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2009 Community Excellence Award
CITY OF LANGLEY- A MODEL
COMMUNITY FOR ACCESSIBLITY
& INCLUSIVENESS Implementation of “Gold Star Program”
Category: Partnerships -Between the City of Langley
and the Downtown Langley Merchants Association
BIA
Submitted by: City of Langley, British Columbia
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Summary
With the 2010 Olympics and Paralympics Games in Vancouver and Whistler on the horizon, the
City of Langley has creatively positioned itself as a model community for accessibility and
inclusiveness. The City of Langley conducted an “Accessibility and Inclusiveness Study”
involving members of the Downtown Langley Merchants Association and representatives from
the community of people with disabilities, to learn what improvements must be made to support
an active and healthy lifestyle for all people. The recommendations led to the Downtown
Langley Merchants Association’s (DMLA) implementation of the “Gold Star Program,” which
rates facilities based on their accessibility. The overall result has been a tremendous success.
The City of Langley has and continues to make accessibility improvements to various public
facilities, plus many business owners have made accessibility improvements to their properties,
which might not have otherwise happened. Also, Tourism Langley and other information
resources now have the results of the Gold Star ratings audit to help people with disabilities to
select the City of Langley as ‘the place to be.’ This initiative is further proof that we can achieve
great success when we work together.
Background: Addressing a Market Niche With the 2010 Olympic and Paralympics Games in Vancouver and Whistler on the horizon, the
City of Langley is embracing the concepts of accessibility and inclusion. This goes beyond the
concept of a “special” measure for people with disabilities. It includes every member of the
community, be it a mother pushing a baby buggy, a young person who’s temporarily injured in
some sport activity, a person who uses a wheelchair, or a senior citizen who uses a walker.
Understanding that approximately 14% of BC’s population is disabled and that as the population
ages, this number will increase, the City of Langley recognizes the importance of creating an
accessible and inclusive community. Combining this desire to be a model accessible community
with our Economic Development Strategy, which has identified “tourism” as a potential
economic sector, the City of Langley is positioning itself as a leader in “accessible tourism.”
“An Accessibility and Inclusiveness Study” for the City of Langley With a keen interest in supporting the needs of all of our citizens, plus acknowledging the
importance of the accessibility market, the City of Langley embarked on a study to identify
issues that would help break down physical and ultimately social barriers.
Recognizing that engaging the community is critical to the success of this initiative, the City of
Langley established a Steering Committee that included people with disabilities, the Downtown
Langley Merchants Association (BIA) business community, and community agencies serving
people with disabilities. In May 2007, the City retained the Social Planning & Research Council
of B.C. to facilitate the community stakeholder workshops, coordinate accessibility audits and
undertake research on four key issue areas:
• Municipal Policies and Best Practices
• Physical Accessibility (Public Facilities; City Parks and Recreation; Restaurants,
Lodging (Hotels and Motels); Shopping and Entertainment)
• Accessible Tourism; and
• Inclusive Employment Practices
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The purpose of the Study was to develop a comprehensive strategy to make the City of Langley
accessible and inclusive for people with disabilities. In particular, this Study:
a) Inventories the existing conditions in the City of Langley’s built environment as they
relate to accessibility and inclusion;
b) Identifies issues and opportunities to improve accessibility and inclusiveness in the City;
and
c) Presents a plan and implementation strategy for making the City of Langley a model
community for accessibility and inclusiveness.
The “Gold Star” Program For Accessible Businesses
(Downtown Langley) As part of SPARC BC’s contract to assist Langley in its development of a plan for accessibility
and inclusion, SPARC BC conducted an accessibility audit of six motels/hotels, 26 restaurants,
and nine other retail businesses in the BIA. After the auditing process was complete, SPARC
BC sent specific recommendations to improve accessibility to each of the participating
businesses.
The DLMA (having had representation on the SPARC BC Steering Committee) recognized this
need and decided to put a program into action. They began to formulate a plan to establish a
“Gold Star Program”. This Program would recognize audited businesses which were deemed
accessible by assigning them a “Gold Star Rating” – ‘Bronze’ (one star) being somewhat
accessible and ‘Platinum’ (four stars) being exemplary. They would also provide them with a
written evaluation of their establishment’s accessibility and recommendations for
implementation.
