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Accessibility in the workplace: Is your business ready?

Providing services for customers with disabilities is about more than just designating special parking zones or installing automatic doors at entrances. It’s about learning those customers’ specific needs and figuring out what you can do to make their experience in your place of business hassle-free.
 
As of January 1, 2012, the Ontario Government is making changes in its accessibility practices, and over the next three years, these changes will have to be implemented by all employers in the province. No matter where you live and work, accessibility is good business and now is the time to start preparing and updating your business’s customer service standards.
 
Depending on the size and type of business, the requirements outlined by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) change slightly, but there are a few universal policies that stay the same. The customer service standards go very in-depth; when you have a spare moment, read through them by clicking here. Until then, here are a few highlights to keep in mind when thinking about accessibility in your workplace:
  1. The policies, practices and procedures you use in your workplace should not compromise the independence and dignity of your customers with disabilities.
  2. You need to have a way to communicate with a person who has a disability in a manner that takes into account their disability. This might mean having visual and audible fire alarms in your business.
  3. Accommodate the support people of persons with disabilities by allowing them access to the parts of your business that are open to the public.
  4. Train the people developing your customer service policies on topics affecting people with disabilities so they can incorporate them into your business’s practices.
  5. Come up with a method for receiving and responding to feedback about the way your organization provides goods or services to people with disabilities.
Did you know that as of January 1 of this year all employers operating in Ontario are supposed to update their emergency preparedness plan to incorporate requirements outlined by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act? If you need help making sure yours is up to date, click here.