Jutta Treviranus: We have structured the two days as follow. Today we want to learn about your experience, your successes and mistakes.

And one of the first experiences that we feel is quite instructive is the experience of the Accessibility for Ontarian's with Disabilities Act and we are going to hear about why it's different than most legislation around the world and other efforts to try and push this agenda forward We will have first a series of two speakers From the Accessibility Directorate Office And then we will have some additional stakeholders who will relay their experiences

And then we will have a number of international respondents

So I would like to welcome to the podium Ellen Waxman the Assistant Deputy Minister who will give us or relaying her experience regarding the Accessibility for Ontarian's with Disabilities Act and the process of implementing and making sure it is a success within Ontario Applause

Ellen Waxman: Hello, Good Morning and thank you very much for the introduction It is an absolute pleasure to be here today and see lots of old friends and colleagues and so many new faces as well I would like to spend my time talking about the journey of the AODA over the past 7 years We have quite a bit to cover. And I hope to do that before Vera starts flashing signs at me. Laughter My Presentation is fairly high level and I hope there is time for questions and discussions either after the session or as the day goes on I use the word journey because it's been a long road where we have achieved many success along the way with the help of many many people The development of the standards directly involved about 250 people on five different standards development committees. As well as participation of what we believe to be thousands of people through public through a series of several public reviews I'll talk a little bit more about the involvement of stake olders in a few minutes The AODA was passed in 2005 and unusually for the Province of Ontario it was passed unanimously by all 3 political parties

The goal of the AODA is an accessible Ontario by 2025 Through the development of Accessibility Standards in key areas of daily life. There are five Accessibility standards that have been developed or will be developed Customer Service, Information and Communications, Employment, Transportation and the Built environment The Accessibility Standards for Customer Service came into effect on 2010 to a Public Sector and 2012 for the private Sector. And what we are now calling the integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation what I will refer to as the IASR Combines the next three standards into one regulation These came into effect last summer. Implementation is being phased in over the next several years with reporting at regular intervals. The Built Environment Standard is currently in development and has two aspects. Areas that fall under the scope of the Ontario Building Code and areas related to public spaces such as parks playgrounds, trails and our always favourite topic parking I'll talk a little bit more about the specifics of the Information and Communication Standard in a few minutes.

First I would like to give you an up-date on the progress of the Customer Service Regulation The designate Public Sector Organisations were required to submit reports by January 1st, 2010. This included the Ontario Government, Municipalities in Ontario Schools, hospitals, colleges and universities That represents about a thousand organizations. We were very pleased after a concerted outreach effort to report that 100% of public sector organizations have reported their compliance with the Customer Service Standard Now approximately 360,000 organisations in the private and not-for-profit sectors must have compliance requirements for January 1st 2012. Of these approximately 60,000 organisations must file a compliance report with the government by December 31st We see customer Service as being the foundation of how to change the component of all the standards The Training requirements mean that millions of Ontarians in the work force will receive training in Accessible Customer Service The AODA is not the first case of Accessibility Legislation that we've had in the province.

Prior to the AODA, there was a piece of legislation known as the Ontarians with Disabilities Act or ODA The ODA was largely about planning. The AODA is about Accessibility Standards and Enforcement. The AODA came into being as a result of intense lobbying from Activists who felt that the ODA had no teeth and no substance. An organisation, known, I believe at the time know as the ODA Alliance then the AODA Alliance really did a very concerted lobbing effort with the government in order to affect the changes that we have today. And I would say that they are really largely responsible for the legislation that we currently have. So the ODA applied only to government in the broader public sector. The ODA had no standards and no enforcement provisions. The Act is still in effect and will be repealed sometime in the future The AODA provides for enforcement standards with timelines for compliance in accessing goods, services, buildings and employment

Standards foster integrating Accessibility into regular business and capital planning cycles And I should mention that the government has provided no funding for the implementation of the legislation And so the notion really was that over a period of 20 years organisations would be able to plan as part of their operational plans so they could implement the requirements. The standards apply to both the private sector and the broader public sector and every organisation in Ontario with one or more employees has obligations under the AODA I also like to know that the AODA is to be independently reviewed on a regular basis and each Standard is to be reviewed every five years. And those requirements are ensconced in the legislation So a bit about the context of change which I'm sure you all know about Currently there are approximately one in seven people in Ontario with a disability That's roughly 1.85 million people or 15.5% of Ontario's population

