Accessibility Policy

    

This accessibility policy and plan outlines the actions WillowWood School Incorporated and will put in place to improve opportunities for individuals with disabilities. It will be implemented in accordance with the timeframes set out in the Customer Service and Integrated Accessibility Standards under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (“AODA”). The Accessibility Plan will be reviewed every five years.

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Statement of Commitment

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WillowWood is committed to ensuring its policies, practices and procedures for the provision of its services are consistent with the legislation in the locations in which it does business to effectively provide services to individuals with disabilities.

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WillowWood is committed to providing its services and treating all individuals in a way that allows them to maintain their dignity and independence, and is committed to providing equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities to access, use and benefit from its services. WillowWood is committed to meeting the needs of individuals with disabilities in a timely manner and will do so by preventing and removing barriers to accessibility and meeting accessibility requirements under the AODA and its Standards.

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Providing Services to Individuals with Disabilities

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WillowWood is committed to excellence in servicing clients and visitors with disabilities, including:

• communicating with individuals with disabilities in ways that take into account their disability;

• serving individuals with disabilities who use assistive devices (to obtain, use or benefit from its services); and

• welcoming individuals with disabilities who are accompanied by a service animal or a support person.

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Emergency Information and Procedures

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WillowWood is committed to providing clients with publicly available emergency information in an accessible means on request. WillowWood will also provide individualized workplace emergency response information to employees with disabilities if it is made aware of the need for accommodation.

 

Training

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WillowWood will provide training to employees and other persons who provide goods, services or facilities on behalf of WillowWood on the requirements set out in the Integrated Accessibility Standards and on the Ontario Human Rights Code as it related to individuals with disabilities.

Training will be provided in a way that best suits the duties of the applicable staff, as part of new hire onboarding, and on an ongoing basis when changes are made to policies pursuant to the Integrated Accessibility Standards. A record of this training will be kept, including the dates on which training is provided and the number of individuals to whom it is provided.

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Feedback Processes

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WillowWood will take reasonable steps to ensure its existing feedback processes are accessible to individuals with disabilities on request.

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Accessible Formats

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WillowWood is committed to meeting the communication needs of individuals with disabilities. It will take reasonable steps to ensure that all publicly available information controlled by WillowWood is provided in an accessible way on request by January 1, 2016. WillowWood will also consult with the person making the request to determine his or her information and communication needs.

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Websites

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WillowWood will take reasonable steps to ensure that all websites controlled by WillowWood and content on those sites published after January 1, 2012 conform with WCAG 2.0, Level AA, by January 1, 2021, except where meeting the requirement is not practical

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Employment

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WillowWood is committed to fair and accessible employment practices. It will take reasonable steps to implement the following actions by January 1, 2016:

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• WillowWood will notify the public and staff that, when requested, it will accommodate individuals with disabilities during the recruitment and assessment processes and when they are hired;

• WillowWood will develop and put in place a return to work process for employees who have been absent from work due to a disability and require disability-related accommodations in order to return to work; and

• WillowWood will ensure the accessibility needs of employees with disabilities are taken into account if using performance management, career development and advancement or redeployment processes.

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WillowWood will also take reasonable steps to prevent and remove other accessibility barriers that are identified.

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Design of Public Spaces

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WillowWood will meet the Design of Public Spaces Standards when building or making major modifications to public spaces by January 1, 2017, including to services-related elements and publicly accessible meeting rooms and service counters.

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WillowWood will also put reasonable procedures in place to prevent service disruption to accessible parts of these public spaces and to deal with temporary disruptions when accessible elements required under these Standards are not in working order.

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In the event of a service disruption, WillowWood will notify the public of the service disruption and alternatives available, as soon as practicable.

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Contact Information

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For more information about the accessibility policy and plan, please contact WillowWood by:

Telephone: (416) 444-7644

Email: info@willowwoodschool.ca

Mail: WillowWood School Inc.

        55 Scarsdale Road, Toronto, ON

        M3B 2R3

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Staff members are welcome to contact their Manager or Human Resources if they have any questions or would like to make a request under this accessibility policy and plan.

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Accessible formats of this document are also available on request.