Introduction

Under the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001 (ODA) Ministries are required to produce, and make available to the public, annual plans that identify how Ministries will identify and remove barriers to accessibility.

The ODA Accessibility Plan (the Plan) is an opportunity to showcase the Ministry’s accomplishments and to demonstrate compliance with the regulated accessibility requirements.

In 2010, the Office of the Premier and Cabinet Office (hereafter referred to collectively as the Ministry) began complying with the first accessibility standard established under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) - Accessibility Standards for Customer Service. In 2011, the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (IASR) was introduced, establishing phased-in requirements in the following accessibility standards:

  • Information and Communications
  • Employment
  • Transportation; and,
  • Design of Public Spaces

Each year the Ontario Public Service (OPS), as an obligated organization, confirms its compliance with the requirements of these standards to the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario. The ODA Plan provides an opportunity for the Ministry to go beyond confirming compliance with these regulated minimum requirements. Specifically, the Plan allows us to highlight the measures taken by the Ministry to identify and remove barriers in the previous year while proposing measures for the coming years that will make the Ministry more accessible.

The IASR establishes that obligated organizations shall create and maintain a multi-year accessibility plan (MYAP) that outlines the organization’s strategies to prevent and remove barriers to accessibility. To meet the MYAP requirement, the OPS released Leading the Way Forward in 2012.

Organizations are also required to develop an annual status report that highlights progress in advancing the MYAP strategy and in meeting the requirements of the IASR. In 2013, the OPS released its first Annual Status Report highlighting progress made in 2012.

The Ministry’s 2014 ODA Plan demonstrates how the measures the Ministry has taken, and the measures proposed for the coming years, support the key outcomes and deliverables of the MYAP.

To access the Office of the Premier and Cabinet Office’s and other ministries’ 2014 ODA Accessibility Plans visit Ontario.ca.

Section one: Report on measures taken by the ministry in 2014

Standard: Customer service

Outcome: People with disabilities who are OPS customers received quality goods and services in a timely manner.

The following commitments and measures demonstrate compliance with the Customer Service standard and outcome:

Commitment: Training on accessible customer service and integrated accessibility standards

Measures:

  • All new Ministry employees and managers continued to receive accessibility training within six weeks of their start date to meet the full requirements of the Customer Service and Integrated Accessibility Standards
  • The Ministry’s mandatory training document was revised in January 2014 and provided to all employees for action and tracking. The document identifies accessibility training information and requirements to ensure 100% AODA and IASR compliance
  • In addition, all new staff and their managers were provided with the Ministry mandatory training document upon orientation, to ensure on-going compliance
  • A compliance audit was performed on the ’May I Help You’ courses and 100% of current staff had completed the courses

Commitment: Training on OPS inclusion lens

Measures:

  • Ministry staff were encouraged through ongoing communications to take the OPS Inclusion Lens training and promote its use to provide the best possible customer service
  • All new Cabinet Office Policy staff and managers were strongly encouraged to take OPS Inclusion Lens training within six weeks of their start date. Training on the Lens was included in orientation materials

Commitment: Accessible procurement practices

Measures:

  • The completion of the Supply Chain Ontario Meeting Accessibility Obligations in Procurement Checklist in advance of any procurement activities is an on-going requirement and confirmation of the completion of the checklist is now included in all procurement business cases
  • Identification of accessible document formats have been incorporated into procurement processes for speakers and other vendors where appropriate
  • Advice on accessibility impacts relating to purchasing activities in accordance with the IASR, corporate directives and processes continue to be provided to Ministry staff
  • The Ministry remains 100% in compliance with ODA and AODA Procurement Requirements under the IASR

Commitment: Feedback on accessibility

Measures:

  • The Ministry’s established feedback protocol ensures that feedback is collected by various methods for the convenience of our clients including phone, email, teletypewriter and feedback forms
  • Feedback posters were updated and distributed to all reception areas
  • All feedback requirements of the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service and the Integrated Accessibility Standards were met to aid in the prevention and removal of barriers in the Ministry

Commitment: Disability advisory council representative

Measures: The Ministry provided ongoing support of the OPS Disability Advisory Council through active Ministry representative participation.

