Accessibility Plan 2005 - 2006

Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities Advisory Committee September 2005

Table of Contents

• Glossary of Acronyms
• Executive Summary
• 1. Commentary/Introduction
• 2. Objectives and Structure of the Accessibility Plan
• 3. Summary of Actions and Recommendations
  • 3.1 Summary of 2004 -2005 Accessibility Plan Actions and Recommendations
  • 3.2 Summary of 2005 -2006 Accessibility Plan Actions and Recommendations
• 4. The Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities Advisory Committee 2004 - 2005
  • 4.1 Working Group Memberships
• 5. Accessibility Initiatives 2004 - 2005
  • 5.1 Physical Facilities
  • 5.2 Awareness and Outreach
  • 5.3 Information Resources and Adaptive Technology
  • 5.4 Academic and Non-Academic Student Support Services
  • 5.5 Human Resources Initiatives for Faculty and Staff
• 6. Accessibility Plan for 2005 - 2006
  • 6.1 Physical Facilities
  • 6.2 Awareness and Outreach
  • 6.3 Information Resources and Adaptive Technology
  • 6.4 Academic and Non-Academic Student Support Services
  • 6.5 Human Resources Initiatives for Faculty and Staff
• 7. Measures to Assess By-Laws, Policies, Programs, Practices and Services to Determine Their Effect on Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities at the University of Guelph
• Appendices
  • I. Ongoing Accessibility Initiatives
  • II. Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities Advisory Committee Mandate
  • III. Principles of Universal Design
  • IV. Principles of Universal Instructional Design
  • V. Consolidated List of Website Addresses

Glossary of Acronyms

ANSS

Academic and Non-Academic Support Services Working Group (APDAC)

AO

Awareness and Outreach Working Group (APDAC)

AODA

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act

APDAC

Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities Advisory Committee

BGS

Board of Graduate Studies

BUGS

Board of Undergraduate Studies

CAC

Campus Accessibility Committee

CCS

Computing and Communications Services

COU

Council of Ontario Universities

CSA

Canadian Standards Association

CSD

Centre for Students with Disabilities

HREO

Human Rights and Equity Office

IRAT

Information Resources and Adaptive Technology Working Group (APDAC)

ISC

Information Services Committee

ISG

Information Services Group, Sub-committee of the Portal Management Group

IT

Information Technology

LCSD

Library Centre for Students with Disabilities

LD/ADHD

Learning Disabilities/Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

ODA

Ontarians with Disabilities Act

OOL

Office of Open Learning

PA

Physical Accessibility Working Group (APDAC)

PDA

Personal Digital Assistant

PPPS

Policies, programs, practices and services

SCI

Spinal Cord Injuries

TSS

Teaching Support Services

UD

Universal Design

UID

Universal Instructional Design

WCSI

Women’s Campus Safety Initiatives

W3C

World Wide Web Consortium

Executive Summary

This year’s Accessibility Plan reviews progress made on campus over the last 12 months in a wide range of areas. Accessibility issues are receiving attention across all parts of the University community, and every unit is involved. Progress continues to be made in enhancing the accessibility of physical facilities. Outreach activities such as the Diverse Abilities, Infinite Possibilities awareness campaign and staff and faculty training workshops continue to increase awareness. Enhancements in services offered by units such as the Centre for Students with Disabilities, the Learning Centre for Students with Disabilities, and Student Health Services continue to increase support services available to students with disabilities. The University has also released a comprehensive accessibility website that provides access to a broad range of resources both on and off campus. The University of Guelph continues to affirm its commitment to full accessibility.

There remains, however, a great deal more to be done. Ongoing initiatives in the area of accessibility of information resources must continue to move forward  to ensure that the University’s information resources are barrier free. Careful and ongoing monitoring, both of the formats and mechanisms for information release and of the tools available to access those resources, will be necessary as the University embarks on an unprecedented period of change in its communications infrastructure and information systems. More effort needs to be expended to increase the involvement of both the abled and differently-abled communities in identifying and guiding campus accessibility initiatives. The average member of the campus community needs more information on the issues, possible solutions, and the role they can play. Continued support for campus-wide initiatives such as adoption of the principles of universal instructional design and principles of universal design will be necessary to ensure their broad adoption.

