The IASR Phase of the AODA has various timeline requirements & many new requirements; navigating the Minefield

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Optimal Performance has been very busy marketing the AODA Act it would seem often to be on behalf of the MCSS at times. Given that hundreds of medium and even large companies still do not even know about the AODA at this time it is clear the MCSS and the ADO have done a poor job of communicating something so critical to business at best.

With this in mind I thought it would be important to commence educating readers & clients about the many new requirements under the ISAR, the just released Accessible Public Spaces (quietly revealed in December 2012) so you can get your committee/project teams together to get started on the most immediate requirements which now mandatory.

In today’s Blog I will simply commence with an outline of the General Requirements for the IAS. This Blog will assume your company is Private and of a size of 50 employees and more.

It is strongly recommended these next phases of the AODA be moved out of the HR offices to Facility Management; IT; Communications; Marketing; Training and HR Senior levels in your organization. The IASR crosses many of these departments and to be implemented strategically and in a long term way this is the best approach to implementation.

Following are the highlights for the IASR’s General Requirements so you become familiar with this. Our team will follow this with further explanation about the timelines for mandatory reporting to the ADO on the General Requirements to be followed by a review of the Specific Requirements of the IASR including Public Space Accessibility and the soon to be released new Build Code Act and Build Code document with the Accessible Design requirements Addendum.

Part 1 – General Requirements

The General Requirements are the regulatory requirements that apply across all three standards in this regulation – Information and Communications, Employment, and Transportation.

Requirements under the Information and Communications Standard

Section 1; Purpose of the Regulation

Integrated Accessibility Standard
Ontario Human Rights Code

Section 2; Definitions

Definitions

Section 3; Establishment of Accessibility Policies

Requirement as Stated in the Regulation
Intent of this Requirement
Implementing the Requirement
Statement of Commitment
Accessibility Policies
Developing an Accessibility Policy
Customer Service Standard Principles
Content and Format of Policies
Documentation of Policies
Availability of Policies
Maintaining Accessibility Policies

Section 4; Accessibility Plans

Requirement as Stated in the Regulation
Intent of this Requirement
Implementing the Requirement
Accessibility Plans
Developing a Multi-year Accessibility Plan
Assessing the Organization
Drafting a Multi-Year Accessibility Plan
Making an Accessibility Plan Public
Reviewing and Updating the Accessibility Plan
Additional Requirements for Transportation Service Providers
Additional Requirements for Designated Public Sector Organizations
Consulting with People with Disabilities
Preparing an Annual Public Status Update

Section 5; Procuring or Acquiring Goods, Services or Facilities

Requirement as Stated in the Regulation
Intent of this Requirement
Implementing the Requirement
Accessibility Features and Criteria
Determining Practicability

Section 6; Self Service Kiosks

Requirement as Stated in the Regulation

Section 7; Training

Requirement as Stated in Regulation
Intent of this Requirement
Implementing the Requirement
Who Should Receive Training
Training Based on Duties
Training Formats and Methods
Timing of Training
Record of Training
Information for Educators and Transportation Service Providers

Section 8; Exemption from Filing Accessibility Reports

Requirement as Stated in the Regulation
Intent of this Requirement
When do Organizations Have to Comply
Implementing the Requirement

To learn in more detail about the General Requirements of the IASR & Public Space Accessibility please contact one of our experts at AODA@OptimalPerformance.ca We can send you a document which reviews these requirements and gets you started with the most timely mandatory elements required.