Commitment: Accessibility Working Group

Measures:

  • The Ministry established an Inclusion Steering Committee to develop the 2013-16
  • Ministry Inclusion plan and advance a refresh of the Accessibility Working Group and Diversity Team as the Inclusion Ambassador Team; the Committee met five times in 2014
  • Volunteers were identified for participation on the Inclusion Ambassador Team and their launch meeting was held in September 2014.
  • The goal of the Inclusion Ambassador Team is to support implementation of the Ministry Inclusion Plan, and includes raising awareness and promoting understanding in the area of accessibility

Commitment: OPS Accessibility Expo

Measures: The Ministry supported the OPS Accessibility Expo in November through the attendance of six Ministry employees.

Commitment: Teletypewriter equipment

Measures:

  • The Ministry has developed plans to migrate from Teletypewriter (TTY) service at central reception to a desktop solution in order to modernize and expand communication service for persons who are deaf, hard of hearing and/or speech impaired
  • Ministry reception staff will receive training and new staff will be trained as part of their orientation
  • The Ministry continues to partner with ServiceOntario staff to respond to calls after hours

Standard: information and communications

Outcome: Information and Communications are available in accessible formats or with necessary supports to all OPS staff and customers.

The following commitments and measures demonstrate compliance with the Information and Communications standard and outcome.

Commitment: Improvements to Ontario.ca website

Measures:

  • In collaboration with the Ministry of Government Services, the Ministry continued to make accessibility improvements to the Ontario.ca website.
  • The Ontario.ca site was continually tested to ensure it is barrier-free.
  • The new responsive design to support tablets and medium-sized mobile devices was implemented successfully.

Commitment: Accessible ministry public and intranet websites

Measures:

  • All websites maintained by the Ministry continued to be accessible and meet the current requirements of the IASR.
  • The Ministry is on track to ensure all internet websites and content will conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 level AA as required by the IASR.
  • The accessibility of all websites was tested on an ongoing basis by the Ministry using online standards and the Ministry’s accessibility testing station. The accessibility testing station is a tool used by staff responsible for managing websites that assists in identifying how people with disabilities may experience a website.
  • The two public websites (www.premier.gov.on.ca and www.news.ontario.ca) and the four internal websites for the Secretary of the Cabinet, Cabinet Office, learning.comm and Photo Library continue to meet or exceed the requirements and implementation schedule of the IASR.

Commitment: Accessibility and the policy gateway

Measures:

  • Policy Innovation and Leadership (PIL) launched the Policy Gateway intranet site in September 2013.
  • Web pages were designed in consultation with the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services to comply with accessibility requirements.
  • PIL is reviewing materials posted on the Policy Gateway to identify and action documents and/or videos to ensure they are in an accessible format.

Commitment: Publications in alternate formats

Measures:

  • Publications in alternate formats continued to be available upon request by Ministry clients, staff and Ontarians.
  • The Ministry will work with the appropriate organizations such as the Canadian
  • National Institute for the Blind for Braille formats and the Strategic New Media unit within the Ministry for accessible text and audio as required.
  • The Ministry was prepared to respond to any requests for publications in alternate formats.

Commitment: Accessible emergency procedures

Measures:

  • The Ministry continued to be ready to provide staff with individualized emergency response procedures when required. This includes evacuation buddies and a designated waiting area.
  • The Ministry continued to be ready to provide emergency evacuation procedures and Continuity of Operations Plans to staff in alternative formats upon request.
  • The Ministry continuously considers accessibility when developing emergency procedures. The Ministry also continued to collaborate with the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services to provide staff with accessible emergency preparedness materials (e.g. pamphlets, posters).
  • 100% of the Ministry’s emergency procedures were available in alternative format upon request.

