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Policy Details

4000-7-1 Accessibility & Accommodation for all Persons

Responsible Executive Senior Vice-President, Strategy & Corporate Services
Director, Facilities Management
Issue Date December 16, 2009
Supersedes Date May 9, 2016
Replaces Former policy titled Customer Service
Last Review August 30, 2023
Last Revision August 30, 2023
Upon request, the college will provide a copy of this policy in an alternate format.

Lambton College is committed to providing students, clients, employees and members of the public with a learning and working environment that respects the rights of all as enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Ontario Human Rights Code. Further, Lambton College is committed to providing access to opportunities for individuals with disabilities to participate fully in all employment, education, accommodation or business dealings with the College as defined by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (2005) (AODA).

Lambton College will meet its obligations under the requirements of AODA and strive to provide a safe and barrier-free learning and working environment, an inclusive place where students, employees and members of the public are valued for their contribution and treated with dignity, respect and equality.

This policy is intended to ensure that Lambton College meets the requirements of the Integrated Accessibility Standards set out under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (2005), as they apply to Lambton College.

Policy

  1. This policy applies to every person, whether the person is an employee, student, volunteer or otherwise, who deals with members of the public on behalf of the Lambton College community.
  2. All Lambton College policies, procedures, materials, services, and training shall:
    1. be consistent with the principles of dignity, independence, integration, and equal opportunity,
    2. comply with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and related Standards, guidelines, directives, and legislation
  3. Lambton College will promote an equitable environment for students and employees, and opportunities for members of the community to have access to and participate in all aspects of college life.
  4. Lambton College will apply the principles and regulations of the AODA accessibility standards to ensure that all of its goods, services, and facilities are inclusive of every person with or without a disability.
  5. Lambton College and its employees will communicate with people with disabilities in ways that take into consideration their disability and will not discriminate against people with those disabilities.
  6. Lambton College will serve people with disabilities who use assistive devices to obtain, use or benefit from our goods and services.
  7. People with disabilities who use a service animal will be permitted to bring that service animal with them when accessing academic services or events at the College. If the service animal cannot be clearly identified as a service animal, documentation from a regulated health professional will be required confirming the need for the service animal for reasons relating to their disability.
  8. Lambton College will require a support person to accompany a person with a disability for health or safety reasons, only in consultation with the person with a disability and when there is no other way to protect the health or safety of the person or others. Fees/fares will be waived for the support person.
  9. Lambton College will provide employees, volunteers, and others who represent the College with training on applicable accessibility standards and on the Human Rights Code as it pertains to persons with disabilities in a timely manner and keep record of completion. This includes but is not limited to:
    1. Accessible program or course delivery and instruction for educators
    2. Customer service policies, procedures, and practices
    3. How to interact and communicate with persons with various types of disabilities
    4. How to interact with persons with disabilities who use an assistive device or require the assistance of a guide dog or other service animals or the assistance of a support person
    5. How to use equipment or devices available on the provider's premises or otherwise provided by the provider that may help with the provision of goods, services, or facilities to a person with a disability
    6. What to do it a person with a particular type of disability is having difficulty accessing the provider's goods, services, or facilities
  10. Lambton College will seek feedback regarding its customer service levels and facilities through the feedback link on the College Accessibility web page and will respond to inquiries and comments in a timely manner. Alternative accessible formats and communication supports are available upon request.
  11. Lambton College will utilize accessibility standards that create barrier free access to all spaces for employees, students and members of the community, including way finding systems that ensure that navigating the College is accessible to all.
  12. All new buildings and exterior paths of travel, renovations, and leased facilities will be compliant with the Ontario Building Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.
  13. Lambton College will provide adequate notice or information to people with disabilities in the event of a planned or unexpected disruption in services. The notice will include information about the reason for the disruption, length of disruption, and any available alternative services (if any).
  14. Lambton College will ensure self-service kiosks on campus account for the needs of all users to make them accessible to the widest range of users.
  15. Accessible parking will be made available on campus and meet regulatory requirements.
  16. Lambton College websites and web content will conform to the World Wide Web Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
  17. All emergency procedures, plans or public safety information posted online or in public areas throughout the College will be provided in an accessible format or with appropriate communication supports, upon request.
  18. Lambton College will create individual emergency plans, when requested, for those students and employees requiring assistance.
  19. Lambton College will make every reasonable accommodation for the particular needs of self-identified persons (students and employees) with documented disabilities as per the Ontario Human Rights Code.
  20. The recruitment and selection process will be consistent with employment standards outlined in the AODA. Reference the Recruitment & Selection (3000-1-1) policy.
  21. The performance management and redeployment processes will take into account the accessibility needs of all employees with disabilities.
  22. Lambton College will review individual accommodation plans or accessibility needs and provide, wherever reasonable, accessible career development and advancement opportunities for employees with disabilities.
  23. Individual employee accommodation plans will be initiated at time of employment offer or as the need arises.
  24. Accommodations and suitable return to work plans will be utilized to meet the needs of employees absent due to illness or injury. Refer to the Return to Work (3000-2-8) policy and Appendix A: Accommodation Process
  25. Lambton College will protect the confidentiality of personal and medical information provided for accommodation plans.
  26. Admission policies will ensure that students with disabilities are considered for admission to programs.
  27. Lambton College will advise students to contact the Accessibility Centre in advance of the start of the semester in order to ensure student accommodation plans are finalized in a timely fashion.
  28. Lambton College will accommodate, whenever possible, program course load, examination procedures and other operational requirements to permit students with disabilities to successfully complete their program of study.
  29. Academic policies, programs and services will ensure, whenever reasonable, persons with disabilities are not disadvantaged.
  30. All College produced documents, whenever possible and required, will be in accessible and multiple formats.
  31. Lambton College will maintain an AODA Steering Committee to develop, implement, maintain, and document a multi-year accessibility plan, reviewed at least once every five years. Members of the Steering Committee will consult with persons with disabilities.
  32. Lambton College will ensure the multi-year accessibility plan and an annual status report on the progress of measures taken are posted online and made available in an alternate format upon request.
  33. The Senior Vice-President, Strategy & Corporate Services will be responsible for the administration and communication of this policy.