Accessibility and Inclusiveness Coordinator
In addition, through a grant from Service Canada, an Accessibility and Inclusiveness Program
Coordinator was hired from May 2008 to September 2008, with the intention of educating,
raising awareness, creating communication amongst the membership, and improving access
within the downtown BIA. This initiative continued the auditing process that the City of
Langley had started, thus allowing the business owners to learn about their establishment’s
accessibility and how they could improve it.
The first step for the A & I Coordinator was to revisit the businesses previously audited by
SPARC BC, in order to review their “Gold Star Rating”, answer any questions they had
regarding their previous audits, and to see if they had followed up on any of SPARC BC’s
accessibility recommendations.
Information Package
A brochure and information package was created to introduce the program and inform the
business owners of the program’s goals and objectives. The “Accessibility and Inclusiveness
Brochure” contained basic and introductory information regarding how business owners could
provide better service to their customers with permanent or temporary disabilities. This brochure
also provided information regarding the “Gold Star Program” and additional information
regarding possible funding opportunities. A total of 300 brochures were hand delivered to a
wide diversity of businesses and they were invited to contact the BIA office for more
information.
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Goal and Follow-up
The initial goal was to recruit 25 new businesses, and once the 80 information packages were
distributed, a total of 44 new businesses signed up for audit appointments. The free audits were
conducted by using the SPARC BC Accessibility Checklist, which contained accurate
specification standards and guidelines.
As part of the auditing process, Marika Van Dommelen, Ambassador Coordinator for the Rick
Hansen Foundation (wheelchair user born with Spina Bifida) was asked to do a follow-up
evaluation for each of the audited businesses. Ms. Van Dommelen was also part of the initial
SPARC BC Steering Committee, and her involvement helped us by allowing us the opportunity
to compare our audit outcomes with hers. Ms. Van Dommelen’s involvement went a long way in
helping authenticate the program for the participating businesses, as the business owners were
very pleased to have a follow-up audit conducted by someone with a physical disability.
Initial Results In total, there were 36 new businesses and organizations that agreed to take part in the DLMA
“Gold Star Program” and have their information released on the Tourism Langley, City of
Langley and DLMA websites.
The information released includes each business’s contact information, their rating (one to four
stars), and a write-up regarding their accessibility. The report also provides information on non-
profit organizations and associations that support accessibility and inclusiveness throughout the
community.
Additional New Opportunities In addition to the successful implementation of the Program and the bringing together of the BIA
community in a common goal of accessibility, some very fortunate opportunities arose that
contributed to the overall success and publicity of the Accessibility and Inclusiveness Program.
LEARNING OPPORTUNITY The A & I Coordinator was invited to a seminar that was sponsored by Access Abbotsford,
which provided a forum to brainstorm ideas and programs to make their communities more
accessible.
TOUR LEADS TO RECOMMENDATIONS AND PUBLICITY With the assistance of the DLMA Ambassador Coordinator, the A & I Coordinator organized
and accompanied a group of individuals with disabilities on the City of Langley Historic
Walking Tour (this is a free walking tour developed by the DLMA as part of their Ambassador
Program and the tour provides an interactive, in-depth explanation of the City of Langley’s
history and highlights). The objective of this tour was to assess its accessibility and observe how
those with disabilities found this particular activity. Most of the guests were wheelchair users,
and a few were vision and/or hearing impaired. The tour was deemed very accessible; however,
a few improvements were necessary for future tours. Some examples of these improvements
included trimming shrubs, repaving curb cuts and fixing heaving sidewalk pavers. When
reported, these improvements were immediately acknowledged and acted upon by the City of
Langley. Representatives from the Langley Times and Langley Advance newspapers were
invited and both participated, resulting in an editorial in both publications.
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SPEAKING OPPORTUNITY
Because of the Program’s publicized success, the A & I Coordinator was invited to speak at a
Sunshine Rotary luncheon, and did so to a room of 45+ individuals who own businesses and
conduct business throughout the Langleys. The resultant impact was the request for information
regarding the Program for use in other businesses not necessarily located within the BIA.