Commitment: Use of plain language to expand reach and impact

Measures:

  • With the completion of the OPS-wide clear writing action plan, Ministries continued to ensure clear writing principles were incorporated into materials, offering training as needed for new staff and other Ministry divisions.
  • Cabinet Office Communications reviewed public-facing products to ensure they were easy to understand communications written in non-technical language.
  • Information across the OPS was easier to access and understand for Ontarians, clients and staff.

Commitment: Accessible practices for document formats

Measures:

  • The Ministry continued to promote the use of accessible communications practices; established practices and resources remain available to staff on the Ministry intranet website.
  • The Ministry initiated the review and revision of a number of key mandatory documents to an accessible format (e.g. Cabinet Submission Decision Document).
  • The Ministry established specific points of contact in the Diversity Office for support, resources, and training to ensure accessible practices for document formats.

Standard: Employment

Outcome: OPS employees with disabilities participate fully and meaningfully in their employment. The following commitments and measures demonstrate compliance with the Employment standard and outcome:

Commitment: Barrier-free recruitment and employment

Measures:

  • Cabinet Office Human Resources provided direct support to managers in the preparation of job advertisements and reviewed recruitment materials, strategy and approach to ensure all competitions were accessible and inclusive.
  • The recruitment process continued to be fair and barrier-free, with accommodation offered to job candidates upon notification of interview.
  • Where accommodation was required, the needs of the candidate were met.
  • The Ministry continues to provide the required supports to employees requiring accommodation to ensure an inclusive workplace.

Commitment: Senior management performance commitments

Measures:

  • Internal Performance and Readiness Assessment communications were provided to all senior managers with example performance commitments.
  • A representative sample of performance plan commitments were reviewed to identify opportunities to enhance inclusion based knowledge and skills among senior managers to support accessible leadership in the OPS.
  • The new Ministry 2013-16 Inclusion Plan has identified initiatives to further develop and incorporate performance commitments for managers and staff that support an inclusive workplace.

Standard: Design of public spaces

Outcome: There is greater accessibility into, out of and around OPS facilities and public spaces.

The following commitments and measures demonstrate compliance with the Design of Public Spaces standard and outcome:

Commitment: Built environment standard

Measures:

  • Public parking spaces and other accommodations in the Ministry remained accessible as outlined in the barrier-free design requirements under the Ontario Building Code and internal OPS Guidelines for Barrier-free Design of Ontario Government Facilities.
  • Employee and client feedback will be considered to ensure the Ministry is compliant with the IASR.

Commitment: Accessibility of bathrooms, boardrooms and heritage space

Measures:

  • Ongoing consideration was given to improve the accessibility of the Ministry’s built environment while taking into account the heritage designation of the building.
  • In collaboration with the Ministry’s Building Management, work continued on the project to improve the accessibility of Whitney Block washrooms.

Other: Leadership

Outcome: The OPS endeavours to demonstrate leadership for accessibility in Ontario.

The following commitments and measures demonstrate compliance with the Leadership standard and outcome:

Commitment: Accessible policy development process

Measures:

  • The Ministry ensured that training for OPS Policy professionals incorporated the principles of accessibility, diversity and inclusion to assist in the identification and removal of barriers in the policy development process.
  • OPS Policy professionals were made aware of accessibility and inclusion training and were better able to identify and remove barriers in the policy development process. Accessibility was included in consultations with stakeholders.
  • The Ministry organized the following training to support accessible policy development:
    • Inclusion Now Dispatch (information session) – June 2014
    • Micro-Inequities Dispatch – August 2014
    • Inclusive Leadership and How We Impact Systems Dispatch – September 2014

Commitment: People of all abilities represented in government communications

Measures:

  • The Ontario Photo Library continued to meet ODA standards by offering a collection of photos that represent people of all abilities, as well as accessibility options that Ontarians experience on a daily basis. The Library also has photos that represent multi-cultures, multi-generations, and the LGBTQ community. The Ministry made efforts to ensure the Photo Library is inclusive in every aspect and continues to update photos on a regular basis to reflect this. The Ministry recently concluded a photo-shoot focused on seniors of varying cultures and abilities, women in community, as well as Ontario Families – more specifically how multifaceted they are in terms of abilities, generations, cultures and parenting. Images were available for use by the OPS to ensure people of all abilities were represented in government publications.

