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Private and not-for-profit organizations with 50 or more Ontario-based employees must comply with the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) by Jan. 1, 2014.
They must create both accessibility policies that demonstrate the organization’s commitment to becoming more accessible and a multi-year accessibility plan that outlines what they’ll do to remove and prevent accessibility barriers in the organization.
The province has six steps to consider:
- Determine what you have to do — Organizations need to know upfront what they have to do to develop their plan and policies.
- Assess your level of accessibility — Assess the organization to determine where accessibility barriers exist.
- Develop accessibility policies and a plan — The policies set out the rules the organization will put in place to become more accessible.
- Put them in writing — Combine the statement of commitment, policies and plan in one document.
- Let people know — Post the multi-year accessibility plan on the organization’s website.
- Follow up and report success — Organizations should consider if the plan needs to be updated anytime there are significant changes to business practices.
The Government of Ontario has more information about the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation on its website. And the province also has set up an online AODA compliance wizard.
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