At societal level, influential and far-reaching changes will result from the recent passing by the provincial government of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act 2005. This landmark piece of legislation will mandate that a broad range of regulations be followed, and the Act contains all the necessary mechanisms to enforce the new rules. The specifics of these regulations have yet to be determined, however, and changes under this legislation will be gradual. Achieving full accessibility for all Ontarians is a multi-year process under this provincial initiative. As the specific requirements of the Act become clear, so will the University’s specific responsibilities under the Act. In terms of its human resources, expertise, and commitment, the University is in a strong position to respond, and in many areas is likely to be ahead of the curve. In other regards, we may be entering a challenging period as the resource implications of newly developed regulations become clear. Change creates opportunities as well as challenges, however. The development by the University of a carefully considered and broad-based process for identifying and addressing accessibility issues on campus and of the tools to assist in that process will position us well to meet these challenges and to optimise the opportunities!

1. Commentary/Introduction

The Ontarians with Disabilities Act, (ODA) 2001 , received Royal Assent in December 2001. The purpose of the Act is to improve opportunities for persons with disabilities and to provide for their involvement in the identification, removal and prevention of barriers that preclude their full participation in society. The Act requires institutions within the broad public sector to review their policies, programs and services as they impact upon persons with disabilities, and to develop accessibility plans that are intended to address existing barriers and prevent new barriers from being established. Each Ontario university is required to develop annual accessibility plans as part of the annual planning process, and to file the 2005 -2006 accessibility plan by September 30, 2005.

The broad-based University of Guelph Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities Advisory Committee (APDAC) was first established in 2002 to develop the Accessibility Plan. The committee was designed to be broad-based in order to ensure a collaborative and representative process. Members of APDAC include students, staff, and faculty and represent a range of stakeholders and constituencies from across the University, including facilities and services, information technology policy, human rights and equity issues, student government, those with expertise in teaching and learning, and staff with personal or professional knowledge of disability and accommodation issues.

The plan reaffirms Guelph’s commitment to achieving and respecting diversity among its community members, recognizes the valuable contribution that diverse life experiences, insight and inspiration make to the life and work of the University and reaffirms the important role that persons with disabilities play in achieving this vision.

This year's plan presents a status report on each of the initiatives that were specified in the 2004 - 2005 Plan and identifies new and continuing initiatives to be implemented between September 1 , 2005 and August 31 , 2006.

While this report is written in response to the 2001 legislation, it is important to note that the ODA was superseded this year by the AODA. This most recent legislation encompasses a multi-year Provincial initiative with an horizon for full implementation of 20-25 years, and establishes the mechanisms, procedures and regulatory framework by which specific accessibility regulations will be developed, and a tribunal process through which contraventions of regulations will be handled. The provincial government is in the process of constructing advisory councils, each with broad and representative membership, whose responsibility it will be to recommend to the Minister the specific regulations that should be  adopted. It is from this process that the University’s responsibilities under the legislation will gradually become clear. It should be recognised, therefore, that this present accessibility plan both responds to the 2001 ODA Act and addresses accessibility issues identified on campus, while it at the same time attempts to anticipate the broad implications of the new legislation. This includes the development of tools and strategies that will help the University deal with impending regulatory changes, whatever they may be, and thus play a role as a leader in addressing accessibility issues on university campuses.

2. Objectives and Structure of the Accessibility Plan

This plan is prepared in response to the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, (ODA) 2001. The ODA requires Universities to prepare an accessibility plan that addresses the identification, removal and prevention of barriers to persons with disabilities in their policies, programs, practices and services. These plans must report on:

1. accessibility initiatives that have occurred in the past year;
2. accessibility initiatives planned for the coming year;
3. measures taken to ensure proposals for policies, programs, practices and services are assessed to determine their effect on accessibility for persons with disabilities;
4. policies, programs, practices and services that will be reviewed in the coming year to identify barriers to persons with disabilities;

This plan addresses the following seven areas as they pertain to the above reporting requirements. These are the areas of particular concern identified by the 2002 Council of Ontario Universities (COU) Report of the Working Group on the Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2001 :

1. publications and information resources;
2. equipment and adaptive technology;
3. physical facilities;
4. human resources issues;
5. awareness issues for faculty and staff;
6. academic services and policies for students with disabilities;
7. non-academic student support services.

The central reporting mechanism of this report is contained in sections 5 , 6 and 7 as follows:

Section 5. Accessibility Initiatives 2004 -2005. This section details the University’s accessibility initiatives in this last reporting year. It includes measures already instituted and in place and those that are in place but under ongoing development.

Section 6. Accessibility Plan for 2005 -2006. This section covers initiatives that are under development but not yet instituted.

