The University of Western Ontario’s

 

Accessibility Plan

 

 

 

September 2008 to August 2009

 

Prepared in accordance with the Ontarians With Disabilities Act, 2001

 

 

 

30 September 2008

 

 

 


Table of Contents

 

 

Introduction....................................................................................................................... 3

 

Objectives.......................................................................................................................... 3

 

Western’s Commitment to Accessibility Planning..................................................... 3

 

Barrier-Removal Initiatives in 2007/2008..................................................................... 4

 

Plan for Removal of Barriers 2008/2009...................................................................... 11

 

Review and Monitoring Process................................................................................. 14

 

Appendices .................................................................................................................... 15

            Appendix A               Members of WODAC

             


 

 

The University of Western Ontario’s Annual Accessibility Plan

September 30, 2008

 

 

Introduction

 

In December 2001, Ontario passed the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001 (the “Act”).  The purpose of the Act is to improve opportunities for persons with disabilities and to provide for their involvement in the identification, removal and prevention of barriers to their full participation in the life of the province. To this end, the Act mandates that every university, including The University of Western Ontario (“Western”), prepare an annual accessibility plan.

 

Despite the passage of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, the requirements under the former Act, specifically in reference to the preparation of this report, remain in force. On January 1, 2010 the University will report on customer service accessibility standards as required pursuant to Ontario regulations 429/07 and 430/07 which came into  force in 2008 promulgated under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (“AODA”).

 

This is the sixth such plan to be prepared for Western.

 

Objectives

 

The purpose of an accessibility plan is to document barriers to accessibility that have been removed to date and identify those barriers that will be removed in the coming year.  A plan must also identify how the barriers will be removed and present a plan for identifying and removing barriers in the future, and preventing the development of new barriers.   Plans must be made public and accessible to allow for input from the broader community.

 

The purpose of this plan is to update the last report, prepared in September 2007 (available at http://www.accessibility.uwo.ca/wodac.htm).

 

 

 Western’s Commitment to Accessibility Planning

 

As is stated in Engaging the Future, the University’s Strategic Plan:

 

Diversity: as part of our commitment to excellence, we seek to recognize and remove the obstacles faced by traditionally under-represented groups in order to facilitate their access to and advancement at Western. We respect and celebrate the diversity of people who make up our community.

 

The University of Western Ontario has been committed to accessibility planning for some time now and has recommitted itself to such planning under the Act.  Through the formation of Western’s Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee (“WODAC”), Western has committed itself to meeting its obligations under the Act, as well as to achieving the following goals:

 

·         The continual improvement of access to University premises, facilities and services for all persons with disabilities;

·         Compliance with accessibility standards consistent with regulations under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, as they come into force;

·         The participation of persons with disabilities in the development and review of its annual access plans; and

·         The provision of quality services to persons with disabilities.

 

Barrier-Removal Initiatives in 2007-2008

 

1.       Physical and Architectural Barriers

 

A number of departments and/or groups are committed to the removal of physical and architectural barriers at Western.

 

 

 

.

 

The initiatives to remove physical and architectural barriers across campus include:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

King’s University College:

 

 

Huron University College

 

Campus Wide:

 

 

 

 

 

Accessible Transportation

 

 

 

2.  Information and Communications Barriers

 

Initiatives to remove information and communication barriers across campus in the past year include:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 1 Number of Students using Services [2]

 

 

 

                     Service Provided

 

 

2004/05

 

 

2005/06

 

 

2006/07

 

2007/08

 

 

Examination administration & invigilation

 

548

 

 

654

 

 

668

 

 

747

 

 

 

Access Van

 

   7

 

 11

 

 31

 

 54

 

 

Alternative format text books

 

 52

 

 48

 

 73

 

 72

 

 

Equipment Lending

 

 30

 

 12

 

 n/a

 

 n/a

 

 

Interpreter services

 

   4

 

   2

 

   0

 

 0

 

Real Time Captioning

 

       

   1

 

   1

 

 1

 

 

Computer Note-taking

 

 11

 

 11

 

 10

 

 14

 

 

Learning Skills Services

 

117

 

110

 

114

 

110

 

 

 

 

 

Enhanced Services for students with LD

 

120

 

167

 

215

 

262

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OSAP BSWD                       

Students applying

Applications processed

 

 

 

179

253

 

 

 

173

244

 

 

 

155

200

 

 

 

148

191

 

 

·         Housing and Ancillary Services worked in collaboration with the USC Housing to provide awareness education on barriers on campus. Along with USC housing provided awareness education on barriers on campus.

 

 

3. Attitudinal Barriers

 

This type of barrier is the most difficult of the barriers to identify and address. Western is fortunate to have a large number of interested and concerned individuals in its community who regularly take on the task of educating others about the challenges faced by persons with disabilities in our community, both formally in the work that they do and informally. 

 

Some initiatives completed in the past year to move forward in addressing these barriers include:

 

 

4.      Technological Barriers

 

Efforts to remove technological barriers on campus are on-going and the removals of such barriers are priorities for various departments.   Initiatives from the past year include:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.      Barriers Created by Policies or Practices

 

With an organization the size of Western, there are a great number of policies and practices, both formal and informal, which require review.   By promoting Western’s obligations pursuant to the Act, it is anticipated that many of these will be reviewed by the appropriate departments, and barriers will be identified and brought forward, either by those departments or by individuals impacted.   Resources such as Staff Relations, Rehabilitation Services, Services for Students with Disabilities and Equity & Human Rights Services are available to receive concerns and provide advice.  These resources also continue to review policies and practices as part of their work on campus.