Commitment: Use plain language to expand reach and impact

Measures:

  • Ongoing use of clear writing principles and standards were integrated into Ministry communications processes and plain language deliverables were included in OPS communications directors’ performance plans.
  • OPS language use continued to be reviewed and monitored to ensure information had maximum reach and impact.

Commitment: Use plain language to improve website accessibility

Measures:

  • Nine Ministries (MIA, ServiceOntario, MRI, MAA, MGCS, MNRF, MOECC, TBS and the former MEDTE) were fully migrated to Ontario.ca with all applicable content re- designed using inclusive, clear language.
  • High-profile initiatives, such as the Budget, Open Government and all new marketing campaigns, were launched on Ontario.ca using clear, inclusive language generally written for a Grade 6-7 reading level.
  • Updates to content on Ontario.ca were checked against a common set of style standards to ensure that language was inclusive and clear for diverse audiences, from consumers to technical specialists.

Commitment: Use OPS inclusion lens to review Cabinet submissions

Measures:

  • Cabinet submissions continued to be reviewed using the OPS Inclusion Lens to ensure any barriers were removed and to support the government’s goal of the most accessible Ontario by 2025.
  • Cabinet Office regularly advised and trained Ministries in incorporating the Inclusion Lens early in the policy development process.
  • All Cabinet Office policy development tools reference the Inclusion Lens and supporting resources, as do legislation and regulation analysis templates.
  • Cabinet Office advisors incorporated analysis related to the Inclusion Lens into briefings for senior officials, the Premier´s Office and Cabinet briefing materials.
  • 100% of all new Ministry Acts, Regulations and Policies were reviewed using the OPS Inclusion Lens.

Commitment: Inclusion lens awareness

Measures:

  • The Ministry encourages all staff to use the OPS Inclusion Lens tool. The Lens, a course available through the Centre for Leadership and Learning remains on the Ministry’s new staff orientation checklist.
  • The new Ministry 2013-16 Inclusion Plan identified initiatives to promote and obtain training on the Lens.
  • To meet the needs of the policy community, new inclusion training courses have been developed, including through Policy Innovation and Leadership (PIL), and some in partnership with universities. Examples of training include:
    • The Queen’s School of Public Policy now offers a course, Putting Policy to Work: Policy Implementation in a Complex World, which incorporates using tools such as the OPS Inclusion Lens to identify potential or existing barriers within policies to government diversity goals.
    • PIL Dispatch: Inclusion in the Work We Do, presentation and interactive discussion session to learn about the context, purpose and overview of ’Inclusion Now! OPS Strategic Plan 2013-14’ and how policy professionals can be more inclusive in the work they do by using the OPS Inclusion Lens.
    • Ministry of Government and Consumer Services Deputy Ministers’ Council event, Inclusion and Brain Science, featuring a three hour presentation by Dr. Banaji on implicit assumptions. Dr. Banaji is a social psychologist at Harvard University and author of ’BlindSpot: Hidden Biases of Good People’. There is an upcoming session for other OPS professionals planned with Dr. Banaji.

Section two: Report on measures proposed by the ministry for 2015 & 2016

Standard: Customer service

Outcome: People with disabilities who are OPS customers receive quality goods and services in a timely manner.

The following commitments and measures outline how the Ministry will comply with the Customer Service standard and outcome:

Commitment: Ministry inclusion plan
Continue implementation of the three year Ministry Inclusion Plan to ensure accessibility remains a core priority as outlined in the OPS 2013 - 2016 Inclusion Now! Strategic Inclusion Plan.

