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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-01-12Clarington Accessibility Advisory Committee Minutes for the meeting of January 12, 2022 6:30 p.m. Via Microsoft Teams If this information is required in an alternate format, please contact the Accessibility Coordinator at 905-623-3379 ext. 2131. Present: Shea -Lea Latchford, Chair Sylvia Jaspers-Fayer, Vice -Chair Tim Van Leeuwen Sarah McConaghy Catherine McConaghy Pinder DaSilva Deb Kalogris Marina Ross Councillor Janice Jones Also Present: Shelagh Staunton, Records Information and Legislative Projects Coordinator Jeannette Whynot, Accessibility Coordinator Regrets: Sarah Taylor 1. Call to order The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. 2. Declaration of Interest None 3. Review of Previous Meeting Minutes Moved by Marina Ross; seconded by Deb Kalogris That the minutes of the meeting of December 1, 2021 be approved. Carried Clarington Accessibility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes — January 12, 2022 4. Guest Speaker: Shelagh Staunton, Records Information and Legislative Projects Coordinator Shelagh explained that the Municipality's Accessibility Plan is part of the election process and that after the election must report on whether Clarington was successful in meeting accessibility requirement of the election. This year, the Municipality will be doing internet and telephone voting for the first time. There will be no in -person voting as people should be able to use any device. However, there will be 10 election assistance centres for people to visit if they need help on election day. Some will be open ahead of the election. Individuals can also visit any library branch for support in voting. The online platform is accessible, and the election website will also be fully accessible. Assistance from home can be accessed by calling the voting hotline. Mock elections and videos will be created to ensure people know how to use the system. One of the goals of moving to internet and telephone voting is to increase voter turn out and remove barriers that prevent people from voting. One question that came up is how a visually impaired person will be able to access the important information on the voting letter (ie: PIN code). Shelagh will take this question back to the vender and report back later. Under the Election Act, if a care home has more than 20 beds, it will be declared a special voting location, meaning election support will be brought to that location. In the past, the Municipality has also attended the Hospital to ensure people can vote. There will be a voter assistance centre in the Wilmot Creek community. The Election Accessibility Plan and Report are going to the next General Government and Committee and then to council for ratification. The basics of the report will not change to much but are flexible if things need to be adjusted. Moved by Marina Ross and Seconded by Tim Van Leeuwen, That the Accessibility Advisory Committee endorse the Municipality's Election Report and the attached Municipal Elections Accessibility Plan. Carried 5. New business 5.1 2021 Annual Status Update and Compliance Report — Update Every 2 years, the municipality as a broader public agency, are required to submit a compliance report to the province pertaining to AODA requirement. Report submitted in 2021. There were no concerns, and the municipality reported full compliance. Page 2 of 4 Clarington Accessibility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes — January 12, 2022 2021 Annual Status Update looks at what we have done in the past year, how we are meeting compliance, what we are achieving and what we are hoping to do in the future. Must tie in with the municipality's multi -year accessibility plan. For example, in the multi- year plan we said we would look at mobile devise charging stations. We can state that we were successful with this action item in the report. This document will be sent to the Committee in advance of their February meeting for approval. From there, it will go to General Government and Committee for approval and then Council for ratification. Once it has been fully approved by Council, it will be posted on the website. 5.2 National AccessAbility Week 2022: Brainstorming A roundtable discussion of things the Committee and/or Accessibility Coordinator can do to recognize National AccessAbility Week, which is held during the last week of May. • Put up ads/banners in public places or in Clarington This Week highlighting the week • Social media — reaching out to Clarington This Week to do a story on the committee or someone in the community who has a story to share • Highlight someone in the community who uses the charging stations and how much they love them! • Highlight the importance of accessible trails — why do we need them? • Highlighting accessible buildings; ask the community for additional changes • Highlight everything that AAC and Clarington has accomplished as part of their annual accessibility plan • Clarington partnerships - Agencies serving disability community • Art contest for children and/or on-line scavenger hunt — make sure it's done in a sensitive and accessible way • Library — during the week they usually focus their programs on accessibility; AAC can provide colouring books for programs and distribution; ask the library to highlight books where kids with disabilities are the main characters; highlight books about disabilities and authors with disabilities. 6. New Business 6.1 Goals and Priorities for 2022 Given all of the great suggestions for National AccessAbility Week, the Committee felt that these were great goals for the year, especially considering it's an election year and there will likely be fewer meetings. It was suggested that the Committee meet quarterly or semi-annually with the Diversity Committee to share learnings, ideas. Jeannette advised that it would need to be an extra meeting as it can't be part of the regular monthly meeting as we already have full agendas and our own work to cover. The Committee mutually agreed that they would be willing to have an extra meeting in order to meet with the Diversity Committee. Page 3 of 4 Clarington Accessibility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes — January 12, 2022 7. Adjournment Moved Sylvia Jaspers-Fayer, seconded by Deb Kalogris That the meeting be adjourned Carried Meeting was adjourned at 7:28pm Next meeting: Wednesday February 2, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. via Microsoft Teams Page 4 of 4