AODA & Accessibility Training Material

Information for Assignment Employees about the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)

Introduction

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) was passed into law in 2005 and was last amended in 2016. The simple goal of the AODA is to make Ontario an accessible and inclusive province by 2025. To achieve this goal, the AODA sets and enforces accessibility standards that all organizations must follow. One of these standards is that all employees in Ontario must receive training that can help them contribute to Ontario’s accessibility objectives.

This booklet will provide you with information about:

  • People living with disabilities and the barriers they frequently face.

  • Types of disabilities and the supports/accommodations people with those disabilities use.

  • How to recognize barriers to accessibility and what to do to limit/remove them.

  • Guidelines for how to provide accessible customer service.

  • The standards set by the AODA and how these standards support Ontario’s accessibility objectives.

Disabilities and Barriers to Accessibility

Everyone has their own set of skills and abilities, but many Ontarians have conditions that may limit their capacity to perform certain tasks. The AODA calls these conditions disabilities. The people who live with disabilities often face challenges navigating aspects of society. The AODA calls these challenges barriers. It is one of the goals of the AODA to remove as many of these barriers as possible. When it is not possible to remove a barrier, alternate supports and arrangements must be used to help overcome the barrier. The AODA calls these supports accommodations.

Accessibility is a simple concept– supporting people living with disabilities by removing barriers and, when barriers can’t be removed, by providing reasonable accommodations.

Types of Disability

There are many different types of disabilities and, even when the conditions/causes of a disability are the same, the challenges faced by any two people living with a disability can be very different. Some disabilities are obvious at a glance, and some might be invisible until the person living with them encounters a barrier to accessibility. People living with disabilities may have been doing so their whole lives, but the disability may also have been the result of an accident, injury, illness, or other cause. People living with disabilities may not always be limited in the same way, some may recover and regain full ability, and others might have their abilities change day by day, or even hour to hour. Please study the table below to learn about some broad categories of disability that you need to be aware of to better support accessibility in Ontario.

Auditory Disabilities

Auditory Disabilities – These disabilities make it difficult to hear sounds and/or process auditory information. This includes deaf people, but also those with partial and intermittent hearing. Many people with auditory disabilities communicate using sign language and/or they may be able to communicate orally and understand oral communication by reading lips and body language.

Common Barriers Faced

  • Important information communicated only by sound, such as alarms.

  • Obstructions/poor lighting that make it difficult to read expressions or body language

Example Accommodations

  • Detailed signage and visual information

  • Signal lights or text that accompanies important sounds, such as alarms.

  • Speech to text software.

  • Sign language interpreter.

  • Closed captions in videos

Speech and Language Disabilities

People living with these disabilities have trouble speaking and communicating orally. This can range from mild speech impairments to severe difficulty forming words and phrases.

Example Accommodations

  • Detailed signage and visual information

  • Signal lights or text that accompanies important sounds, such as alarms.

  • Speech to text software.

  • Sign language interpreter.

  • Closed captions in videos

Invisible disabilities

This is a wide range of disabilities that may not be apparent or immediately obvious. These include cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, or sensory conditions that limit a person’s behaviors, senses, or activities.

Common Barriers Faced

  • Difficulty communicating, especially in noisy environments.

  • Trouble accessing services provided exclusively over the phone.

  • Short appointments that don’t allow enough time to communicate clearly.

Common Barriers Faced

  • Lack of understanding when needs for accommodation are not obvious.

  • Processing information that isn’t clearly communicated or simple to understand.

Example Accommodations 

  • Scheduling more time for appointments.

  • Use of dedicated support people to assist with tasks.

  • Provide extra time to complete forms.

  • Have information rephrased and/or explained in another way.

Often people living with disabilities will fall into more than one of the above categories. People living with disabilities in Ontario are diverse. The barriers they face and the accommodations they use to overcome those barriers are diverse as well. The most important thing to remember is this: the person living with a disability knows best what accommodations they need. If there is ever doubt, ask if you can help and how best you can help. Don’t make assumptions about what others need.

