The new Accessibility Standards for Customer Service came into force on January 1, 2008. To begin to transition OPS ministries to the new regulation, this section has been added to the ODA Planning Template to highlight customer service initiatives.

All OPS ministries must comply with the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service by January 1, 2010. To assist ministries with planning and compliance, initiatives in this section should correspond to the 11 requirements under the new Accessibility Standards for Customer Service under the AODA, as listed below.

NOTE: MGCS is currently working on a Service Directive, corporate policies and guidelines that may be used by each ministry to satisfy some of the following requirements. Further information on what can be used/leveraged will be provided to ministry ODA planning leads shortly.

1. Establish policies, practices and procedures on providing goods or services to people with disabilities.
2. Use reasonable efforts to ensure that your policies, practices and procedures are consistent with the core principles of independence, dignity, integration and equality and opportunity.
3. Set a policy on allowing people to use their own personal assistive devices to access your goods, use your services and any other measures your organization offers (assistive devices, services, or methods) to enable them to access your goods and use your services.
4. Communicate with a person with a disability in a manner that takes into account his or her disability.
5. Allow people with disabilities to be accompanied by their guide dog or service animal in those areas of the premises you own or operate that are open to the public, unless the animal is excluded by another law. If a service animal is excluded by law, use other measures to provide services to the person with a disability.
6. Permit people with disabilities who use a support person to bring that person with them while accessing goods or services in premises open to the public or third parties.
7. Where admission fees are charged, provide notice ahead of time on what admission, if any, would be charged for a support person of a person with a disability.
8. Provide notice when facilities or services that people with disabilities rely on to access or use your goods or services are temporarily disrupted.
9. Train staff, volunteers, contractors and any other people who interact with the public or other third parties on your behalf on a number of topics as outlined in the customer service standard.
10. Train staff, volunteers, contractors and any other people who are involved in developing your policies, practices and procedures on the provision of goods or services on a number of topics as outlined in the customer service standard.
11. Establish a process for people to provide feedback on how you provide goods or services to people with disabilities and how you will respond to any feedback and take action on any complaints. Make the information about your feedback process readily available to the public.

Focus Area: Standards 1 and 2

Establish policies, practices and procedures on providing goods or services to people with disabilities.

Use reasonable efforts to ensure that your policies, practices and procedures are consistent with the core principles of independence, dignity, integration and equality and opportunity.

Commitment: New

The ministry is committed to promoting accessibility in its workplaces and has undertaken numerous initiatives to promote accessibility awareness among its staff.

In the upcoming accessibility planning year, the ministry will undertake activities to ensure its policies, practices and procedures are in compliance with the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service as mandated under the AODA by January 1, 2010.

Planned Actions:

The ministry will undertake a gap analysis in Winter 2008/09 to determine if current customer services practices are consistent with AODA requirements. An action plan will be developed to address identified gaps (Winter 2009) and implemented in Spring/Summer 2009. Staff training and awareness programs on new and enhanced policies and procedures will follow in Summer and Fall 2009.

Implementation Timeline: Winter 2008/09 through to Fall 2009

Focus Area: Standards 3, 4, 5, and 6

Set a policy on allowing people to use their own personal assistive devices to access your goods, use your services and any other measures your organization offers (assistive devices, services, or methods) to enable them to access your goods and use your services.

Communicate with a person with a disability in a manner that takes into account his or her disability.

Allow people with disabilities to be accompanied by their guide dog or service animal in those areas of the premises you own or operate that are open to the public, unless the animal is excluded by another law. If a service animal is excluded by law, use other measures to provide services to the person with a disability.

Permit people with disabilities who use a support person to bring that person with them while accessing goods or services in premises open to the public or third parties.

Commitment: New/Ongoing

The ministry will continue to integrate accessibility considerations in the planning and support process for ministry public events. This ongoing commitment ensures all staff consider accessibility when planning events.

The ministry will ensure its goods and services are fully accessible to people using personal assistive devices, guide dogs or service animals and/or support persons.