As the population ages the number of Ontarians with a disability will increase to one in five within 20years as will the need for accessibility If proving Accessibility opens up opportunities for people now and in the future of all areas of life. For example the unemployment rate is three times greater for a person with a disability Meaning that there's a huge untapped potential labour market As well as by 2017 for the first time seniors will account for the largest share of the population than children aged 14 and under To the best of our knowledge Ontario is the first jurisdiction in the world to mandate Accessibility Reporting instead of having people file complaints. This means that organisations are required by law to submit reports to the government and indicating their compliance The AODA puts the onus on the organisation to comply. By requiring organisations to take a proactive approach it minimizes the burden on individuals to have to file human rights complaints

Ontario is the first in the world that requires staff to be trained on Accessibility And we are also the first in Canada with a clear goal and a time frame with which to meet our goals So why Accessibility? It is an investment in future prosperity Increased accessibility means a more productive work force A more productive and educated work force means an increase in work force participation and this will become increasing important as organisations attempt to keep up with labour market shortages and an aging work force In 2009 the Martin Prosperity Institute conducted a study looking at potential economic benefits from implementing Ontario's Accessibility Standards The study indicated that Ontario see an estimated 700 million to 1.6 billion dollars increase in Tourism Expenditures which is an estimated 3 to 7 % increase in the number of tourists visits to Ontario Additionally, the study found that the implementation of Accessibility Standards can result in an estimated $3.8 to $9.6 billion dollar increase in retail sales in Canada.

So while we often talk about Accessibility as the right thing to do We also see that there are many economic imperatives for that. Of course accessibility not only helps people with disabilities it benefits seniors, families traveling with young children, shoppers and of course visitors with luggage And now let's talk a little it about the standards development process and what was involved Accessibility Standards were developed by Standards Development Committees known as the SDC's with representation from the Disability Community, Industry, Business and Not for Profit Organisations We know there are a few people in the room today who participated on those SDC's and I am sure they will have some interesting insights to offer Committees were made up of 50% representation of persons with disabilities and 50% representation from other sectors Government representatives participated on the committee as observers Once the committees developed the initial standards they were shared for public review and comment

Following the review and comment period the SDC's submitted it's final proposed standard to the government. Government maintained the right to accept or reject in whole or in part any of the recommendations. Current Accessibility standards that are in place largely reflect the intent of the SDC recommendations From a public policy perspective, the process was considered innovative as it brought all interests to the table through a consensus building approach to developing the standards However Jutta talked about learning from our mistakes and there were many challenges in this process.

In fact the first independent review of the AODA in 2010 recommended that the current process be replaced with one committee or board that would oversee the development of all future standards and reviews of existing ones.

We’re hoping to implement that new structure in the near future before any new standards are developed of existing ones

I would like to know now going to show a short video about the standards committee process.(captioner asking for Ms Waxmen to slow down)

And there are four people interviewed in the processin the video, Mary KardosBurton , Chair of the Information and Communication and Built Standards Development Committees.Brenda Lewis a former Director at the Accessibility Directorate, Pina D’Intino a member of the Information and Communications SDC, and Warren McNair a member of the Built Environment SDC

Video Shown

I would now like to talk a bit about the Accessibility Standards themselves. The current focus for the customer service standard is on the private sector reporting.As mentioned organisations that have 20 or more employees must file an on-line compliance report by December 31st of this year.

In addition there are parts of the IASR that have already come into effect such as emergency information provisions under the Information and Communications Standard and the Employment Standard.

There are also several requirements under the Transportation Standard which came into effect in 2012.

The Information and Communication Standard outlines how organisations will be required to create, provide, and receive information and communications in ways that are accessible to people with disabilities.

Providing information and communication in an accessible manner will help persons with disabilities better understand the different goods and services offered at organisations.

Increasing web accessibility by conforming to international standards, the web content Accessibility Guidelines, with Hag 2, .o level AA . Which I know in this room is one of the key places where people actually know what that means, is important as more information is available on-line.

This will allow people with disabilities to access the same information that many people rely on every day.

Educational and Training Institutions will also need to provide information and communication in an accessible format. Including text books and other learning materials and resources.

As well as provide accessibility awareness training related to accessible course delivery and instruction.

As you all know, for people without disabilities, technology makes things convenient. For people with disabilities technology makes things possible. Increased web accessibility means greater access to web services and information for persons with disabilities.

One only needs to look at the increase in on-line sales over the past few years to understand the importance of web accessibility. On-line stores such as Amazon have seen revenue growth and will see additional benefits for making sure their services are accessible to persons with disabilities using their website.

There is a requirement in the legislation for public sector organisations to incorporate accessibility when designing, procuring or acquiring self-service kiosks.

The private sector needs to consider accessibility in their kiosk development but we will monitor this requirement through the organisations self-certified

course for effectiveness.

Accessible information is more usuable by everyone on any computer or device with any kind of connection in any kind of connection in any kind of environment more readable by google and other technologies and services.