Service Animals

Service Animals are used by a wide variety of people living with disabilities and they provide support in a variety of ways. Guide dogs are the common example, but service animals can help in many other ways such as by providing early warning of epileptic seizures. Service animals will usually be identifiable by a vest or harness, and their handler should carry an identification card for their service animal which details the type of disability the animal helps with. Service animals must be welcomed in any area the public is allowed, unless doing so presents a clear danger to health and safety.

The most important thing to remember about service animals is this: Service animals are working animals; they are not pets. You shouldn’t interfere with a service animal while they are working. Welcome the handler and the animal and offer to help but don’t interact with the animal unless given explicit permission to do so as part of providing accommodation.


Support Persons

Many people living with disabilities uses a support person to provide accommodation they need to overcome barriers to accessibility. A support person might assist in a wide variety of ways- such as by helping with mobility and communication. Support people must be welcomed and people living with disabilities who use a support person should not be denied access to the support person. When working with an individual who is assisted by a support person it is important to remember to address and interact with the individual and not the support person. As always, ask how best you can help rather than making assumptions about what others need.


Accessibility Standards in Ontario

The objective of accessibility is to remove barriers that prevent or make it difficult for people living with disabilities to access services, employment, or otherwise participate in society. It is everyone’s responsibility to be aware of these challenges and work towards a more accessible Ontario.

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) sets specific standards that organizations must follow to make the province accessible by 2025. These standards are detailed in the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (IASR). The IASR also has some general accessibility requirements that all organizations in Ontario must follow which include:

  • Training – organizations must provide basic accessibility training to all volunteers/employees. This includes training about the goals of the AODA and how to best eliminate barriers and provide accommodations to people living with disabilities.

  • Accessibility Policy – Organizations must maintain an accessibility policy which highlights the organization’s commitment to Ontario’s accessibility objectives. This policy must be publicly available and be reviewed and updated regularly.

  • Accessibility Plan – Organizations must have an accessibility plan. This plan should detail any known barriers to accessibility and how the barriers that can’t be removed can best be accommodated. This plan should include emergency procedures that account for people living with disabilities as well as individual accommodation plans for specific employees as required. This plan must also be reviewed regularly, and changes must be made as needed to support a more accessible Ontario.

The IASR also specifies minimum standards for accessibility in the following five areas:

1. Information and Communication

These standards require organizations to think about accessibility when creating information and communications. This applies to both internal and external communication. Information produced by an organization should be available in formats that easily support accommodation, usually electronic documents. If information is ever requested in a specific format as part of an accommodation then the organization must provide the information in the requested format or provide a written reason why it is unable to do so.

2. Employment Standards

When hiring, all employers must welcome applications from applicants living with disabilities. During the hiring process, applicants should be encouraged to ask for any accommodations they need during the interview process. After hiring someone living with a disability the employer should work with them to document required accommodations into an individual accessibility plan. This plan should include emergency procedures and must consider skills training and career development.

3. Transportation Standards

These standards apply to all organizations that provide transportation in Ontario. This includes bus, train, taxis, and ferry services among others. These standards require staff to be trained to use accessibility devices, such as ramps, to assist passengers. They also set guidelines around cooperative/accessible seating. It also requires transportation providers give people living with disabilities adequate time to load and secure themselves and to use alternative drop-off and pick-up locations when requested as an accommodation, if possible.

4. Design of Public Spaces

These standards apply to all public spaces in Ontario that are being newly developed or renovated/redeveloped. The standards require designers to plan around accessibility by including features that eliminate barriers as much as possible. For example, ramps should be used whenever elevation changes, automatic doors should be installed, and customer waiting areas should be properly lit and have space for accessible seating.

5. Customer Service Standards

These standards require organizations to consider accessibility in all aspects of customer service. This includes standards for training employees in customer facing roles in how best to recognize barriers and provide accommodations. There are specific requirements for the design of accessibility features in customer facing areas and for posting notice when accessibility features are out of order. There is also a requirement that organizations have in place a system for accepting feedback from customers on the accessibility of their services and requires the organization to incorporate this feedback into its regularly reviewed accessibility plan.


Accessibility and Health and Safety

Supporting workplace health and safety and creating an accessible Ontario go hand in hand. Many of the principles that make for an accessible workplace also make for a safe one. Clear signage, hazard free workspace, functioning alarms and walkable pathways all make the workplace safer and more accessible.