Did you know that one in seven people in Ontario has a disability and this number will increase as the population ages? Think of how many people you interact with every day and think about how many of these people may be living with a disability.

This course will improve your interactions and communications with people with various kinds of disabilities.

Sometimes you will know a person has a disability because you can see it, but just think about how many people you have encountered who had a disability that you couldn’t see.

As a emergency responder, you tailor your communication to fit the situation. This course will provide you with tips and tools on improving your communications with people with all types of disabilities.

In this course you will learn:

• about Ontario’s accessibility legislation
• general tips for interacting with someone who has a disability
• about different disability types and tips to communicating and interacting with someone who has a specific disability
• where to find more information on specific disabilities

This course is designed for you, the emergency responder, and was developed by Emergency Management Ontario and the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario in consultation with a working group comprising of emergency responders and people with disabilities.

This course will also assist in fulfilling your part of the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service requirements under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), 2005.

The act is a provincial law that allows the government to develop specific standards of accessibility and to enforce them. The goal is to make Ontario accessible by 2025.

The purpose of the act is to develop, implement, and enforce standards in these areas:

• goods
• services
• facilities
• accommodations
• employment
• buildings
• structures, and
• premises.

These standards address barriers to people with disabilities in these areas.

The standards are developed by committees that include people with disabilities, and representatives of various industries and sectors. People have an opportunity to review and comment on the standard before they are completed. The standards may be adopted as regulations under the act.

The customer service standard is the first standard developed under the act. Other standards are expected to cover:

• transportation
• information and communications
• employment
• the built environment. The built environment refers to physical things like the inside and outside of buildings.

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About the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service

The Accessibility Standards for Customer Service are now law in Ontario. Businesses and organizations in Ontario are now required to provide customer service that is accessible to people with disabilities.

The standard applies to businesses and organizations that:

• provide goods or services either directly to the public or to third parties (for example to other businesses)
• have one or more employees in Ontario.

Public sector organizations that are named or described in the standard must:

• comply with the standard starting January 1, 2010
• file accessibility reports starting in 2010.

Private sector, non-profit and non-designated public sector businesses and organizations must:

• comply with the standard starting January 1, 2012

Those organizations with 20 or more employees must also file accessibility reports starting in 2012.

There are a number of legal requirements under the standard. To comply, businesses and organizations (“providers”) must:

• Set up policies, practices and procedures on providing goods or services to people with disabilities
• Have a policy about the use of assistive devices by people with disabilities
• Communicate with a person with a disability in a manner that takes into account his or her disability
• Let people with disabilities bring their service animals onto the parts of the premises open to the public or other third parties when accessing goods or services except where the animal is otherwise excluded by law
• Let people with disabilities bring their support persons with them when accessing goods or services on parts of the premises open to the public or other third parties
• Let people know ahead of time what, if any, admission will be charged for a support person if an organization charges an admission fee
• Let the public know when facilities or services that people with disabilities usually use to access their goods and services are temporarily not available
• Ensure that staff receive training on how to serve people with disabilities, including staff involved in developing customer service policies, practices and procedures and people who deal with the public or other third parties on behalf of the provider.