Results Achieved

The Ontario Women’s Directorate and the Citizenship and Immigration Division support a range of grant programs to further the mandate of the ministry and enhance services to Ontarians. To address the concern that some grant recipients may not be sensitive to the needs of people with disabilities, on March 14, 2008, a memo was issued to senior management requesting they communicate the availability of the Planning for Accessible Events 101 tool to their grant recipients.

Program areas were left to use their discretion as to how to best communicate the availability of this planning tool to reflect the nature of their relationship with their funded agencies. Program areas have, for example, referenced the planning tool in the call for proposals document or provided a link to the planning tool to in follow-up communication with successful grants recipients.

This commitment served to raise awareness of accessibility issues among the ministry’s funded agencies and grant recipients and has encouraged community partners to consider issues of accessibility when planning events and meetings.

Planned Action:

The ministry will continue to use the resource guide, Planning for Accessible Events 101, when planning events and to promote its use among its grant recipients.

The ministry will review its current policies and practices outlining expectations for staff in organizing public events to ensure the needs of people with disabilities are fully considered. As part of the broader review of its current policies and practices, the ministry will review its current procedures with respect to individuals accessing its goods and services to ensure there are no barriers to people using personal assistive devices, guide dogs or service animals and support persons. Where appropriate, policies, procedures and practices will be updated and training/orientation provided to ministry staff.

Implementation Timeline: Ongoing throughout the year Winter 2008/09 through to Fall 2009

Focus Area: Standard 4

Communicate with a person with a disability in a manner that takes into account his or her disability.

Commitment 1: New/Ongoing

The ministry will undertake to ensure that customers and other users are aware that ministry publications are available in alternate formats.

Results Achieved:

On March 31, 2008, the Director, Communications Branch issued a memo reminding all managers of the ministry’s policy on the provision of material in alternate formats and procedures to access this material.

As a result of this ongoing commitment, ministry staff are aware of the availability of ministry publications in alternate format and able to effectively promote their availability among clients, stakeholders and the public.

Planned Actions:

The ministry will continue to partner with Publications Ontario to communicate that ministry publications are available in alternate formats when requested. Ministry offices will also continue to promote the availability of MCI publications in alternate formats.

Consistent with the expectations detailed in the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service, the ministry will review its current policies to ensure standards are being met and revise polices and procedures where appropriate. Any revisions to current policies and procedures will be communicated to all staff and training/orientation will be implemented as appropriate.

Implementation Timeline:

Ongoing throughout the year
Winter 2008/09 through to Fall 2009

Commitment 2: Completed

To ensure that persons who are deaf or hard of hearing have access to ministry programs and services.

Results Achieved:

Building on previous actions to improve access to ministry programs, services and information, TTY lines were installed at the Ontario Seniors Secretariat and the Ontario Pilot Provincial Nominee Program. Front-line and reception staff were trained on the new systems.

Sign language interpretation was provided at the ministry’s All Staff Day on September 16, 2008 and is available, as needed, at all ministry events.

As a result of these initiatives, staff, clients, stakeholders and the public who are deaf or hard of hearing have better access to information on ministry programs and services.

Planned Actions:

The Ontario Honours and Awards Secretariat plans to install a TTY-machine later this year (Winter 2008). As part of the ministry’s initiatives to measure compliance with new Accessibility Standards for Customer Service, the ministry will assess whether current initiatives to provide telephone access for people who are deaf or hard of hearing are sufficient.

Implementation Timeline: Winter 2008/09

Commitment 3: Completed/Ongoing

To ensure that persons with visual impairments are able to access ministry staff and programs.

Results Achieved

This past January, management in the Citizenship and Immigration Division were encouraged to obtain business cards in Braille as well as English and/or French.

Stakeholders, clients and the public with visual impairments who communicate in Braille now have improved access to ministry managers.

Planned Actions:

The ministry will assess the applicability of providing business cards in Braille to management across other ministry divisions.

The ministry also plans to undertake a review of posted office phone lists at Toronto worksites (i.e. 400 University Avenue and the 777 Bay Street) to ensure information is presented in a format that is accessible to staff and customers with visual impairments. This review will be part of the ministry’s action plan to implement the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service.

Implementation Timeline: Winter 2008/09

Focus Area: Standards 7 and 8

Where admission fees are charged, provide notice ahead of time on what admission, if any, would be charged for a support person of a person with a disability.