Increasing web accessibility will help users better access information. People using mobile devices or slower internet connections will also benefit from the website requirements. I would now like to show a video that relates to the Employment Standard and involves employees working in the IT industry

Video being shown

And now I would like to talk a little bit more about our approach to compliance.

Our main focus is on compliance assistance and what we can do to help organisations comply.

We want to work with organisations to help them

comply with the accessibility standards. However, if organisations remain noncompliant or refuse to comply the AODA allows for progressive enforcement measures through directives, orders, penalities and court-ordered fines.For example, an organization guilty of an offense under the AODA can face penalties of $15, 000 to $100,000. Additionally fines maybe issued by a Provincial Court f a person or organization is found guilty of specific offenses under the AODA. The court may issue daily fines of up to $100,000. For corporations.Organisations do have the right to appeal penalties or fines through a tribunal.

At the Accessibility Directorate we have done extensive outreach and public education. For example, we’ve developed a number of tools and resources to increase public awareness and understanding or accessibility issues. We have also developed a number of tools and resources to help organisations comply. We have also developed an on-line training resource as well as other training materials. All of these materials are available for free on our website at

www.ontario.ca/access.onWe also use social media outreach through twitter and facebook and in addition there are over 50 videos on our u-tube channel with over 60,000 views.

In addition we have a dedicated call centre through Service Ontario where the public can call in regarding any questions they have about the AODA or it’s regulations.

Over the past five years we have also partnered with 49 organisations to deliver customized resources and training to help organisations comply. The following diagram highlights the different areas of life where a person can be impacted by accessibility issues.

Our partnerships cut across sectors large and small businesses all over Ontario.A few examples, we have partnered with the Ontario Hospital Association to develop on-line training modules geared towards hospital staff and volunteers.

We have a partnership with Tourism Industry Association of Ontario and are continuing to work with

them to provide training and resources to Tourism operators and organisations across the province.

We have also partnered with a few organisations in the education sector to ensure accessibility is incorporated into the school curriculum and to ensure teachers have supports in providing accessible course instruction.

The following slide shows a visual of the partnership projects we entered into in 2011-12. In total we entered into 12 partnerships and are currently in the midst of partnering with additional organisations.I would now like to describe some of the partnerships that focus on the Information and Communication Standard.We have a partnership with an organization called GAATES which is developing a user friendly guide on accessible information and communications for small business. They’re also developing plain language guide on WIK requirements for web developers and plain language guide for businesses to reference when contacting web developer to build an accessible web site.

In addition the GAATES project is providing small businesses with additional resources they need to implement their accessibility information and communication obligations.

In the past we’ve partnered with the Inclusive Design Research Centre at OCAD U and developed publically reviewed desk reference guide to help users create accessible documents using common office applications.And finally we’ve partnered with the Council of Ontario Universities in developing an on-line toolkit for accessible instruction and assisting students with mental health disabilities for facilities and universities and colleges.Recently we held the first annual IDEA Student Completion. IDEA standing for Innovative Design for Accessibility. Through the IDEA student completion we are seeking to engage the creative minds of Ontario’s University, Undergraduate students to develop innovative, cost effective and practical solutions.

And lastly in the education sector we have a partnership with the Ontario Education Services

Corporation in developing training resources for teachers on-line, in video and in print format on accessible course instruction.It also builds on Accessibility awareness for students from kindergarten to grade 12 into the school curriculum.So moving forward currently four or five Accessibility Standards have been developed and are in place with implementation being phased in from now till 2021.

We’ve had an extremely positive response from our private sector partners who have been active in promoting the AODA through their print and on-line resources as well as through their AGM’s delivery webinars. We are currently working on a number of compliance assistance tools and resources that should be posted on our website within the next month. These include a compliance wizard tool that will help organization figure out in less than five minutes what they need to – what requirements they need to comply with and during which time period. We’re – We’ve developed policy guidelines on the integrated reg to help organisations comply and will also be posting how to Guides and Resources.

Our priority right now is working with the private sector to have compliance reports submitted by December 2012.

So then what next? By January 1st 2013 we will begin auditing compliance within the private sector and implementing all aspects of the inspection and enforcement regime related to the AODA.

The five year review in Customer Service Standard is coming up in 2013 As well as mentioned Accessibility Standards must be reviewed every five years We’ll be establishing a new structure and process for developing Accessibility Standards.

And finally Toronto is hosting the PARA-PANAMERICAN GAMES in 2025 and we see this as a really really exciting opportunity for Ontario and for accessibility. And are committed to working with the games to ensure that Ontario has a legacy of accessibility.

We are going to stop here. And turn the microphone

over to JuttaApplause

Jutta Treviranus: And so thank you very much. We were going to have Shamira but unfortunately she was ill.Luckily Matt Rempel from the Diversity Office is going to take her place.

