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Many employers who do not employ a full time human resource professional may not be aware of AODA which stands for Accessibility for Ontarian with Disabilities Act. On June 3, 2011, the Ontario government enacted the Integrated Accessibility Regulation under AODA. The Regulation meant that three new standards were established to address barriers facing persons with disabilities in the areas of transportation, employment, and information and communications. This was in addition to the accessibility standard for customer service which came into effect in 2008. In this article, I will focus on the customer service standard because this is the standard that has an immediate impact on all private sector and non-profits organizations. Most businesses are not yet impacted by the other standards. In essence, all Ontario businesses should know that that if they have employees, they will be required by law to have policy addressing this issue and have trained their employees. If they have more than 20 employees, they will also need to send in a report or face fines. I have developed an 8 Step approach that I am using to assist my clients to be in compliance with the legislation. Most of my clients are already very customer service focused and this process is assisting them in better servicing their customers/clients. My 8 Step approach is as follows: 1. Ensure senior management team understands requirements of the legislation 2. Identify who should be on the core team that implements the customer service standard 3. Provide training to team members 4. Review draft policy -- --highlight what needs to be actioned 5. Have team identify customer touch points and barriers 6. Develop action plan to address barriers 7. Train all staff that deal with customers 8. Complete Report (if greater than 20 employees) I have simplified the steps and what needs to be done because when you first look at the requirements, it seems overwhelming. But by breaking down what needs to be done into manageable steps, it seems far less intimidating. Additionally, when you are able to help a client do something they are already doing even better, then it becomes less of a chore and something the client wants to do. One of the key points that comes out in the training, is that customers do not have accessibility issues until there are barriers. When you eliminate or reduce that barrier, your customers will be able to access your services.
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