Summer is over and 2015 is around the corner. As the calendar flips over into the New Year, most organizations will be subject to additional requirement under Ontario’s Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (the AODA) via the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (the Regulation).

The Regulation applies to “every organization that provides goods, services or facilities to the public or other third parties and that has at least one employee”. The application is intended to be broad and indeed captures most of our clients.

The next phase of requirements to come into force on January 1, 2015, primarily targets organizations with 50 or more employees however, small organizations  are not completely off the hook. Organizations with fewer than 50 employees will be required to develop, implement and maintain an accessibility policy which adheres to Integrated Accessibility Standards.

Many organizations are already conducting themselves in a way that complies with those standards. The difference now is that there must be a formal policy, though interestingly, it is not a requirement that need be reduced to writing. Practically, there isn’t really any other way to ensure that the policy is understood and adhered to.

Often organizations have many balls in the air at once and so the phasing in of accessibility standards over time means that deadlines for implementation may get overlooked. With the deadline on the horizon, now is the time to start considering what this accessibility policy may look like and how it will be deployed within your organization.

If you are interested in getting more information, Ontario Nonprofit Network is hosting a webinar on October 22, 2014 – you can register here. And, as always, we would be pleased to assist in tailoring a policy to fit your organization.

Filed in: Human Rights

Tags: Accessibility, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, Accessibility standards, AODA