Measure: Plan, undertake and monitor initiatives in accordance with Plan timelines.

Commitment: Inclusion lens training
Continue to encourage staff to take the OPS Inclusion Lens training by December 31, 2015 to reinforce accessibility considerations and support the OPS Multi-Year Accessibility Plan; ensure that all policy submissions to Cabinet have been appropriately considered through the Inclusion Lens; and, ensure that all Cabinet Office Policy Advisors have taken the required training on inclusion within six weeks of their arrival at Cabinet Office.

Measure: Monitor training completion rates and promotion of the tool.

Commitment: Recruitment process review
Formally review the Ministry recruitment process through the Inclusion Lens in order to provide managers with increased supports and tools to make further improvements in the process.

Measure: Continue to make the recruitment process more inclusive, starting from recruitment planning through to on-boarding of new staff.

Commitment: Accessible Procurement Practices
Continue to integrate accessibility considerations into procurement processes, including the completion of the Supply Chain Ontario Meeting Accessibility Obligations in Procurement Checklist in advance of any procurement activities; and, continue to provide Ministry staff with advice on accessibility impacts relating to purchasing activities in accordance with the IASR, corporate directives and processes and implement in a timely matter.

Measure: 100% compliance with ODA and AODA Procurement Requirements under the IASR.

Commitment: Teletypewriter equipment
Continue to provide the same high level service standards to Teletypewriter (TTY) calls as with all telephone calls; continue to partner with ServiceOntario staff to respond to calls after hours; and, provide new reception staff with TTY training and refresher training for existing staff as appropriate.

Measure: Respond to 100% of TTY calls; implement the desktop solution in central reception; and, evaluate the roll-out of the desktop solution to program areas.

Commitment: Feedback on accessibility
Continue to review all feedback and consider for implementation as necessary to prevent and remove barriers in the workplace; and, conduct reviews of accessibility feedback mechanisms (email, mail, TTY, phone).

Measure: Respond to feedback in compliance with the OPS Common Service Standards.

Commitment: Disability advisory council representative
Continue to support the OPS Disability Advisory Council through Ministry representative participation.

Measure: Share information provided by the Council within the Ministry on any new initiatives or direction for consideration.

Commitment: Inclusion ambassador team
The Inclusion Ambassador Team will identify opportunities to increase awareness and/or coordinate information sessions.

Measure: Team to support implementation of the Ministry Inclusion Plan.

Commitment: OPS Accessibility Expo
The Ministry will continue to support the OPS Accessibility Expo.

Measure: Attendance of Ministry representatives at the Expo.

Standard: Information and communications

Outcome: Information and Communications are available in accessible formats or with necessary supports to all OPS staff and customers.

The following commitments and measures outline how the Ministry will comply with the information and communications standard and outcome:

Commitment: Improvements to Ontario.ca website
In collaboration with the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, accessibility improvements will continue to be made to the Ontario.ca website; a new responsive design will be implemented to support tablets and medium-sized mobile devices to increase user accessibility; and, the Ontario.ca site (which includes the Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs website) will be continually tested to ensure it is barrier-free.

Measure: A more accessible Ontario.ca to further remove barriers to website information for Ontarians.

Commitment: Accessible ministry public and intranet websites
All websites maintained by the Ministry will continue to be accessible and meet the current requirements of the IASR; the Ministry is on track to ensure all internet websites and content will conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 level AA by January 1, 2016 as required by the IASR; all website videos will have audio description as required and include transcripts; the accessibility of all websites will be tested on an ongoing basis by the Ministry using online standards and the accessibility testing station; the accessibility testing station is a tool used by staff responsible for managing websites that assists in identifying how people with disabilities may experience a website.

