Accessibility
Invest Ottawa is committed to maintaining an accessible environment for persons with disabilities by serving our clients in a manner which respects their dignity and independence and permits equal access to our services.
We have established policies, practices and procedures for the delivery of our services to persons with disabilities, as required by the Accessibility Standards for Customer Service enacted under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (“AODA”).
We invite feedback on how our services are delivered to people with disabilities. Please contact us by phone, 613-828-6274, email at [email protected] and in person at Invest Ottawa offices. We promise to acknowledge feedback directly as well as to communicate any resulting actions based on concerns or complaints submitted.
Our Client Service Accessibility Policy is available to any person upon request. It describes our policies, practices and procedures relating to:
To ensure equal access to electronic and information technologies, Invest Ottawa has developed a set of web page design standards in recognition of persons with disabilities.
These standards are influenced by those recommended by the W3C and Access Board. The Access Board is responsible for developing the standards outlined by the amended Rehabilitation Act of 1998. Universal design calls for appropriate use auxiliary aids and services where necessary to ensure communication.
Invest Ottawa has adopted the Design of HTML Pages to increase accessibility to users with disabilities as the primary guideline to meet the objectives of the Universal Access for State Design policy.
These Universal Access Design Standards are being integrated into Invest Ottawa’s web site and will continue to evolve as new technologies and opportunities emerge.
Adobe’s PDF Converter allows you to convert regular PDF files to html. One of the required standards is providing, where applicable, an HTML alternative to PDF files.
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/access_onlinetools.html
http://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/glance/
Multi-year Accessibility Plan
Invest Ottawa is committed to fulfilling our requirements under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. We want to play a role in making Ontario an accessible province for all Ontarians and are working hard to remove and prevent barriers to accessibility for our employees, clients and our guests. This plan highlights some of the steps Invest Ottawa is taking to meet those requirements.
Strategies and Actions
Bayview Yards is home to Invest Ottawa’s offices. This section highlights some of the changes that have been made at Bayview Yards to enable a more inclusive environment and to remove and prevent barriers for our employees, clients and guests. Recent improvements have included:
Customer Service
Invest Ottawa is committed to providing accessible customer service. This means that we will provide services to people with disabilities with the same high quality and timely service as all others. For support and/or accommodation requests please reach out to [email protected].
Information and Communications
Invest Ottawa is committed to ensuring that our website meets the appropriate accessibility standards.
Actions | Time | Responsibility | Completion Date |
Review new website content and ensure it is up to date with WCAG 2.0., Level A. Make amendments as required. | 1 day | Marketing & Communications | Ongoing |
Employment
Invest Ottawa is committed to fair and accessible employment practices.
Actions | Time | Responsibility | Completion Date |
We have recently completed a DEI survey with a third party and are currently developing recommendations which include enhancing our talent acquisition and talent management practices. | TBD | Human Resources | TBD |
Continue to create opportunities for an open environment where new and existing team members can easily report any accessibility barriers and accommodation throughout their employee experience. On each request, we will develop individual accommodation plans and will prepare return-to-work plans for any team member who has been on leave. | 1 day | Human Resources | Ongoing |
Training
Invest Ottawa is committed to providing training to meet the requirements of Ontario’s accessibility laws and the Ontario Human Rights Code as it applies to people with disabilities.
Actions | Time | Responsibility | Completion Date |
Ensure that all team members are aware of where to locate our AODA policies and complete the required training during their new hire orientation. The training includes an introduction of AODA and its purposes, who to reach out to obtain support using equipment or devices available on IO/CBY’s premises or otherwise provided by IO/CBY that may help with the provision of services to a person with a disability, what to do if a person with a disability is having difficulty accessing IO/CBY’s services, etc. | 1 day
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Human Resources
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Ongoing
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Human Resources will maintain a training record including the dates when the training is provided and the names of the participants. We will ensure all team members complete a mandatory self-serve training module post our Health and Safety onboarding training presentation.
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1 day | Human Resources | Ongoing |
Additional Efforts
Invest Ottawa’s employees, clients and guests will soon benefit from additional initiatives that will be made at our office building to further enable our work environment to be as accessible as possible.
Actions | Time | Responsibility | Completion Date |
Install four additional accessible door operators to our east wing ground floor so that the area would be accessible to everybody. | 1 week | Infrastructure | Jan 2021 |
Install an accessible door operator to the outside of the door to our second-floor terrace that will allow two-way entry for everyone. | 4 days | Infrastructure | May 2021 |
Install a ramp from our ground floor to our event space level to eliminate the need to use the steps or the elevator. | 1 week | Infrastructure | Dec 2022 |