Following the completion of the Program audits, the Langley Spirit of BC office contacted the
DLMA, informing us that they had heard of the Program and would appreciate more
information. The Langley Spirit of BC had recently hired an Accessibility Coordinator, so the
DLMA willingly shared their audit information, results and reports with the Langley Spirit of BC
Accessibility Coordinator. This resulted in a continuation of the audits being conducted
throughout the City and Township of Langley through the Langley Spirit of BC office.
Impact of the Initiative
The introduction of the program has had a significant impact on the BIA, in the City of Langley,
and in the community at large.
Implementation of Improved Accessibility
CITY OF LANGLEY
The City of Langley was very supportive of the Program. By providing an extra set of
“accessibility eyes” (in addition to the original SPARC study), the City of Langley was able to
deal with some of the smaller accessibility issues that were easy to do, but may not have ever
been reported.
The City of Langley continues to make accessibility improvements, which include items such as
handicap accessible parks and public facilities, curb cuts and replacements, extensive hedge and
tree trimming, creating and marking disabled parking spots and the ongoing inspections and
repair of heaved sidewalk pavers.
DOWNTOWN LANGLEY BUSINESS OWNERS Some Downtown Langley business owners have followed up with information regarding the
installation of automatic door openers, elevators and other high-end accessibility improvements,
while others have decided to follow through with simple and inexpensive ways to keep their
businesses accessible. In a follow up survey conducted in October 2008, we were pleased to see
that most business owners followed through with their recommendations immediately; their
“Gold Star” rating being their main incentive. For example, if a business owner was rated at a
gold accessibility of 3 stars, and in order to be rated at 3 ½ stars they needed to adjust their door
tension or lower the height of a counter, they did so immediately. Overall, the program was
extremely successful and insightful for business owners.
Funding Opportunities for Future Accessibility Improvements
In a desire to make this program sustainable, the DLMA proposed a plan to Mayor and Council
to help provide business owners with options and funding opportunities to make expensive
accessibility improvements to their establishments.
The City of Langley has begun to review the DLMA’s proposed funding opportunities for
business owners. Working together, we can source the necessary government grants, funds and
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incentive programs for business owners that will ultimately improve accessibility and
inclusiveness in our community.
Promoting an Accessible Community
This program has also had a tremendous impact on the community. With the audit results being
made available on the DLMA, City of Langley and Tourism Langley websites (as well as the
DLMA office), those residents and visitors with accessibility needs can now review what
businesses best accommodate their needs. Due to the tremendous variety of audited businesses,
any person wishing to access this resource will find information on accommodations, restaurants,
retail and service businesses; thoroughly detailing their accessibility rating, special features, and
specific accessibility recommendations.
Conclusion: The City of Langley, a Model for Accessibility & Inclusiveness The creation of a program that focuses on and implements improving accessibility contributes to
a community that is fit for everyone. This Program deserves to be recognized because its main
goal is to make our unique downtown a model for accessibility. This successful initiative has
endless potential and outstanding sustainability, and therefore will continue to evolve and grow.
By approaching merchants face to face and by physically conducting accessibility audits, it has
proven to be an exceptionally effective way of implementing accessibility improvements while
informing businesses about the importance of inclusion.
In 2009, the program will focus on extending the auditing process by encouraging the
participation of more business owners, which will then add to the information available to the
public through the “Gold Star Program” website links. In addition, part of the 2009 process will
be to map out the participating businesses, showing their locations and accessibility ratings,
while providing a direct link through the map to each business’s contact, audit and accessibility
information. The City of Langley will also continue to make improvements to public property,
as outlined in the recommendations.
With the onset of 2010, the province will be welcoming the world to our communities and every
community should make it a priority to be inclusive. It is our desire to see this Program become
part of the bigger picture, so that every community works together to promote accessibility and
inclusion for our entire Province. We have established this program so that we can work towards
the goal of making our community as accessible and inclusive as possible. This should be
showcased so that other communities realize the importance of this initiative and so that they
strive to make their communities accessible as well.