success	Timing
Making Regional Services More Accessible
Access to information on www.york.ca	Technological, Informational	Cognitive, Sensory, Physical	Easier access to changing information that does not have to be searched by users or located via web navigation. Information will be pushed directly to the computers of end users.	Increase the amount of RSS feeds on www.york.ca	People with disabilities will find it easier to retrieve information from the Region's website.	2010
Act as departmental lead for the corporate implementation of the requirements of the proposed Information and Communications Standard under the AODA.	Policy/ Practice	All	York Region will be better prepared to meet the requirements of the regulation when it is passed into law.	Work collaboratively with the Community and Health Services Department (corporate AODA lead) to monitor standard development activities, prepare for implementation requirements and report development activities to senior management and Council.	Increased access for people with disabilities to York Region's information and communications.	2010 - Ongoing
Continue to implement the 2009 web-based objectives that are linked to implementing portal technology: Test the effectiveness of the automatic font size icon/link available on the website. Conduct usability testing on the contrast control feature available on the website.	Technological	Sensory	Access to York Region's website will be increased for people with sensory disabilities.	The Office of the CAO will work in partnership with Information Technology Services to research appropriate technology to deliver these features.	People with disabilities will find it easier to retrieve information from the Region's website.	2010 - 2012
Working in collaboration with the Community and Health Services Department as departmental lead for communication and compliance supports for the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service Regulation (AODA).	All	All	Implementation activities will be completed across all departments.	Communication tools and compliance support and monitoring tools will be developed to assist departments to implement the requirements of the Regulation.	Successful implementation of the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service Regulation will result in better customer service to people with disabilities.	2010 -Ongoing
Changing Attitudes and Raising Awareness
Public awareness for individual capacity for personal preparedness.	Communicational, Informational	All	Increased awareness of individual capacity for personal preparedness to increase resiliency in the event of an emergency or disaster.	Development and use of public educational material targeted to people with disabilities, building individual capacity for personal preparedness.	Increased knowledge will allow people with disabilities to respond to emergency situations in a proactive way.	2010
Awareness of the needs of people with disabilities during an emergency or disaster.	Policy/Practices	All	Increased awareness of the needs of people with disabilities during an emergency or disaster.	Increase the participation of people with disabilities in emergency management exercises.	Exercises will be more inclusive of the needs of people with disabilities.	2010

Office of the Chief Administrative Officer

Environmental Scan

Our Customers

Accessibility Statement

Office of the Chief Administrative OfficerProgress Report on Accessibility Achievements - 2009

Office of the Chief Administrative OfficerBarrier Identification for 2010

Office of the Chief Administrative OfficerBarriers That Will Be Addressed for 2010

Office of the Chief Administrative Officer
Progress Report on Accessibility Achievements - 2009

Office of the Chief Administrative Officer
Barrier Identification for 2010

Office of the Chief Administrative Officer
Barriers That Will Be Addressed for 2010