Multi-Year Accessibility Plan REPORT
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Appendix “A” to Report FCS17007 Page 1 of 71 2016 Multi-Year Accessibility Plan REPORT City of Hamilton Access and Equity Office 12/31/2016 Appendix “A” to Report FCS17007 Page 2 of 71 Multi-Year Accessibility Plan 2016 Executive Summary Achieving an accessible City is important to the City of Hamilton’s Mayor and Council, management and staff. To this end, the City of Hamilton is committed to ensuring that persons with disabilities have equitable access to the City’s programs, services, opportunities and resources. This commitment includes being in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, (AODA) 2005 and the standards requirements, as well as undertaking activities and initiatives that will achieve the City’s stated goal. Since 2013, the City of Hamilton has submitted Annual Multi-Year Accessibility Plan (MYAP) status reports providing an overview of the progress that the organization has made with respect to the City’s commitment to accessibility. The Multi-Year Accessibility Plan details departmental strategies, initiatives and activities to reaching the organization’s goals of creating an accessible organization and delivering exceptional and accessible services. The document also reports on the progress made during the year and sets out the measures and deliverables proposed for the year ahead. The Multi-Year Accessibility Plan further demonstrates the City of Hamilton’s compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), 2005 and the Integrated Accessibility Standards (Ontario Regulation 191/11). The following strategic goals were developed for each accessibility standard to help us meet the requirements of AODA: Information and Communications Standards: The City of Hamilton is committed to ensuring that information and communication and supports including the City’s website and self-service kiosks are fully accessible and available in accessible formats. Employment Standards: The City of Hamilton is committed to ensuring that persons with disabilities who are potential employees will be accommodated and supported throughout the recruitment, assessment, selection and hiring process and when they are seeking advancement opportunities as employees. Transportation Standards: The City of Hamilton is committed to ensuring that persons with disabilities access barrier free services and programs when using Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) and the Accessible Transit System (ATS) including DARTS. City of Hamilton - 2016 MYAP Report 1 Appendix “A” to Report FCS17007 Page 3 of 71 Design of Public Spaces Standards: The City of Hamilton is committed to ensuring that City facilities and open spaces are fully accessible and/or will provide accessibility measures to meet the needs of persons with disabilities when accessing programs, services, resources and opportunities. Customer Service Standards: The City of Hamilton is committed to ensuring that persons with disabilities receive equitable, inclusive and accessible customer service that meets their needs when accessing and utilizing City’s services, programs, resources and opportunities. AODA Risk-Assessment Audit - A Partnership with Audit Services To further ensure effective implementation of the AODA Integrated Accessibility Standards, the Access and Equity Office in partnership with Audit Services launched a new initiative in November 2015, the “Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act (AODA) Compliance Audit Pilot”. The purpose of the project was to help departments conduct their own AODA Accessibility Standards for Customer Service compliance self-assessment and subsequently the self- assessments can be used as a tool to measure compliance across the organization, to identify opportunities for improvements in areas of deficiency and to support the City’s efforts of achieving the requirements of the AODA Accessibility Standards for Customer Service. Five citizen facing City service locations were selected for AODA Compliance Audit Pilot including Recreation, Planning, Parking and By-Law Services, Clerks, Customer Service, Access & Equity. The selected location in each Division completed their own self-assessment and submitted to Audit Services for analyzing. Then in the summer of 2016, the Risk Assessment tool was rolled out to the rest of the organization. Audit Services Division will prepare an independent validation report for a sample of locations as it relates to the criteria noted in the self-assessment tool. This new tool will support the organization’s collective efforts of achieving AODA Accessibility Standards for Customer Service compliance across the City and will promote a greater level of transparency and accountability. We believe that this work can help take us further in delivering sensational service to all residents, especially to persons with disabilities. A summary of the compliance risk assessment, grouped by theme, will be prepared by the Audit Services Division for submission to Audit, Finance and Administration Committee. The multi-year plan also includes accessibility information from the Hamilton Public Library. Though the Library information is presented separately for this year, the library information will be integrated in future reports. Moving forward, the City of Hamilton will continue to proactively implement its obligations under the AODA, 2005 and its regulation requirements. City of Hamilton - 2016 MYAP Report 2 Appendix “A” to Report FCS17007 Page 4 of 71 Overview of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001 and Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 The Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001, (ODA), was passed by the Province of Ontario and received Royal Assent on December 14, 2001 to “improve opportunities for persons with disabilities and to provide for their involvement in the identification, removal and prevention of barriers to their full participation in the life of the province”. The sections of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act which apply to municipalities were proclaimed on September 30, 2002 and apply to all Ontario municipalities. The Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001 continues to be in force until repealed in whole or part. The Province of Ontario passed the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) on May 10, 2005 and received Royal Assent on June 13, 2005. The AODA is a provincial law that recognizes the history of discrimination against persons with disabilities in Ontario and will require the “…development, implementation and enforcement of standards” for accessibility to goods, services, facilities, employment, accommodation and buildings for persons with disabilities. Ontario’s first accessibility standard, the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service, became law on January 1, 2008 and the Integrated Accessibility Standards (Information and Communication, Transportation and Employment) was enacted on June 3, 2011 while the Accessibility Standard for the Built Environment came into effect on January 1, 2013. These standards set out requirements that organizations, businesses and municipalities are legally required to comply with. On July 1, 2016, the Accessibility Customer Service Standards, Integrated Accessibility Standards and Built-Environment Standards were amended and became one entity and renamed the Integrated Accessibility Standards. Large public sector organizations are required to produce annual status reports that highlight the progress made in advancing their Multi-Year Accessibility Plan strategies and in meeting the requirements of the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulations. The City of Hamilton has provided compliance reports to the Province since 2010 and has been compliant in all areas. In addition, the City of Hamilton has been implementing the Barrier-Free Design Guidelines which is a made-in-Hamilton design guidelines that is over and above the requirements stipulated in the Ontario Building Code and the Built Environment Standards, for the most part. City of Hamilton - 2016 MYAP Report 3 Appendix “A” to Report FCS17007 Page 5 of 71 Multi-Year Accessibility Plan Strategic Direction 2013 – 2017 Summarized Table Integrated Accessibility Compliant Strategic Goal Pages Standard Regulation () Section Part I: The City of Hamilton is General committed to ensuring that Section 1-8 persons with disabilities 34-36 have equitable access to the City’s programs, services, opportunities and resources. Part II: The City of Hamilton is Information & committed to ensuring that Communications information, communication Working towards Standards and supports including the achieving WCAG 37-40 Section 9-19 City’s website and self- Level AA service kiosks are fully compliance by accessible and available in 2021 accessible formats. Part III: The City of Hamilton is Employment committed to ensuring that Standards persons with disabilities, Section 20-32 who are potential employees, will be accommodated and 41-46 supported throughout the recruitment, assessment, selection and hiring process, as well as when they are seeking advancement opportunities as employees. Section IV: The City of Hamilton is Transportation committed to ensuring that Standards persons with disabilities Section 33-80 access barrier-free services and programs when using Hamilton Street Railway 47-54 (HSR) and the Accessible Transit System (ATS) including Disabled and Aged Regional Transportation System (DARTS). City of Hamilton - 2016 MYAP Report 4 Appendix “A” to Report FCS17007 Page 6 of 71 Integrated Accessibility Compliant