Definitions

Reasonable Accommodations
Defined as those accommodations that do not impose undue hardships on the college in the form of:
  • significant alteration to the fundamental nature of the learning outcomes or the academic standards of a program or course; or
  • significant alteration to a work process that would disadvantage other employees; or
  • substantial economic hardship to a College program or department that would affect its economic viability; or
  • a significant adverse impact on learning opportunities for other students; or
  • a threat to the health and safety of other students or employees or safety hazards to other persons or property; or
  • a significant disruption of College operations.

Appendix A: Accommodation Process

Lambton College is committed to providing accommodation for people with disabilities. When an employee requests and/or requires an accommodation, the following process is followed:

  1. Step 1 - Recognizing the need for accommodation
    1. Requested by the employee or identified by Health & Safety and/or supervisor
  2. Step 2 - Gathering relevant information and assessing needs
    1. The employee is an active participant in this step.
    2. Employee is responsible for providing appropriate medical documentation from their regulated health professional (physician, nurse practitioner, psychiatrist) and any subsequent information necessary for accommodation planning.
    3. Medical documentation must note the employee's general nature of disability without diagnosis and any functional limitation or restrictions.
    4. The employee, Health & Safety, and supervisor explore a range of specific and universal accommodations to find the most appropriate measure.
    5. The employee may include a union representative in all accommodation discussion, planning, etc. at their discretion.
  3. Step 3 - Writing a formal individual accommodation plan
    1. Accommodation details are provided in a formal individual plan, including:
      1. Accessible formats and communication supports, if requested
      2. Workplace emergency response information, if requested
      3. Any other accommodation that is to be provided
    2. The accommodation plan is provided to the employee in a format that takes into account their accessibility needs due to their disability.
      1. If the individual accommodation plan requires adjustments, the supervisor provides the employee with the reason for the change, in an accessible format.
  4. Step 4 - Implementing, monitoring, and reviewing the accommodation plan
    1. Employee and supervisor monitor the accommodation to ensure that it has effectively met the need
    2. Formal reviews are conducted at predetermined intervals
    3. The accommodation plan is reviewed if the employee's work location or position changes
    4. The accommodation is reviewed if the nature of the employee's disability changes
    5. If the employee has ongoing restrictions, the College will make every effort, short of undue hardship, to accommodate. The employee must provide the Return to Work representative with updated medical information on an annual basis.

If the accommodation is no longer appropriate, the employee and supervisor work together to gather relevant information and reassess the employee's needs in order for the employer to find the best accommodation measure. The process would then start over at Step 1.

For questions or concerns regarding this policy, please contact the Policy Sponsor by phoning our main line 519-542-7751.