Ideas into action: A leadership initiative to improve access for people with disabilities
Ontario is making progress on its plan to be accessible to people with disabilities by 2025. This is the goal of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. In June 2005, the act became law.
Under this legislation, the government of Ontario is developing mandatory accessibility standards that will identify, remove and prevent barriers for people with disabilities in key areas of daily living. The first accessibility standard – Accessibility Standards for Customer Service Regulation; Ontario Regulation 429/07 – came into effect on January 1, 2008.
Other proposed accessibility standards are being developed in the areas of transportation, information and communication, built environment and employment.
About the EnAbling Change Partnership Program
If your industry or sector has innovative ideas on accessibility, consider this partnership proposal:
The Ontario Government is looking for organizations that want to play a leadership role in improving access for people with disabilities and helping organizations meet the requirements of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and accessibility standards.
The EnAbling Change Partnership Program is part of the government's commitment to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. The program provides funding for strategic partnership projects that will make a significant impact on improving accessibility for persons with disabilities and promoting compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities and accessibility standards. The impact should be broad enough to be felt throughout an industry or sector, or across several sectors.
Administered by the Ministry of Community and Social Services' Accessibility Directorate of Ontario, the program seeks partners who have the vision, leadership and commitment to make meaningful progress on improving accessibility.
The goals of the program are to:
- Support sector-wide or cross-sector compliance assistance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and accessibility standards by developing educational tools, resources or best practices that can be widely distributed to obligated organizations across the province and across different sectors
- Encourage businesses, trade or service associations, or the broader public sector to be leaders and share their knowledge and expertise with other involved partners and support implementation of the legislation
- Have a positive impact on people with disabilities by removing barriers and meeting clearly identified needs for improving accessibility
- Generate lasting results that continually improve accessibility in Ontario.
Eligible partnership projects
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Partnerships: "an arrangement between two or more parties who have agreed to work co-operatively toward shared and/or compatible objectives and in which there is: shared authority and responsibility; joint investment of resources and mutual benefits"
~ The Journal of Public Sector Management
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Projects will be assessed based on their capacity to support sectors in Ontario to comply with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and Ontario's accessibility standards. Projects must be timely and cost-effective and have a broad range of benefits that positively impact people and organizations beyond project participants. Projects must involve others in project implementation and design, include participation or input from people with disabilities and generate experience and expertise that can be shared across groups.
Your project idea will be evaluated against the following eligibility criteria:
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Eligibility Criteria |
Weight |
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Partnership Commitment
- Demonstrates leadership in improving accessibility and strong commitment to the purpose of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and accessibility standards
- Willing to act as spokesperson, in partnership with the ministry, to support implementation of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and accessibility standards
- Demonstrates strong project management skills and implementation capacity
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30 |
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Measurable Targets
- Key deliverables meet information and educational needs that will help sector(s) comply or prepare for compliance with an accessibility standard under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
- High visibility and high impact across Ontario in terms of reaching out to organizations and sectors.
- Project outcomes demonstrate tangible benefit for people with disabilities
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30 |
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Sustainability and Continuous Improvement
- Project has lasting educational value and contributes to raising public awareness and promoting attitudinal change towards full inclusion
- Builds capacity within sectors and/or organizations to continually improve accessibility
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25 |
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Partnerships and Linkages
- Generates experience and expertise that can be shared across groups
- Broad range of experts on accessibility, including people with disabilities, have provided input and advice to project proposal
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15 |
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Total |
100 |
Here are a few examples of projects that have been funded under this program:
Example 1 – The lead partner was an umbrella organization in Ontario that represented municipalities across the province. The project included the development of a customized accessibility toolkit to help municipalities comply with Ontario's new customer service standard, a series of regional training sessions held across the province as well as a website dedicated to accessibility.
Example 2 – The lead partner was a large organization representing retailers including department, independent and online merchants across Canada. The partner developed an e-learning module tailored to the needs of the retail sector to help them comply with the customer service standard. Member organizations were kept apprised of new information through email notifications, publications, newsletters and website postings. The lead partner also shared information through annual general meetings, conferences and events.
We welcome your innovative project suggestions.
Funding
The government is committing a total of $1 million to support the EnAbling Change Partnership Program for 2008/09. The Ministry of Community and Social Services will share project development and implementation costs, as well as contribute expertise required to make the project a success. Partners must commit to contributing a minimum of 25 per cent of the total project cost. This contribution can be financial or in-kind through expertise, knowledge or human resources.
The following costs are eligible for ministry contribution:
- salaries for staff and consultants directly involved in project development and implementation
- production costs of deliverables
- costs related to project administration and coordination.
The program does not fund:
- capital expenses such as equipment, furniture or building redesign
- administrative, operational or overhead expenses related to an organization’s ongoing business activities
- therapy programs, counselling or support groups
- workplace accommodation or other accessibility measures already required under the Ontario Human Rights Code.