Skip to main content Skip to main menu

All posts by Lisa Kovac

Providing Accessible Customer Service Feedback

Under the Customer Service Standard of the AODA, service providers’ policies must include how they will create processes for accessible customer service feedback. These processes must outline how providers will receive and respond to feedback from customers with disabilities about how accessibly they provide goods and services. Accessible customer service feedback ensures that customers with disabilities can communicate with organizations about how well they are meeting customers’ needs.


Support Persons’ Roles: What Do They Do and Who Needs One

Under the Customer Service Standard of the AODA, service providers’ policies must state that they welcome support persons. The Standard discusses how service providers must allow support persons in all public places. It also outlines what providers must do to require support persons and how they must advertise when they offer reduced rates for support persons. However, service providers committed to obeying these laws may still have many questions about support persons’ roles, such as what they do and how to tell the difference between support persons and companions. 


Support Persons Law in Ontario

Under the Customer Service Standard of the AODA, service providers’ policies must state that they welcome support persons. Here we outline support persons law that service providers should follow.

Support Persons Law in Ontario

Support persons assist people who have disabilities with a variety of tasks, such as:
• Communication
• Mobility
• Accessibility
• Daily living needs
• medical care
A support person can be a paid personal support worker (PSW), a volunteer, a family member, or a friend. Service providers should always look at and speak directly to a customer with a disability, not their support person, even if the customer is communicating through the support person.


Continued Radio Silence on Key Accessibility Issues So Far from the Ford Government – And Other Accessibility News

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update United for a Barrier-Free Society for All People with Disabilities http://www.aodaalliance.org aodafeedback@gmail.com Twitter: @aodaalliance

March 3, 2019

SUMMARY

Here is a collection of sundry important updates on several fronts in our campaign for accessibility for people with disabilities.

1. Still No Action from the Ford Government on Ending the Shutdown of the Health Care and Education Standards Development Committees and on the Forthcoming Release of the Final Report of the David Onley AODA Independent Review


Temporary Service Disruptions: When and How to Notify Customers

Under the Customer Service Standard of the AODA, service providers must notify customers about temporary service disruptions. Temporary service disruptions happen when services that customers with disabilities might rely on are temporarily unavailable.

Temporary Service Disruptions

There are many reasons why different kinds of services might be temporarily unavailable, including:

  • Scheduled maintenance on structural features, such as:
    • Accessible parking spaces
    • Ramps
  • Unexpected events, such as:
    • An out-of-order accessible washroom