Purpose

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (the AODA) is a provincial act with the purpose of developing, implementing and enforcing accessibility standards in order to achieve accessibility for persons with disabilities with respect to goods, services, facilities, accommodation, employment, buildings, structures and premises.

Under the AODA, Ontario Regulation 429/07 entitled “Accessibility Standards for Customer Service” establishes accessibility standards specific to customer service and the provision of goods and services to the public.

Oakville Senior Citizens Residence is required to meet the requirements of accessibility standards established by the AODA. This policy applies to all OSCR staff, volunteers and similar parties who deal with the public.

Oakville Senior Citizens Residence Multi-year Accessibility Plan

Oakville Senior Citizens Residence will strive to provide goods and services in a way that respects the dignity and independence of people with disabilities and will use reasonable efforts to ensure its policies, procedures and practices are consistent with the spirit and requirements of the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service (Ontario Regulation 429/07).

Communications with Persons with Disabilities

When communicating with a person with a disability, OSCR staff will do so in a manner that takes into account the person’s disability.

Website

oscrservices.ca makes available the UserWay Website Accessibility Widget that is powered by a dedicated accessibility server. The software allows oscrservices.ca to improve its compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1).

Enabling the Accessibility Menu

The oscrservices.ca accessibility menu can be enabled by clicking the accessibility menu icon that appears on the corner of the page. After triggering the accessibility menu, please wait a moment for the accessibility menu to load in its entirety.

Assistive Devices

To facilitate interaction with OSCR, a person with a disability may provide their own assistive device for the purposes of obtaining, using and benefiting from any of OSCR’s materials and services that are made available to the public. In addition, OSCR will ensure that our staff are trained and familiar with various assistive devices that we have on site, or that we provide that may be used by clients with disabilities accessing our goods and services.

Service Animals

OSCR is committed to welcoming people with disabilities who are accompanied by a service animal on the parts of our premises that are open to the public.

Support Persons

OSCR welcomes people with disabilities who are accompanied by a support person. At no time will a person with a disability who is accompanied by a support person be prevented from having access to his or her support person while on OSCR public space. Fees are not charged for support persons with the exception of events or trips that have a fee/admission cost.

Notice of Temporary Disruption

OSCR will make reasonable efforts to provide notice in the event of a planned or unexpected disruption in the facilities or services where we have control over such facilities or services. This notice will include information about the reasons for the disruption, its anticipated duration, and a description of alternative facilities or services, if available. OSCR will provide notice by posting information in visible places on our premises or on our OSCR website (oscrservices.ca).

Training for Staff

OSCR will provide training to all employees, volunteers and others who deal with the public on behalf of OSCR, and all those who are involved in the development of, and approval of, customer service policies, practices and procedures. Training will be provided at orientation for staff and volunteers. Training will include the following:

The purposes of the AODA and the requirements of the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service

Information regarding OSCR policies, practices and procedures relating to customer service standards

How to interact and communicate with people with various disabilities

What to do if a person with a particular type of disability is having difficulty accessing our goods and services

How to interact with people with disabilities who use an assistive device, service animal or support person

How to use the equipment or assistive devices that may be available at OSCR

The delivery of the training will be tailored to suit each person’s interactions with the public or his/her involvement in the development of policies, practices and procedures pertaining to the provision of goods and services. Staff and volunteers will also be trained on an ongoing basis when changes are made to these policies, practices and procedures.

Feedback Process

OSCR welcomes feedback as it encourages continuous service improvements. Feedback from the public, staff and volunteers about the delivery of goods and services and services to persons with disabilities may be given by telephone, in writing, in electronic format or through other methods. Information about the feedback process is available to the public by sending an e-mail to: oscr@oscrservices.ca with the subject line tagged “Accessibility Feedback”.

All feedback, including complaints will be handled in the following manner:

• An investigation will be made by Quality & Safety 
• A plan of action to improve the delivery of the goods or services will be made with a timeline for implementation
• The results of the investigation and plan of action will be communicated to the individual who gave the feedback.
• Individuals can expect to hear back within ten days.

Notice of Availability

Oakville Senior Citizens Residence will notify the public that our documents related to accessible customer service, are available upon request by posting a notice in the following location(s): OSCR website: www.oscrservices.ca; the notice board in the Residential Lobby; the notice board in the Apartment Lobby.

Modifications to This or Other Policies

Any policy, practice or procedure of Oakville Senior Citizens Residence that does not respect and promote the principles of dignity, independence, integration and equal opportunity for people with disabilities will be modified or removed.