Luckily MATT Rempel From the Diversity Office is going to take her place. So this is not Shamira. A very good Rep

One of the major groups that needs to comply to the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act is the government itself. And so this is the reason why we have invited members of the OPS and the Diversity Office.

Matt Rempel: Serious guys Shamira started to look really ill and I guess last night wasn’t great so she called me this morning and ask me if I could talk a little bit about the experience that we’re having in the public service.

For those that don’t know Shamira is

the Chief Diversity and Accessibility Officer within the Ontario Public Service.

One of the things that we work on in the Diversity Office is actually you know, we’re one of the 360,000 organisations that Ellen just talked about who are obligated to comply with the new Accessibility Legislation.

We are asked to sort of describe the approach that we took as one organization interpreting these new regulations and implementing them within our organization.

So my name is Matt Rempel and I’m her special advisor. And one of the projects I have been working on since the legislation came out was, Is how do we make our own organization incorporate the aspects of Accessibility we’re already working on and also meet the legislation obligations that are new as of July 2011 for our organizsation?

I am going to walk you through what that sort of looks like for us, the approach that we took and I also want to get a more grandular on the specifics. What were the challenges in meeting the regulatory requirements. What were

the solutions we came up with and how are we working toward digital inclusion in our organization and moving forward.

So with that being said, I just wanted to quickly outline sort of the complexity of our organization. So I mentioned we’re the Public service. Here is some context. We are 63,000 employees across Ontario. We’ve got 8 unions with bargaining agents, 23 different ministries we’re the second largest service employer in Canada. So from that perspective any type of change initiative is difficult.

Especially within a large scale organization.

The other piece I wanted to reference is that there is an expectation that our organization is going to take initiative when it comes accessibility, when it comes to the new regulation

We just heard from the Accessibility Directorate, they’re the folks who have created the regulation. And enforce the regulation for all of Ontario.

So from our perspective what we want to do is really show leadership in this regard and

show the broader public sector and the private sector how it can be done and what some of the successes are in an organization like the public service

So with that mandate there is also, you know the other perspective that we have in the OPS. We recognize that accessibility is especially important as a business imperative.

You know, the services that we provide all Ontario Citizens that is 1.85 million we need to make sure they are all accessible Public Services and they meet the needs of all our constituents and citizens.

We got customers we want to make sure we provide goods and services but We also have employees.

So within our organization 12% self-identify as having a disability. So we need to make sure that within our organization we’re an accessible.

So with our organization 12% self-identify as having a disability. So we need to make sure that within our oganisation we’re an accessible employer so that all employees have

the opportunity to reach their full potential and certainly we know that technology is a way to assist with that within the organization.

Now one of the things that that we learned when it came to accessibility within the public service that for it to be really successful we wanted to find ways to link it to core business to other private organization and the first inclusion is a very significant part within the bulk service

You know we have been undergoing a journey to build a diverse and inclusive organization that delivers excellent public service. And I say that because also we recognize that excellent public service is accessible public service.

Additionally part of our vision is that it also supports all our employees achieve their full potential. So again we need to become an accessible employer so employees will achieve their full potential. And I want to reference that because I do want to make note that when we do talk about the regulatory environment. But I want to share that there is more than just embracing

the meaning of compliance. I think that there is a way to use compliance as a lever to further Accessibility within the organisation recognizing this is imperative.

I am sure we are all familiar with some of the things that the new regulation called for us to do was by January 1st 2012. We needed to as an organisation put forward a multiyear Accessibility Plan. A couple of things, One it needed to describe how we were going to achieve multi year material plans within their budget.

They’re also how their going to identify and remove the barriers within the organization to accessibility. So happy to announce that we put forward a new multi-year plan.

It is public and it’s called Accessibility in the Ontario Public Service, Leading the way forward

Now within this plan and according to the regulation itself as well. It called to create a statement of commitment to persons with disabilities and that is what we have up in the slide here.

And our statement of commitment is the OPS endeavors to demonstrate leadership for Accessibility in Ontario. Our goal is to ensure accessibility for our employees and the publically served and our services policy and facilities.

Now when we released this plan, we didn’t want it to be like many government plans that get hidden on the internet site pages and pages deep. What you’ll notice is that on every single page that is available to the public, right at the bottom there is a link called Accessibility and it is right beside the Contact Us Link. We wantedit there because we wanted to make sure anyone can find this information very fast.

And we wanted to make a statement that this isextremely important to us as an organization. Accessibility is important. And information regarding accessibility needs to be easily available for anybody that’s looking for it.

So if you click that link you actually find our plan.

You will find our Accessibility Customer Service Policy and some additional information about accessibility in the Ontario Public Service

So just to share a bit about the plan, we wanted to create a plan that was meaningful and like I said did two things.

