HomeMy WebLinkAboutGRAAC - 2017-11-23/lfff�l
Grand River Accessibility Advisory Committee
Date: Thursday November 23, 2017
Location: Conestoga Room, City of Kitchener
Present:
Sharon Giles (Co -Chair), Carrie Speers (Co -Chair), Paula Saunders, Jolene MacDonald, Rob
Bender, Gail Brunsdon, Dawn Clelland, Donna Hartzler, Andrew Tutty, Mike Shipley, Councillor
Sue Foxton (Region of Waterloo), Gina Hickman (Region of Waterloo), Councillor Yvonne
Fernandes (City of Kitchener), Lolita Paroski (City of Kitchener/City of Waterloo), Amy Black
(Township of Wellesley), Ashley Sage (Township of North Dumfries), Shannon Sweeney (City of
Kitchener), Karen Panchaud (ASL Interpreter), Lesley Roach (ASL Interpreter).
Regrets:
Keri Cameron, Greg Moore, Brenda Robinson, Dawn Mittelholtz (Township of Wilmot), Jeff
Smith (Township of Woolwich), Councillor Bob Mavin
Guests: Dave Smith (Region of Waterloo)
1.0 Welcome and Introductions
• Sharon Giles called the meeting to order at 1:30pm.
• Round table introductions
2.0 Approval of October Minutes and November Agenda
• Motion to accept the October minutes — moved by Dawn Clelland and seconded by
Carrie Speers. Motion to accept the November minutes moved by Donna Hartzler and
seconded Gail Brunsdon carried
3.0 Declarations of Pecuniary Interests
• None
4.0 Township of Wellesley, Multi Year Plan and Status Update — Amy Black
Initiatives Completed in 2013 & 2017
• Replaced 1870m (6135`) of sidewalk at 1.5M (5) wide
• Herrgott Road in St. Clements 440 metres with detectable warning plates
• Wilker Way in Linwood 180 metres with detectable warning plates
• Pine Street in Linwood 30 metres
• Henry Street in Wellesley 200 metres with detectable warning plates
• Henry Street in Wellesley at Library 110 metres with detectable warning plates
• Molesworth Street in Wellesley 90 metres with detectable warning plates
• Queens Bush Road in Wellesley 50 metres with detectable warning plates
• Nafziger Road in Wellesley 280 metres
• Lobsinger Line in St. Clements 250 metres with detectable warning plates
• Alfred Street in Linwood 240 metres with detectable warning plates
• Installation of 250m (820') of new sidewalk
• Parkview Drive in Wellesley 250 metres 1.5 wide with detectable warning plates
• Greenwood Hill Road in Wellesley 400 metres 2 metres wide recreation trail with
detectable warning plates and stop signs.
• Two new barrier free parking spaces added on Nafziger Road in Wellesley in the
downtown core.
• Retrofit of 521 street lights from high pressure sodium to LED throughout the township.
• Replaced doors, washrooms at the Hawkesville Community Centre
• Accessible playground built in Wellesley.
• Accessible playground equipment was added to playgrounds in St. Clements and
Linwood.
• Replaced pavement walkway to the Wellesley Library from parking lot.
• Replaced paving stones at the Linwood Cenotaph.
• Renovations of the outdoor washrooms in St. Clements.
• Constructed a new accessible multi -use sports pad in St. Clements.
• Trails and Active Transportation Advisory Committee was established
Ongoing Initiatives for the life of the plan
• Continue to have a staff member attend monthly GRAAC and Co-chair meetings only
when Wellesley has an issue on the agenda or when staff from other municipalities or
GRAAC members request Wellesley's assistance.
• Continue to review the state of sidewalks throughout the Township.
• Continue to enforce the sidewalk snow clearing by-law. Residents must clear sidewalks
of ice and snow within 24 hours after a snow fall or rain.
• Continue to pursue accessibility funding.
5.0 Region of Waterloo, Multi Year Plan and Status Update — Gina Hickman (Region of
Waterloo)
• This Multi Year Plan is a little different than previous plans because the scope has been
expanded from just accessibility to include other dimensions of diversity and inclusion.
This allows the Region to be more coordinated in planning for inclusion.