Provide notice when facilities or services that people with disabilities rely on to access or use your goods or services are temporarily disrupted.

Commitment: New

As part of the broader review of its current policies and practices respecting accessibility in customer service, the ministry will review its procedures to ensure, as appropriate, compliance with these two standards.

Implementation Timeline: Winter 2008/09 through to Fall 2009

Focus Area: Standards 9 and 10

Train staff, volunteers, contractors and any other people who interact with the public or other third parties on your behalf on a number of topics as outlined in the customer service standard.

Train staff, volunteers, contractors and any other people who are involved in developing your policies, practices and procedures on the provision of goods or services on a number of topics as outlined in the customer service standard.

Commitment: New/Ongoing

The ministry provides a diverse range of programs and services to the public and its clients. Staff in specific areas of the ministry may require training tailored to meet the distinct needs of their program or service. Over the course of the upcoming year, the ministry will continue to promote accessibility awareness among its staff and provide accessibility sensitivity training to new and front-line staff. This ongoing commitment will ensure that all staff receive accessibility awareness training and education.

The ministry will also review its current training initiatives to ensure they meet the needs of new and revised ministry-specific accessibility standards for customer service. This commitment extends to working with identified third party providers to ensure appropriate training programs are developed and implemented.

Results Achieved

This past year, the ministry undertook several initiatives to further staff training on accessibility.

On February 7, 2008, a memo was sent out by the Deputy Minister encouraging managers of front-line staff to discuss the “May I Help You” e-learning training program with their staff and include the training module in their 2008/09 learning plans. During the 2008/09 performance/learning year, regional office staff, reception staff, staff who provide customer service related functions and those who engage regularly with stakeholders will be required to take this training. This training requirement will extend to managers responsible for supervising front-line staff.

Ministry staff at the new Global Experience Ontario Office received accessibility awareness training tailored to meet the unique needs of this program in December 2007. Refresher training on Planning for Accessible Events was delivered to staff at the Ontario Honours and Awards Secretariat in March 2008.

The ministry’s Regional Services Branch is committed to ensuring new staff receive annual training on accessibility awareness. This past year, a training assessment indicated that all staff at the Branch had received accessibility training, so it was not necessary to schedule a special training session. Staff training requirements will be re-assessed in the upcoming year and appropriate action taken.

Through these and other initiatives introduced through previous accessibility plans, ministry staff are better able to provide services to customers and clients with disabilities and recognize the barriers people with disabilities may face when accessing public services.

Planned Actions:

As part of their 2008-09 learning plans, front-line staff and their managers are to complete the “May I Help You” e-learning course.

As part of its efforts to be compliant with the new Accessibility Standards for Customer Service, the ministry will undertake a review of its current practices and where appropriate, build on these practices, to meet the new accessibility standards for customer service. This review will include an assessment of the impact of training requirements for identified third party providers and volunteers. The ministry will draft policies and practices outlining training requirements for staff and managers in providing customer service for people with disabilities. These training requirements will extend to those people involved in developing polices respecting the provision of goods and services.

Implementation Timeline:

Ongoing throughout the year
Winter 2008/09 through to Fall 2009

Focus Area: Standard 11

Establish a process for people to provide feedback on how you provide goods or services to people with disabilities and how you will respond to any feedback and take action on any complaints. Make the information about your feedback process readily available to the public.

Commitment: New/Ongoing

The ministry is committed to responding to the concerns of its clients, stakeholders and the public in the provision of its goods and services.

Individual ministry divisions have developed their own feedback practices that reflect the nature of their individual programs and services. The ministry will formalize a process for the public and stakeholders to provide feedback on the provision of goods and services to people with disabilities. This process will include mechanisms to monitor and assess feedback to provide for continuous quality improvement. When developed, information on the ministry’s feedback process will be posted on its internet site and will be available in accessible formats.

Planned Actions:

The customer feedback process will be developed as part of the ministry’s action plan to meet accessibility standards for customer service. Ministry staff and managers will receive an orientation to the feedback process and Regional and Corporate Services Division will be responsible for managing the process.

Implementation Timeline: Spring/Summer 2009

• Report on Other Accessibility Commitments