Mentoring to our province but also shown how to demonstrate leadership and make changes and make an accessible Ontario Public Service.

So luckily we had experience in planning, we have been doing accessibility planning since 2001.

But we wanted to make a really serious look at how we have been doing things and see if it makes sense. We went through some pretty Extensive consultations with our customers, with our Employees to learn what’s working what’s not working and how we can modify our strategy.

And what we found is that we needed to structure the plan to three sections. One was obviously we needed a long term vision of how we were going to achieve full accessibility in the Public Service. But also we wanted to focus on

some key areas that would do the two things but go beyond compliance and we really need some changes within the organization and then we need to share within our client specifics around some Regulatory requirements and how we were achieving them.One of the things we have learned throughout this process it is , it is one thing to have a plan and it is can be glossy and say a lot of great things but it is another when you get to implementation. And one of the things we have learned is that you really need a strong foundation within the organisation to achieve success. So one of the things that we did is we actually structured you know some accountability metrics within the organisation. So Shamira actually chairs with two senior level committees within the organization. One is called the Assistant Deputy Minister and Interministerial Reference Committee for Inclusion. And the second is the Accessibility and Leadership Council. And with what we are doing here, we are bringing the

most critical topics to our senior leaders within the organization to look at and figure out the best solutions for our organization our operating realities.And one of the by-products of this and I know this is something that Shamira works hard towards, is creating champions at the executive level all across the organisations and all the various fields of business. So this could be IT this could be communications this could be policy

And we are finding that the more champions we have at leadership tables the better our success is. The more endorsement that we get toward achieving accessibility

Additionally we want to recognize that Champion’s don’t necessarily always have to be senior executives. Now leadership is certainly very, very important. But there’s a lot of people that make a difference and these are also the champions without titles. And we have what’s called the Accessibility leadership or Lead’s forums. And for each one of our ministries, I think there are 23 or 24 of them. There’s one Accessibility Lead who is an expert on what we’re

doing within the government organisation towards accessibility. How we’re achieving a repertory of finds

And I believe work with them with the Diversity Office avail all the tools and resources supports and information required to really assist their ministry to become as successful as possible.

And throughout that network through both the leadership and the champions at the ground level we are able to make some pretty substantive changes.

And it’s one of the things we know that is necessary to move forward.

So to get a little bit more granular In my line of work I get a lot of calls in

Ontario because there is a new regulation out.And businesses call say How did you do it. Tell me specifically when it comes to implementation what did you do how did you interpret the regulation ? How did you make it work and what are some of the challenges and things that I can look out for ? So that we can do this as effectively as possible.

So quickly I will introduce a couple of regulatory requirements we have been working with that we are obligated to achieve by January 1st 2012. And I’m going to show you a little of how we did that and the specifics

So the first one is for new internet and internet websites. So the regulation is calling for us, for any new websites we need to achieve that accessibility standard of (Wikit) 2.0 double A.

Now I’m not a technology guy so I’m not here to go through what that specifically means. But it’s a very detailed standard that can be measured and can be tested. Has specific requirements under it.

Second was with self-service kiosks and I think I mention that. For us what that means is any new kiosk that we put forth we want to make sure that we incorporate accessibility features into it’s design or any other guest that we acquire

Similarly with procurements the regulation is calling for us to . This is one of the criteria that features into our procurement. So this does include INT procurements and solutions. And the last one was around

purchasing for information. So we have a lot of Emergency Public Information in the Public Service and we need to make sure all of the electronic documents are available in ways that anybody trying to capture the information.

So from a website’s perspective again from a Public Service perspective there is a lot of information on our websites. And our information is ranging from health care to housing, to the environment and there is a lot of really critical information. So it is exceptionally important for us to make sure this information is available and useable for everybody

Now where it gets tricky for us is literally I’d say we have thousands of web pages and I think that’s a gross under statement. WE have a lot of web content and what that also means is there’s a lot of different people who are managing the websites and have access to putting content on the website. And content could be attached documents, it could be just the text within the body.

And similarily we have these rules within our Ministry they call consistent look and

feel.So there’s a framework already around

how websites are done. And when we started to look at how we are going to achieve Wiket 2.0 how are we going to test it. How are we going to guarantee how are going to know The greatest challenges that came up, who is going to be accountable? Is there anyone within the organization that we can say, This is yours? And the answer is really no. Because there is too many people involved.

And the next was, how are we going to test for compliance? Wikit is very specific. Do we have the enhanced expertise?

Do our web people do that? And we looked around and the answer was no, we don’t just yet. And then of course with a lot of regulatory requirements how are we to get everyone to understand there is a new way of doing things and educate and train folks on these new rules on doing things?

So the solution really boiled down to two components. One there is a very technical aspect and it turns out that was probably the

easy one. Even though it did take a little bit of work.

