ATTACHMENT 2
OVERVIEW OF THE Accessibility Standards for Customer Service (
I. Policies, Practices and Procedures
Section 3 of the Ontario Regulation 429/07 (the Regulation) requires municipalities to establish policies, procedures and practices governing its provision of goods and services to persons with disabilities. Reasonable effort must be taken to ensure these are consistent with the core principles of the Standard – dignity, independence, integration and equal opportunity. These principles are designed to ensure that persons with disabilities receive the same level of service as other customers and without unnecessary disruption, interference or embarrassment.
Policies should also address the use of personal assistive devices such as oxygen tanks or walkers and the availability of other assistive measures such as TTY (Telephone Teletype) or amplification systems. In addition,, policies will have to cover the Civic Centre and the Town’s satellite facilities and must take into account a diverse range of situations such as access to the Council Chambers or use of the recreational pools.
Section 3(4) of the Regulation provides that communication with a person with a disability should be done in a manner that takes into account the person’s disability. In so doing, an individual’s needs are considered “without presumption.” For instance, it should not be presumed that the majority of people who are blind are able to use Braille. Municipalities also must ensure that their communications are as accessible as possible by using such methods as providing large print or audio alternatives, including closed captioning on videos and continuing to improve website accessibility such as high contrast display options. Face to face communications might also be improved by such methods as amplification devices at service counters like the Cashiers’ booths in the Civic Centre.
II. Service Animals and Support Persons
The Regulation mandates that municipalities ensure that a person is permitted to be accompanied by his/her guide dog or other service animal in the areas of its premises that are open to the public or third parties. A service animal may be any animal that is used by a person with a disability, not just a guide dog. This requirement does not apply where an animal is excluded by law such as under the Health Protection and Promotion Act which prohibits animals entering into areas where food is prepared, stored or sold.
The Regulation also recognizes that certain animal breeds may also be restricted by municipal by laws. Where a service animal is excluded by law, a municipality must take steps to ensure that goods and services can still be provided to the person with a disability. Examples might include providing a secure area for a service animal to wait or providing a staff person to assist in guiding a person with a visual disability.
Municipalities must also allow persons with disabilities to be accompanied by a support person in premises that are open to the public or third parties. Where an admission fee is normally charged for entry, a municipality may also charge the support person but notice of the fee must be clearly given in advance.
If a municipality has facilities or services that people with disabilities need to use in order to access goods and services, public notice must be provided when such facilities or services are temporarily unavailable or if they are expected to be temporarily unavailable in the future. Such facilities or services might include escalators, elevators or accessible washrooms. Notices should be conspicuously displayed within the facility or posted on the municipal website. It should include pertinent information such as the expected duration of the disruption, any mitigation measures in place such as alternative access routes, and the location of alternative facilities if available.
IV. Training
The Regulation requires municipalities to train staff on how to
provide excellent customer service to persons with disabilities. This training must
be given to all employees, volunteers, agents and contractors and others who
might reasonably be expected to interact with the public on behalf of the Town
or influence the development of policies, practices and procedures. This would
include most, if not all, Town of
Although the Regulation is silent as to what format training should take, it does mandate that the following topics be covered:
a) Review of the purposes of the AODA and requirements of the Customer Service Standard;
b) Instruction on how to interact and communicate with people with various types of disabilities;
c) Instruction on how to interact with people with disabilities who use assistive devices or require the assistance of a guide dog, other service animal or a support person;
d) Instruction on how to use equipment or devices available at the municipality’s premises that may help people with disabilities access services, such as TTY telephones, accessible interactive kiosks or other technology;
e) Instruction on what to do if a person with a disability is having difficulty accessing services.
Training must be provided to all applicable existing employees, volunteers, contractors and others by January 1, 2010, and from then on, as soon as practicable for new applicable employees. The standard also requires that a municipality keep records of the training provided, including the dates of training and how many individuals received the training.
V. Complaint Feedback Process
The Regulation requires that municipalities set up a feedback process so that anyone can comment on the provision of goods and services to people with disabilities. The process must indicate what action will be taken once a complaint has been received. Under the Accessible Communications provision outlined above, the Town must take steps to ensure that the feedback process is as accessible as possible, therefore multiple avenues of feedback may be required such as by telephone, email or in person.
VI. Document Requirements
The Regulation requires that municipalities prepare, and make available upon request, documents outlining the general policies, procedures and practices relating to the provision of goods and services to people with disabilities, as well as those policies procedures and practices that relate specifically to service animals and support persons, notice of temporary disruptions, training and the complaint feedback process.
This may be a single document or multiple documents. The form, length and level of detail of these is not described in the legislation, however, the standard states that the documents must be made available in a format that takes into account a requestor’s disability. Notice of the availability to the public of these documents must also be provided and may be given by posting notices in facilities, on a website or by any reasonable method.