• Some actions in the plan are broad because the Information and Communication
Standard, the Transportation Standard, the Design of Public Spaces Standard and the
Employment standard are under review. There will be more requirements when those
revisions are enacted.
• The plan involves a focus on invisible disabilities and mental health and a number of
actions related to staff training.
• The planning process started with staff focus groups and surveys were done to get a
sense of the current practices and gaps.
• A Diversity, Equity and Inclusion stakeholder group was struck to give the Region input
on the plan. The stakeholder groups includes representatives from diverse sectors.
Carrie Speers is the GRAAC representative on this committee.
• The plan will be taken to Regional Council for endorsement in January.
• Some of the things GRAAC advised on in 2017 include accessibility at ION stops,
complaints management at the Region, the review of the transportation standard, and
the accessibility taxi fund.
• Welcoming spaces:
- The Region's design guidelines will be reviewed in 2018, and the sections that
were placeholders will be completed. GRAAC will have an opportunity to provide
input.
- Staff are currently auditing Regional facilities using new accessibility checklists
based on the Region's standards. The priority is on spaces that are public facing
and have high occupancy.
• Access to Services:
- The Region will continue the implementation of the interpreter and translation
guidelines will include the use of ASL interpreters.
- Community Services is piloting a new policy allowing staff to text customers,
which will improve access for customers who are Deaf or hard of hearing.
- The Region will work on updating its accessible customer service training for
volunteers.
• Procurement:
- The new information and communication standard will include requirements for
accessible procurement. Will be shaped by the reused Info.com standard
- The challenge continues to be with respect to contractors and ensuring their
products are accessible.
• Communication and engagement:
- The IT department will be working to ensure that applications are accessible and
useable. They will engage GRAAC to develop criteria to help prioritize
accessibility improvements in apps.
- An action in the plan is around using inclusive language in surveys and forms.
Staff will solicit GRAAC's input in coming up with appropriate categories for
people with disabilities.
- The Region will launch its new website in January 2018.
• Employment:
- The Region is working on tools related to cognitive functional demands to
improve communication between treatment providers and the Region, leading to
better accommodation processes.
- The Region will explore a strategy to collect data about the diversity of the work
force.
- "The Working Mind", a program to educate staff about mental health in the
workplace was piloted with Human Resources and Citizen Service staff.
- Staff were trained on creating accessible web content.
- All staff were required to complete four modules on accessible customer service.
- A new online form has been created to collect feedback and complaints about
Regional services.
- Community Services is working on an integrated service strategy.
GRAAC Feedback
• The integrated service work in Community Services will make it much easier for
customers to access the service they need.
• GRAAC would like the Community Services department to present this work to
them in the new year.
• Technology for communicating with people who are Deaf or hard of hearing is
changing, there are other services such as VRI (Video Remote Interpreter) and
VRS (Video Relay Service) that are better than TTY.
• The Cities and Region do well with accommodations, but gaps remain in the
private sector.
• There are still gaps in employment for people with disabilities.
• The screening tools can have algorithmic bias which increases the chance of a
person being discriminated.
• GRAAC would like the Police to come and present on the steps they have been
taking and working on when it comes to mental health training.
6.0 Built Environment Update — Paula Saunders
Interior Automatic Door Openers at City of Kitchener Facilities
— City of Kitchener staff identified interior doors at City of Kitchener facilities that
require the installation of automatic door openers. Includes community centres,
pools, arenas and cemetery. A schedule for installation is being finalized.
• Signage for Universal Washrooms
— An inclusive sign has been created to include all persons for universal
washrooms. The signage is a picture of a toilet with the international accessibility
symbol beside the toilet and underneath it reads washroom all welcome, followed
in braille. This sign will be posted at the new universal washroom at Centre in
the Square and at future new universal washroom locations.
City of Kitchener, City Hall Main floor family washroom
— Renovation update — drawings are being updated. Washroom to include Ontario
Building Code requirements for a universal washroom.
Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex, Male and Female change rooms
— Update regarding the site visit Paula and Lolita went on to identify placements for
additional grab bars in both the female and male change rooms. The grab bars
have been installed in both change rooms.
• Corner of Charles and Queen Street
— Paula shared that the railing has been installed at the corner business (Charles
and Queen) to address the sidewalk curb drop.
