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3. ACCESSIBILITY
LENS IN THE CITY OF OTTAWA INTÉGRATION DE LA COMPOSANTE
DE L’ACCESSIBILITÉ À LA VILLE D’OTTAWA |
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
That
Council apply an “Accessibility Lens” to all of its work - reports, motions,
policies, procedures and decisions.
RECOMMENDATION DU COMITÉ
Que le Conseil municipal intégré la
« composante de l’accessibilité » à tous ses travaux : rapports,
motions, politiques, procédures et décisions.
DOCUMENTATION
1.
Chair, Accessibility
Advisory Committee’s report dated 17 October 2006
(ACS2006-CCV-AAC-0003).
2.
Extract of Draft Minute, 17 October 2006.
Report to/Rapport au:
Corporate Services and
Economic Development Committee
and Council / et au Conseil
October 17 2006 / le 17 octobre 2006
Submitted
by/Soumis par: Chair, Accessibility Advisory Committee
Président, Comité consultatif sur l’accessibilité
Contact Person/Personne-ressource: Carole Langford,
Advisory Committee Coordinator/Coordonnatrice de
comités consultatifs
Corporate Services Department/Services généraux
(613) 580-2424 x28934, Carole.Langford@ottawa.ca
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SUBJECT: |
ACCESSIBILITY
LENS IN THE CITY OF OTTAWA |
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OBJET: |
INTéGRATION DE LA
COMPOSANTE DE L’ACCESSIBILITé À LA VILLE D’OTTAWA |
REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
That the Accessibility
Advisory Committee recommend that the Corporate Services and Economic
Development Committee recommend that Council apply an “Accessibility Lens”
to all of its work - reports, motions, policies, procedures and decisions.
RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité consultatif sur l’accessibilité recommande au Comité des
services organisationnels et du développement économique d’enjoindre le Conseil
municipal d’intégrer la « composante de l’accessibilité » à tous ses
travaux : rapports, motions, politiques, procédures et décisions.
BACKGROUND
The
mandate of the Accessibility Advisory Committee is to develop an awareness and
understanding of issues and concerns of the citizens of the City of Ottawa with
disabilities, with a goal to improving the quality of life for those with
disabilities.
The
Accessibility Advisory Committee held a meeting on 21 June 2006 and approved
the following motion:
WHEREAS one of the seven
principles endorsed by City Council in 2002 and which guides the municipalities
day-to-day decision-making is:
A Caring and Inclusive City[1]
·
Personal Safety and Security - All people feel safe in
their homes and communities.
·
Access to the Basics - All people have access to adequate income, food,
clothing, housing, transportation, health services and recreation.
·
Citizen Engagement - Everyone has the opportunity to fully participate
in the life of their community.
·
Diversity - The people of Ottawa respect and celebrate
cultural and social diversity, and have access to services that are responsive
to special and differing needs.
·
Seniors - Seniors have access to community services that respond to their
needs.
WHEREAS access issues and
barriers are potentially created in all processes, services, programs owned by
the City or decisions made by the City;
WHEREAS the City has the
responsibility and obligation to identify and eliminate access barriers as well
as prevent the creation of new access barriers;
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the
City of Ottawa apply a “Accessibility Lens” to all of its work - reports,
motions, policies, procedures and decisions.
All submissions to council would thereby include a statement or
description of the impact on all persons ensuring that any accessibility and
inclusion issues or potential barriers have been identified and precluded.
Increased accessibility for all citizens, including persons with disabilities, is embedded in the City’s Corporate Plan.
The City is already taking great strides towards a barrier-free city for residents and visitors. City services are constantly being reviewed and enhanced so they are easier to access and flexible enough to accommodate individual needs. Initiatives that have been already introduced to improve accessibility include:
· Hiring a Corporate Accessibility Specialist to facilitate the City’s work on accessibility and inclusion.
· Providing wheelchair accessible low-floor buses, routes and shelters. As of September 2006, 65 per cent of the fleet will be low floor and 55 routes will be designated accessible.
· Introducing a Community Transit Pass that provides low fare bus passes to persons with disability who have low incomes or are registered with Para Transpo.
· Ensuring materials produced by the City are accessible for people with disabilities. This includes maintaining W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) accessibility certification for the City’s web site to ensure the site has a high degree of usability for people with disabilities, providing City documents in large print and Braille, and providing dedicated TTY lines for transit and general inquiries.
· Opening the Bell Sensplex, Ottawa’s first barrier-free multi-sport facility, which won the City of Ottawa Accessibility by Design Award for architectural excellence and innovation.
· Retrofitting recreation facilities to ensure inclusion (e.g. graduated pool entrance at Plant).
· Installing audible pedestrian signals at 218 intersections, for individuals who have visual impairments or are blind.
· Continually auditing City buildings for accessibility and removing physical barriers. Since 2004, 2,430 barriers have been removed.
While staff supports in principle the creation of an accessibility lens, this initiative should be considered in light of current and future initiatives aimed at increased inclusion and enhanced accessibility. Currently, a Gender Equality Guide is being piloted in Community and Protective Services. It may be more appropriate to focus efforts on completing the pilot and potential Citywide launch before introducing an accessibility lens.
Plans to increase accessibility will continue in the future, with such initiatives as increased numbers of accessible taxis, more audible pedestrian signals and the introduction of accessibility design guidelines for road and sidewalk construction.
It is staff’s recommendation that the accessibility lens be
considered among other initiatives when COMAP 2007 will appear before CSEDC in
early 2007.
There are no financial implications.
The Office of the
Chief Corporate Services Officer will undertake the appropriate action
following Committee and Council consideration of the Motion.
ACCESSIBILITY LENS IN THE CITY OF OTTAWA
INTéGRATION DE LA COMPOSANTE DE L’ACCESSIBILITé À LA
VILLE D’OTTAWA
ACS2006-CCV-AAC-0003 CITY WIDE
Andrew
Katz, Member, Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC) expressed his
thanks to the Committee for supporting the Accessibility Lens concept. He noted they were not asking for resources,
it was simply a frame of mind but it would have great economic impact. For example, as Ottawa is made more
accessible, more conventions will be attracted to Ottawa from around the
world. Mr. Katz also provided an
example of how the Accessibility Lens would work. He noted his understanding Council would soon be considering a
by-law regarding the idling of cars. He
said as someone with MS, he was very prone to severe temperature changes and
needed to warm up his car. Mr. Katz
stated a lens built into the process would identify issues such as this before
a policy or by-law is put in place.
The
Accessibility Advisory Committee recommends that the Corporate Services and
Economic Development Committee recommend that Council apply an
“Accessibility Lens” to all of its work - reports, motions, policies,
procedures and decisions.
CARRIED with Councillor R. Bloess dissenting