Company Terms and Policies Accessibility Plan

Accessibility Plan

ACCESSIBILITY: MULTI-YEAR PLAN

I. Introduction and Statement of Commitment

Voices is committed to meeting its obligations under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (the “AODA” or the “Act”) and the related Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulations (the “IASR”). Building on Voices’s Accessibility Policy, Voices is committed to treating all people in a way that allows them to maintain their dignity and independence.  We believe in integration and equal opportunity.  Voices is committed to meeting the accessibility needs of persons with disabilities in a timely manner, and will do so by preventing and removing barriers to accessibility.

As part of Voices’s commitment to meeting its obligations under the Act, Voices has developed a multi-year plan which outlines Voices’s strategy to prevent and remove barriers and meet its requirements under the AODA.

Voices’s Multi-Year Accessibility Plan will be reviewed and updated by Voices at least once every five (5) years, and as required.

II. Establishment of Accessibility Policies and Plans

Voices will by January 1, 2014:

  • Develop, implement and maintain a corporate policy or policies governing how the organization will achieve accessibility;
  • Establish, implement and maintain a Multi-Year Accessibility Plan;
  • Include within its Multi-Year Accessibility Plan a statement of commitment to meet the accessibility needs of persons  with disabilities in a timely manner; and
  • Make the corporate policy(ies) and Multi-Year Accessibility Plan available to the public on Voices’s website and available in accessible formats upon request.

III. Training

Voices will by January 1, 2015:

  • Provide training on the requirements of the IASR and on disability-related obligations under Ontario Human Rights legislation, as well as similar legislative provisions across the country, to the following individuals: associates, volunteers, and any others who may be acting on Voices’s behalf in dealing with the public or any other third parties.  Training will also be provided to all people who are involved in the development of Voices’s policies; and
  • Maintain records of the dates when training is completed and the individuals who completed the training.

IV. Information and Communications Standards

A. Accessible Websites and Web Content

Voices will by January 1, 2014:

  • Make Voices’s new internet websites and new content on such websites conform with World Wide Web Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level A.

Voices will by January 1, 2021:

  • Make Voices’s internet websites and web content conform with WCAG 2.0 Level AA, except for exclusions set out in the IASR.

B. Feedback, Accessible Formats and Communication Supports

Voices will by January 1, 2015:

  • Put a statement on its websites about the availability of accessible formats and communication supports and, upon request, provide or arrange for the provision of accessible formats in a timely manner; and
  • Ensure that the processes for receiving and responding to feedback are accessible to persons with disabilities by providing or arranging for the provision of accessible formats and communications supports, upon request.

V. Employment Standards

A. Recruitment

Voices will by January 1, 2016:

  • On its job postings, specify that accommodations are available for applicants with disabilities;
  • Inform applicants selected to participate in an assessment or selection process that accommodations are available during the recruitment process, upon request, in relation to materials and processes to be used;
  • Upon request, consult with the applicant and arrange for suitable accommodation; and
  • Notify the successful applicant, when making offers of employment, of its policies for accommodating associates with disabilities.

B. Informing Associates of Supports

Voices will by January 1, 2016:

  • Inform associates and new hires (as soon as practicable) of Voices’s policies to support associates with disabilities and keep associates up to date on changes to these policies; and
  • Upon request from an associate with a disability, and further to consultation with the associate, provide for suitable accessible formats and communication supports for:  information needed by the associate to perform their job, and information that is generally available to associates.

C. Documented Individual Accommodation Plans / Return to Work Process

Voices will by January 1, 2016:

  • Develop a written process for the development of individual accommodation plans; and
  • Develop and document a return to work process for associates who have been absent due to a disability; the process shall outline the steps Voices will take to facilitate the associate’s return to work and use the associate’s individual accommodation plan as part of that process.

D. Performance Management, Career Development and Redeployment

Voices will by January 1, 2016:

  • Take into account the accessibility needs of associates with disabilities and individual accommodation plans when utilizing Voices’s performance management processes, considering career development and advancement opportunities and redeployment of its associates with disabilities.