7.0 Councillor Reports — All Councillors
Councillor Yvonne Fernandes, The City of Kitchener
• Operation budget — the main part that affects the base 1.7%, may soften it. Next week
capital around building changes, community centres and arenas.
• Excited to see accessible plans for community.
• January 15, 2018 is the Capital Budget Public Input Night it starts at 7p.m. please bring
forth suggestions and attend the meeting.
• Christkindl Market December 7, 8, 9, and 10. Please come out with your family, very
busy Saturday and Sunday.
• 64 Margaret Avenue — Part of the house is part of the Heritage District. There are some
variants and some concern. Realizes that heritage homes can be challenging and not
always accessible.
Councillor Sue Foxton, Region of Waterloo
• Regional Budget is happening Saturday. Go online to see it.
• Thanks to staff for all the help with nominations for the Mayor's Award. Both Paula's
nomination and GRAAC's nomination were handed in.
• It was discussed that there is a positive impact with lines are kept close. Sue said we all
work together already; we need to get 911 working with them as well.
• It might be an idea to bring Fire, Ambulance and Police here. Staff not trained enough to
work with persons with disabilities, need more specialized training.
• Andrew T. said that the hospitals are in desperate need of training on working with
persons with disabilities.
8.0 Region of Waterloo — GRT Accessibility Plan — Dave Smith
• GRT now has a 5 year business plan; it is the third business plan to be created by GRT.
• Mobility plus carries almost a'/2 million customers a year.
• The buses need to be re-routed to feed into the LRT system.
• There was a drop in ridership last year from 21.6 million in 2016 to 19.8 million in 2017.
• The drop in ridership could be because of buses being re-routed due to construction.
• There are 48 local bus routes; GRT is working towards 50.
• Support persons for people with disabilities ride for free.
• There were 306,000 rides through the taxi scrip program. The total number of rides is
nearly 600,000.
• Mobility Plus is launching an online booking system in 2018 with the goal of providing
text or telephone updates about the status of the ride.
• As new bus stops are built, they will be made accessible.
• There are plans to have 5 Bus Plus Routes.
• There are plans for running a route down King Street however, if a train breaks down
occurs there could be trouble.
• 30-35% of the Mobility Plus takes people to Dialysis. The Region has to talk to hospitals
and see what is really needed. Patient transfer is available.
GRAAC Feedback
— Are there examples internationally that the Region could learn from to handle the
demand for Mobility Plus.
— GRAAC is interested in plans for accessible bus stops.
— The standard for clearing the snow remains 24 hours. The bus stops can only be
cleared after the streets.
— Will there be an app to book Mobility plus rides?
— An issue was raised that there are no accessible taxis available between 12-6
from Sunday to Thursday. This is a problem. Dave recommended talking to
Licensing and Enforcement at the Region.
9.0 City of Kitchener, Review guide to accessible purchasing — Lolita Paroski
• Lolita shared the current City of Kitchener Guide to Accessible Purchasing. This is a
guide that GRAAC members assisted in creating many years ago. The guide is now
outdated and needs to be revised. Lolita asked for feedback from GRAAC members.
— Comments from GRAAC:
— Why only provide an explanation if asked if the product you purchased is not
accessible? An explanation should be provided regardless.
— In this resource document list the different disabilities and overall things to
consider for each disability. To help with staff awareness of all disabilities when
purchasing.
— Identify challenges of Kiosks for each disability (i.e. flat screen, it doesn't talk,
touch screens that are not accessible).
— Things will not be accessible for all disabilities.
— Investigate if other procurement guides have been created.
— Include in Request for Proposal that goes out to vendors a list of all the
disabilities and meeting those requirements in the product being purchased.
10.0 Co-Chair/Staff Reports
• Reminder that our next meeting is also a social event. If you can bring some goodies to
share.
Motion to Adjourn by Gail Brunsdon, seconded by Dawn Clelland and carried.
Next meeting will be on Dec 21, 2017
City of Kitchener, 200 King St W — Conestoga Room
Please send regrets to:
Shannon Sweeney at Shannon.Sweeneykitchener.ca or call 519-741-2200 Ext. 7080