Measure: The two public websites (http://www.premier.gov.on.ca and www.news.ontario.ca) and the four internal websites for the Secretary of the Cabinet, Cabinet Office, learning.comm and Photo Library will continue to meet or exceed the requirements and implementation schedule of the IASR.

Commitment: Accessibility and the policy gateway
Policy Innovation and Leadership (PIL) will continue to review materials posted on the Policy Gateway website to identify and action documents and/or videos to ensure they are in an accessible format as required by the IASR.

Measure: Policy Gateway website to meet or exceed the requirements of the IASR.

Commitment: Publications in alternate formats
Continue to provide publications in alternate formats upon request; and, work with the appropriate organizations such as the Canadian National Institute for the Blind for Braille formats and the Strategic New Media unit within the Ministry for accessible text and audio, as required.

Measure: 100% of requests received and returned by the Ministry for publications in alternative formats.

Commitment: Accessible emergency procedures
Continue to provide staff with individualized emergency response procedures when required; continue to provide emergency evacuation procedures and Continuity of Operations Plans to staff in alternative formats upon request; consider accessibility when developing emergency procedures and collaborate with the Ministry of Community and Safety and Correctional services to provide staff with accessible emergency preparedness materials.

Measure: 100% of the Ministry’s emergency procedures are available in alternate format upon request.

Commitment: Accessible practices for document formats
Continue to promote the use of accessible communications practices and communication supports.

Measure: Staff will be informed about the best practice guidelines for accessible documents and alternate formats.

Standard: Employment

Outcome: People with disabilities who are OPS employees participate fully and meaningfully in services and employment.

The following commitments and measures outline how the Ministry will comply with the Employment standard and outcome:

Commitment: Barrier-free recruitment
Continue direct support to managers by the Cabinet Office Human Resources in the development of job advertisements and offers of employment to ensure the removal of barriers; HR will continue to review recruitment materials, strategy and approach for inclusion and accessibility considerations with a new emphasis of HR on building the capacity of recruiting managers to apply the OPS Inclusion Lens to the recruitment process; provide all interviews in a barrier-free environment and continue to offer all job candidates accommodation upon notification of interview; and, as required, HR will collaborate with the candidate to seek clarification and develop alternative options in order to meet their needs.

Measure: The needs of the candidate are accommodated.

Commitment: Accessibility performance commitments
All senior managers have made inclusion performance plan commitments to support accessible leadership in the OPS; and, working with senior managers, promote the incorporation of accessibility and inclusion commitments into staff performance plans.

Measure: Continue to promote and review Performance Plan commitments to enhance inclusion based knowledge and skills across the OPS.

Standard: Design of public spaces

Outcome: There is greater accessibility into, out of and around OPS facilities and public spaces.

The following commitments and measures outline how the Ministry will comply with the Design of Public Spaces standard and outcome:

Commitment: Support built environment regulation implementation
Support Infrastructure Ontario and the OPS Diversity Office in implementing the AODA Design of Public Spaces Standards and any changes that are made to the barrier-free requirements of the Ontario Building Code.

Measure: Actively participate in any related corporate initiatives.

Commitment: Public parking spaces and other accommodations
Public parking spaces and other accommodations in the Ministry will remain accessible as outlined in the barrier-free design requirements under the Ontario Building Code and internal OPS Guidelines for Barrier-free Design of Ontario Government Facilities; and, the Ministry will review accessibility requirements identified in the IASR’s Design of Public Spaces Standards, effective January 1, 2015 and increase awareness among staff of these barrier-free requirements.

Measure: Consider employee and client feedback to ensure the Ministry’s built environment is compliant with the IASR’s Design of Public Spaces Standards.

Commitment: Accessibility of bathrooms, boardrooms and heritage space
Ongoing consideration will be given to improve the accessibility of the Ministry’s built environment while taking into account the heritage designation of the building; and, in collaboration with the Ministry’s Building Management, work will continue on the project to improve the accessibility of Whitney Block washrooms.

