Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA)

As of 2008, 15.5% of Ontario’s population had a disability and this number will continue to grow as the population ages. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) is a provincial act  with the purpose of developing, implementing and mandating accessibility standards to prevent and remove barriers for people with disabilities.  The objective is to give all Ontarians with disabilities accessibility in key areas of daily living such as goods, services, employment, facilities, buildings, structures and premises.

When we think of disabilities, we tend to think of people in wheelchairs and physical disabilities – disabilities that are visible and apparent. But disabilities can also be non-visible. We can’t always tell who has a disability. The broad range of disabilities also includes vision disabilities, deafness or being hard of hearing, intellectual or developmental, learning, and mental health disabilities.

Standards Development Committees are developing proposed standards in five key areas. Of the five areas, the Accessible Customer Service standard is the first standard developed to become a regulation. It came into force on January 1, 2008 and is now the law. Public sector organizations such as Municipal Governments, Provincial Offices will be required to comply by January 1, 2010.  Private sector organizations will be required to comply by January 1, 2012.

4S Consulting Services is offering the following courses to assist companies in complying with the training requirements for AODA.  These are:

• Accessibility for Ontarians with disabilities Act (AODA) for Managers, Owners and Supervisors:

This course is targeted for those individuals in an organization who are responsible for setting up the program and implementing changes to comply with the act.  This course is particularly useful for managers, human resources, facilities as well as members of the Joint Health and Safety Committees (JHSC).

• Accessibility Standards for Customer Service:

This course will help the participant learn and understand the accessibility standards and customer service.  The course covers the various disabilities along with the guidelines that employees must follow while communicating and assisting personnel with disabilities.

The course is a standard SCORM compliant e-learning module with voice, pictures, video and animations.  The course also contains visual interactive exercises to re-enforce concepts.  This course can be customized to your organizations policies and procedures.