It ended up being a bit easier. So we grabbed some of our best web people and piut them in a room for three months and said, Figure this out for us. Figure out how to do it in our organization.

And we designed a great methodology for testing and compliance with wiket. We structured a new process within our organization whereby before a new website goes live we actually want to see internally that we’ve achieved wiket and see the report on the testing that’s been done.

So structurally, you know that’s great and Some of our people have all gone through what we call a boot camp training where WE DID A CRASH COURSE ON wiket and a crash course on accessibility and what that means in our environment. So with our services and backgrounds.

But what I will share with you but I think it’s a necessary first step because it gets you there. But what we recognize is it’s probably

not enough. Our web people were suggesting to us that there’s realities. A new report needs to go up and you have thirty minutes to put it up. And if any of the reports. On a PDF file it’s riddled with untags and graphics, that is there’s some really ugly tables. There’s not much that a web person can do. So it really doesn’t mean that this is the web person’s role and responsibility to understand accessible web contents and information. We rather that this is everybody's role and responsibility to understand accessible web contents documents and information.

So what we have been really working Towards getting everybody to

understand that accessibility begins with everyone. So it is accessibility at source.

And we’ve just recently began what is sort of a behavioural and cultural transformation campaign that’s really founded in education called Accessibility at Source. And it is designed to get the message out to all of our employees as to what accessibility is. Demystify some of the regulatory language. For you this is what this means. If you touch web content, if you create

documents there’s some simple things that you can do to build in accessibility at source that A. makes the information more user friendly and B. helps us to make everything more …. websites so our web people don’t have to go through themselves

We’ve recently started but I think that it’s getting a lot of traction. And this is getting a lot of traction. And this concept about sharing that Accessibility at Source and everybody taking accountability and understanding what they can do in their daily work everyday spans further than just websites. And what we’ve done, we’re looking at taking every three or four months and just having one topic and that one topic is going to be around accessibility but couched in a regulatory area.

So things like accessibility and procurement. So we know that when we’re looking to procuring goods, a service or facility, accessibility needs to be considered. Sure. But if people don’t really know what accessibility means or how to consider it or where the tools or means or desire are, we’re Not going to get much

traction. So that’s what the campaigns about and that education awareness is really starting to get to all our employees so that we all be accessible at source

And meeting regulatory requirements is easy it’s a part of how we do business. And we really want to focus on demonstrating leadership and going a bit further.

So the other thing I wanted to talk about was you know the kiosk piece. Within our organisation, I’ll share some context we do have 71 kiosks that are established all over Ontario. And the regulation for us calls that new kiosks have accessibility features incorporated.

Now what is interesting is when we define a kiosk the regulation calls a kiosk is an interactive electronic terminal. Including point of sale devices intended for public use that allow you to just access our services and files So the definition was maybe kiosks are more than what we think kiosks are.

Everyone sort of thinks of those traditional boxed kiosk with the screen and the buttons and what not. But we recognize within

our court system we’ve got computer set-up that tell people where to go. Perhaps that falls into the kiosk area. We really need to expand and broaden

Our minds on how we’re doing business interacting in an electronic way with the members of the public.

So for me I thought it was pretty exciting that the definition was a little bit larger cause it really made us analyze where we could look for better ways to be accessible with technologies and how we communicate with our public.

Now when it comes to kiosks it does gets complicated fast. We know that there is different features that will support the needs of certain people, but it gets complicated fast. We know that there is different features that will support the needs of certain people, but might not be as user friendly for others. And finding that happy balance that meets the needs of folks is very difficult.

And when we start looking at the regulations, how many features are we looking

at? Which ones should we put in. When was the line cost prohibitive?

When was it not the line, we just have these features and we just have the features. The conversation becomes more difficult.

SO instead of just trying to solve it in one go, we’re actually leveraging a tools withing our organization called the OPS Inclusion Lens

And it is something we are proud of as an organisation. But what is it. It’s a way for us to expand our thinking and look through a different lens when we’re doing any work. So whether that’s policy or programs, , operations, or designing a kiosks.

The idea is we look at it through an inclusive lens. What it really is, is a website with some strategically worded questions that would say, how would someone with this cultural background access this service This kiosk. And it goes through all the dimensions the diversity. And of course one of those is accessibility.

So when our people within the OPS are using the Inclusion Lens they look at the accessibility section they can get a better

understanding of various types of disabilities, various types of features that could support usability within a kiosk. And use that knowledge and really think these questions so that they’ve considered all the aspects in the design of the kiosk.

And we seem to think that this would really go well.

Some other things that we did to prepare organisations to meet these requirements Is we did build a guide, and a sort of a guide to achieving compliance that goes through all the various aspects, including kiosks. And we did some research.