 

Some specific initiatives in the past year undertaken to address policy or practice barriers include:

·         A revised Employment Equity guide was completed for use by those responsible for faculty hiring and promotion, which would include considerations for hiring and promoting persons with disabilities.

·         Development of a task force reporting to WODAC to review the development of the Customer Service Standards required under the Ontarians with AODA

 

·     Outreach

 

 

 

Plan for Removal of Barriers in 2008-2009

 

What follows is a list of recommended actions to be undertaken in the upcoming year to identify, remove, and prevent barriers at Western.

 

 

 

  1. Physical and Architectural Barriers

 

 

 

 

·         To  work with grounds persons , to raise the issue of snow removal on campus to help community members understand the great barrier and hazard that snow is for persons with mobility issues.

 

·         Update the accessibility website floor maps indicating the accessible routes through the interior of new building on campus as they become available.

 

·         The Department of Physical Plant is currently involved with major capital renovation projects and will be addressing physical/architectural barriers as part of the planned renovations for the following buildings: Talbot Theatre, Physics & Astronomy, Stevenson Lawson Building and the UCC.

 

King’s University College:

 

·         King’s University College will undertake an accessibility audit of the college, which will be completed and reviewed to establish priorities and solutions.

 

·         The college expects to build a new accommodated exam room with ten stations in the new academic building located on Epworth Street.

 

 

 

 

2.  Information and Communications Barriers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.  Attitudinal Barriers

 

·         Continue to improve understanding and awareness of mental health issues across campus, especially among managers and supervisors, through further education and training initiatives.  A workshop on Mental Health Issues is planned for Leaders and Managers.

 

 

·         Continue to develop and present various educational programs across campus (for example, a duty to accommodate workshop for staff, faculty and students). 

 

 

 

 

 

·         Further education on mental health workshops are planned by Housing and Ancillary Services for students in residences.

 

·         SSD will further develop its work in the secondary school system in London and Toronto to assist students with the transition to University.

 

 

4.  Technological Barriers

 

·         Continue to respond on an as-needed basis to requests for adaptive technology to assist members of the community.

 

·         Continue to monitor and ensure all official Western websites are accessible according to standards approved by ITS.

 

·         Services for Students with Disabilities will be investigating the use of remote real-time captioning and its ability to pick-up classroom discussions. 

 

5.  Barriers Created by Policies or Practices

 

·         Consider a review of the existing policy on Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities.

 

·         Develop a customer service policy, procedures and processes as per the requirements of the accessibility standard for customer service as required under the AODA.

 

·         Human Resources will continue its e-recruitment and outreach efforts to recruit persons with disabilities to Western’s workforce. 

 

 

6.      Accessibility Standards

 

 

 

 

Review and Monitoring Process

 

WODAC continues to take an active role in identifying and addressing barriers on Western’s campus. The committee will continue to focus on finding a reasonable and timely resolution to accessibility concerns.  In the coming year, WODAC will be playing an important role in the development of University programs and policies needed to meet the new accessibility standards.  The committee will work towards establishing strong partnerships with its campus partners to continue to address accessibility issues.


 

Appendix A

 

Members of WODAC

 

The following members of the University community served as members of WODAC between September 2007 and August 2008:

 

Functional/Administrative Group Members (one representative each):

 

Department

Committee Member

Contact Information

Equity & Human Rights Services

Larissa Bartlett (Chair)

Terri Tomchick- Condon

Andrea Magahey

(519) 661-2111 x83334

(519) 661-2111 x81428

(519) 661-2111 x83334

Housing & Ancillary Services

Ruta Lawrence

(519) 661-2111 x85978

Human Resources

Jane O’Brien

(519) 661-2111 x8426

Information Technology Services

Merran Neville

(519) 661-3976 x83976

Office of the Ombudsperson

Adrienne Clarke

(519) 661-3573 x83573

Physical Plant Department

Flemming Galberg

(519) 661-2111 x88880

 

 

Rehabilitation Services

Barbara Froats

(519) 661-2111 x81398

Services for Students with Disabilities

Deborah Stuart

(519) 661-2147 x82147

Western Libraries

Jennifer Robinson

(519) 661-2111 x82229

Western Faculty

Lisa Klinger

(519) 661-2111 x88963

King’s University College

Joan Aldis

(519) 433-3491 x4316

Brescia University College

Vacant

 

Huron University College

Vacant

 

(The functional/administrative group member shall represent and take the necessary action in accordance with his or her university role or position.  The functional/administrative member may be, from time to time, required to research, consult with University leadership or administration, and take immediate or intermediary action in order to respond to issues raised at the committee meetings by the stakeholder/expert group members or other Western members).

 

Stakeholder/Expert Group Members:

 

Group

Committee Member

Contact Information

Society for Graduate Students (SOGS)

Kirstin Hayes

 

University Students’ Council

Kelly Wilson

 

Student Member-at-large

Vacant

 

Student Member-at-large

Jeff Preston

 

Staff/Faculty Member-at-large

Cheryl Jamieson

(519) 661-2111 x84841

Staff/Faculty Member-at-large

Vacant

 

 

 

 

 

 



[1] Annual Report of the Accessibility Fund for Students with Disabilities, Access to Opportunities Fund, Interpreter Fund, and enhanced services Fund for Students with LD.

[2] Annual Report of the Accessibility Fund for Students with Disabilities, Access to Opportunities Fund, Interpreter Fund, and Enhanced Services Fund for Students with L.D., pg. 8.