Measure: Continue removal of physical barriers in washrooms.

Other: Leadership

Outcome: The OPS endeavours to demonstrate leadership for accessibility in Ontario. The following commitments and measures outline how the Ministry will comply with the Leadership standard and outcome:

Commitment: Accessible policy development process
As part of the Policy Innovation and Leadership (PIL) Our Best Advice Strategy, courses for OPS policy professionals will be developed to include the new OPS Inclusion Plan in collaboration with the Centre for Leadership and Learning; accessibility content will also be included in a series of new policy courses being offered through various universities in Ontario; PIL will continue to offer related information sessions to the broader policy community and will procure a presentation by the co-developer of the Implicit Assumption Test for Cabinet Office staff to have unrestricted access to these sessions.

Measure: OPS policy professionals are aware of accessibility and inclusion training and are better able to identify and remove barriers in the policy development process. 100% of all new Ministry Acts, Regulations and Policies will be reviewed using the OPS Inclusion Lens.

Commitment: People of all abilities represented in government communications
The Ontario Photo Library will be continually updated to reflect the diverse people of Ontario; the Library is a database of photos and images used in Ontario government and Agencies online material and printed publications.

Measure: Images available for use by the OPS to ensure people of all abilities are represented in government publications.

Commitment: Plain language to expand reach and impact
Ongoing use of clear writing principles and standards integrated into Ministry communications processes and plain language deliverables included in OPS communications directors’ performance plans.

Measure: Continued review and monitoring of OPS language use to ensure information has maximum reach and impact.

Commitment: Use plain language to improve website accessibility
Continue to work with various Ministries in the OPS to rewrite complex online content using clear language as part of the Ontario.ca accessibility improvements and the Ministry will regularly review Ontario.ca content to ensure compliance with style standards and to make improvements based on visitor feedback.

Measure: Improved accessibility to Ontario.ca website content allowing information to be accessed easier by Ontarians.

Commitment: Enhancing election accessibility in Ontario
Accessibility is identified as a key priority in Elections Ontario’s Strategic Plan 2013-2017.

Measure: The ministry will support Elections Ontario in the implementation of Bill 231 accessibility measures.

Section three: Addressing the identification of barriers

Recognizing the importance of addressing accessibility barriers in laws that have a high impact on members of the public and persons with disabilities, the government is following a three-pronged strategy that prioritizes the review of high impact legislation including:

  1. Development of a standardized process and tools for identifying and addressing accessibility barriers;
  2. By the end of 2014, review of 51 targeted high-impact statutes that meet the following criteria:
    1. Statutes that affect persons with disabilities directly;
    2. Statutes that provide for the delivery of widely applicable services or programs;
    3. Statutes that provide benefits or protections; or
    4. Statutes that affect a democratic or civic right or duty; and
  3. Review procedural rules, policies and guidelines for select high-impact legislation, where necessary.

In 2013 the OPS made significant progress in conducting this phase of the review which is estimated to be completed by the end of 2014.

In support of our commitment to improve accessibility for people with disabilities:

  • The Ministry has conducted an accessibility review of the Election Act, a high-impact statute, as required, and submitted this review to the Ministry of the Attorney General, which is reviewing ministries’ findings and determining next steps.
  • The Ministry has also reviewed its remaining Acts, the Representation Act, 2005 and the Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs Act.

Contact us

Questions or comments about the Ministry’s accessibility plan are welcome.

General inquiries: 416-325-7635
TTY: 416-314-5721
Toll-free: 1-800-387-5559
Email: odapublicinquiries@ontario.ca

For more information:

Visit the Ministry of Economic Development, Employment & Infrastructure web portal. The site promotes accessibility and provides information and resources on how to make Ontario an accessible province for everyone.

Alternate formats of this document are available upon request from:

ServiceOntario Publications
Phone: 1-800-668-9938
TTY: 1-800-268-7095

ISSN # 1911-5083