The banks are getting more savvy with kiosks, there is some great work happening internationally. And we captured some of those best practices. We broke down in one single place that’s easy to access things to consider solutions that make sense and how we can build and design things and other solutions.

So between those two initiatives and of course in looking at the designing kiosks, we want to make sure we’re talking to people who are

going to be using them. So consulting actual users to find out good,what’s most satisfying. We found new a variable to at least understand the environment and make good decisions on how

we are going to structure the actual kiosks. So what I want to do is summarize

some of the lessons we’ve learned when implementing accessibility and meeting the regulatory requirements.

You know first we did realize and quickly the leadership commitment is pretty mandatory. So making sure that all our senior leaders really understood the business case, the rationale for why this is so important. That was actually pretty easy within our organization. So we were very fortunate in that.

It is one thing to get their endorsement, it’s another to ensure that they have the tools that are necessary to support their role in championing accessibility.

So we’ve spent a lot of time within our office, within the Diversity Office creating these resources and making then widely available.

Secondly it’s about strategic alignment.

So I would suggest that it is not about the project to meet compliance and make accessibility happen, through legislation I feel there is more leverage and more support when you are showing this as part of a broader initiative within the organization. Ours is to deliver excellent Public Service. Has to be accessible Public It’s really simple and we get a lot of traction that way. From an IIT perspective really what I’ve learned is it’s really about planning. Planning for it at source.

Again that is why our campaign is called Accessibility AT Source. It’s cheaper, it’s easier, it’s smarter to think about things before you get four years into this big solution design and realize you did not make it as accessible as it should be. Fixing things on the back end is labour intensive and really not a valuable use of time. So it’s effective makes sense

For us in IIT, we also want to make sure preventing barriers from within the process and looking beyond the minimum requirements and sort of check off boxes. Saying, We considered accessibility check move on let’s make sure There

are no barriers in the solutions. Lets make sure it makes sense what we are doing.

Similarly look at performance testing throughout the life cycle of the project. And the person at procurement is working really hard to start building in language so that when we’re procuring any solutions that our vendors source a product without any accessibility problems

So the final thought’s that I wanted to leave you with is that there is a couple of quotes we have heard within the organization. Talked about behavioural culture transformation talked about people understanding accessibility, doing their part at source everyday in their work. And some of the things that I’ve heard that make me feel we’re really getting some traction here and it’s exciting to see

One from a senior leader of the organization and he said that "Accessibility isn’t just a matter of creating a product and tacking on accessible version at the end. It’s about thinking from day one about how we can make a better product, policy, program for everyone. And it’s exciting to see that in it’s entirety from some of

our senior leadersAnd another really cool one that I heard

from a colleague of mine was, and she has been working in accessibility within the public sector for many, many years, I’d say ten years plus. And what she’s seen with organisations is that no longer are people asking what do we need to be accessible, instead they are asking, asking a lot, how do we become accessible. And she thinks that this small change in the question reflects a pretty substantial change in the attitudes of people we live with. And it’s super exciting and just shows how important … make a lot of really good progress.

So with that being said, Thank you and I think that ----I hope you have a good day.[ APPLAUSE ]

Jutta Treviranus >> Thank you Matt. Wonderful lessons learned. So we have a few minutes for questions. I’d like to open it up to any questions that people have or specific responses. And perhaps, yes Ellen and Matt would come forward to respond.

And I believe David you had some

specific questions to ask?Dan >> I work for a company that deals

nationally and internationally with clients who are looking at what is happening in Ontario. Can you talk a little bit about how the experience in Ontario is starting to influence some of the other province? Policies and just the thoughts getting into accessibility and diversity?

Ellen Waxman>> Thanks. What we know is that there’s a lot of interest from other provinces and we get calls and people are watching. And I think that people are looking to see to what extent the AODA is going to be enforced.

And that will really happen over the next couple of years. I think that the province of Manitoba has really moved away in the area of Accessibility. And there’s probably a few people in the room who know a little bit more about that than I do.

But I would say that overall we know we’re being watched. We know there’s a lot of interest. But we haven’t seen other provinces move towards Accessibility Legislation in the way

that Ontario has with the possible exception of Manitoba.

>> YES, Peter.>> YES It was wonderful stuff. I’m just

thinking about what other aspects could be implemented in your as part of our mandate. And it talks about the curb effect. When you cut-out a curb you make it accessible for a wheelchair and other things happen. Are you trying to perhaps enhance access for [INAUDIBLE ] enhancement in access with the services via the population as whole or is it specific? Are you tracking unforeseen benefits?

Ellen Waxman >> Yeah we actually have a research study that is going on right now around attempting to look at sort of the quantifiable benefits of accessibility and the legislation . And it is really hard piece to do. And we have asked people within other jurisdictions, the U.S. in particular, what the impact has been around the ADA and accessibility. And people have a lot of antidotal stories, but there is not a lot of hard evidence.

So we are attempting a research study

that we are currently doing to establish a benchmark and then be able to look in the future in terms of what the critical benefits are.

Jutta>> And I think there was a questions from Catherine

>> Yes, It has to do with Shamira’s replacement. I am sorry I did not remember your name.

>> MATT.Catherine >> Matt, How do you

manage to get the rank and file to make accessible power point, accessible utube, accessible anything at the lowest grass roots level, not at the web developer level, but at the everyday worker level?

Matt >> That is a great question I don’t know if we’re there just yet.

That is a pretty massive undertaking to get every single person who has a computer to make accessible documents. But what I can say it’s the goal right now.

And I was talking about the Accessibility AT Source Campaign and conceptually it’s about taking a topic that’s as high priority as accessible

documents and making sure that in every single stream of communication and in every way in area our employees do their work they’re going to see it, and they’re going to hear it and they’re going to get a chance to learn. In whatever way makes sense for them.

So there is corporate communications that go out, e-mails sent to everyone that drive traffic towards our website. On our website we’ve got more guides and solutions and how to videos, the whole bit that is supportive of better understanding of accessible documents.

We recognize that those guides and those videos only work for certain people PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT LEARNING PREFERENCES. SO WITHIN EACH ONE OF our MINISTRIES WE have what’s called AN ACCESSIBILITY EXPERT, an expert in accessible . AND WE HAVE put EQUIPPED THEM WITH HANDS ON TRAINING MODULES. SO theLUNCH AND LEARN so basically you can go to a staff day and WITHIN 15 OR 20 MINUTES WALK THROUGH some of THE HIGHLIGHTS and some of the QUICK STEPS that you can do TO MAKE YOUR DOCUMENTS MORE

ACCESSIBLE. SO THE CONCEPT OF ACCESSIBILITY AT SOURCE IS ONE topic, ONE TIME, IN ANY single WAY WE CAN THINK OF REACHING THE EMPLOYEES of all areas of the organization . AND get their attention for 20 to 30 MINUTES that’s required to UNDERSTAND ACCESSIBLE DOCUMENTS.

SO WE HAVE JUST STARTED THis CAMPAIGN, IT SEEMS TO BE WORKING REALLY WELL WE’RE GETTING FANTASTIC FEEDBACK. AND IF WE GET A CHANCE TO CHAT IN A YEAR I'LL TELL you all about it.

Jutta>> I think WE HAVE TIME FOR ONE MORE QUESTION. yes

>> RICHARD AUBREY. A QUESTION FOR THE ONTARIO GOVERNMENT ON THE AODA. I'M JUST WONDERING, FROM A STANDPOINT OF THE OTHER PROVINCEs STARTING TO LOOK AT ONTARIO AS A MODEL, IS THERE ANY INITIATIVE FROM ONTARIO'S PERSPECTIVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE IS SOME ELEMENT OF HARMONIZATION ACROSS THE VARIOUS PROVINCES? SOME OF US MAY DO BUSINESS IN MULTIPLE PROVINCES AND IT would be nice TO

at least HAVE SOMETHING IN MIND that their will be an IDEA OF HARMONIZATION AT SOME POINT OF SOME OF THE STANDARDS that are looked at.

Helen Waxman>> Yeah, THAT’S A -- THAT IS A REALLY GREAT IDEA,A GREAT QUESTION. I KNOW THAT OUR DEPUTY MINISTER THROUGH FEDERAL PROVINCIAL, TERRITORIAL COMMITTEE that SHE CO-CHAIRS AROUND SOCIAL POLICY IT IS BROUGHT UP. AND WE ARE VERY INTERESTED AND WOULD BE REALLY happy TO CONSULT WITH OTHER PROVINCEs AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT in terms of HOW SOME FORM OF HARMONIZATION COULD TAKES PLACE.

>> SO WE'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE THIS discussion and this will be the topic of the discussion when we get back from our break out session.

AFTER OUR COFFEE SESSION. SO WE HAVE COFFEE ACTUALLY AGAINST THE WALL OVER HERE. AND THAT IS JUST TO FACILITATE THE OPTION OF CONTINUING TO HELP YOURSELF WHILE WE CONTINUE THIS DISCUSSION.

WE ARE GOING TO TAKE A 15 MINUTE BREAK AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO CORAL YOU ALL BACK AND WE'LL HEAR FROM A NUMBER OF STAKE HOLDER PERSPECTIVES AND ALSO OUR INTERNATIONAL GUEST PERSPECTIVES.

IT'S TO THE AUDIENCE LEFT.