Section 7. Measures to Assess By-Laws, Policies, Programs, Practices and Services to Determine their Effect on Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities at the University of Guelph. This section describes how the University intends to address the review of policies, programs, practices and services to ensure all of its activities are barrier free.

3. Summary of Actions and Recommendations

3.1 Summary of 2004 -2005 Accessibility Plan Actions and Recommendations

The following table list the actions and recommendations identified by APDAC in the 2004 -2005 accessibility plan and the status of each initiative.

"Completed” refers to initiatives that were one-time undertakings and for which there is no further action required and/or identified.

"Completed and next step identified” refers to initiatives which were completed and for which a follow-up step and/or additional activity has been identified.

"Ongoing” refers to initiatives which began in 2004 -2005 and will be continued in 2005 -2006. These initiatives are ongoing but not yet completed.

2004 -2005 Actions	Status
(a) Establish effective mechanisms for communicating with the campus community and establishing a dialogue on matters of accessibility for persons with disabilities.	Ongoing s.5.2 (c) ,(e) , (f) and (h)
(b) The committee recognises the importance of accessibility on all of the University’s campuses, and the need to ensure that in the upcoming year its regional colleges are fully incorporated in the accessibility planning process. A communication and reporting structure on issues of accessibility for persons with disabilities that will clearly identify achievements and concerns will be established with the regional colleges to ensure their full involvement in the University’s ongoing efforts to identify and eliminate barriers.	Completed s.5.5 (b)
(c) An in-depth analysis of inventory and survey data collected in the 2002 /2003 season will be performed, with the identification of actual or potential barriers being the primary objective.	Ongoing s.7.1 (b)
(d) Information gathered from inventory/survey data analysis, from students, staff and faculty in general, and from those members of the campus community with disabilities in particular, will be used to refine our understanding of information accessibility and adaptive software issues.	Ongoing s.7.1 (b)
(e) A comprehensive review of policies relating to physical accessibility at other institutions will be undertaken with a view to developing University-wide policy statements addressing accessibility and local level codes of practice that can address the unique needs and uses of each building.	Completed s.5.1 (a)
(f) The assistance of the director of the Human Rights and Equity Office (HREO) will be sought to explore the possibility that existing provincial listservs might be used to develop a specific listserv discussing accessibility issues, in particular to help establish adaptive technology best practices.	Completed s.5.3 (c)
(g) A close working relationship will be established with the campus portal implementation team to ensure that web accessibility needs are addressed as portal technology is implemented on campus.	Ongoing s.5.3 (e)
(h) The principles of Universal Instructional Design (UID) will be placed before the provost and the dean of Graduate Studies for their consideration, and for their guidance on how UID might be promoted and implemented across the University.	Ongoing s.5.4 (a)
(i) Focus groups will be run in relevant non-academic departments (e.g. Housing, Hospitality, Child Care, Career Services) to discuss Universal Design (UD) principles in a bi-directional educational exchange.	Ongoing
(j) The importance of using plain language and of addressing information access broadly in University policies, programs, practices and services will be promoted.	Ongoing s.5.4 (i)
(k) Recognition of the impact of the environmental characteristics of our campus will be promoted, including mapping, signage, and quiet spaces.	Ongoing s.5.4 (j)
(l) The committee will consult with the administration on strategies to increase staff and faculty representation on the committee.	Completed 5.5 (a)
(m) Working in collaboration with the HREO, the committee will develop a set of principles and questions to be applied in any review or revision of University policies, programs, practices and services and whenever new policy is being written.	Ongoing 7.1 (c)
2004 -2005 APDAC Recommendations
(a) A University disability and accessibility website should be created, the primary purposes of which would be to provide information on disability issues and, through a monitored sounding board or feedback section, to provide a mechanism whereby all members of the community can submit their comments or concerns on accessibility for persons with disabilities issues.	Completed, Next Step Identified s.5.2 (c)
(b) The HREO should develop a multimedia disability awareness campaign for faculty, staff and students to promote awareness of accessibility issues. The provost should consider funding this campaign.	Completed s.5.2 (d)
(c) The following web accessibility measures are recommended:
that in support of the adoption of the published standards for web development, the University set a deadline within which all official University websites must be in compliance;	Ongoing s.5.3 (f)
that the University endorse the philosophy that professional web design is synonymous with accessible web design;	Ongoing s.5.3 (g)
that portal technology be used to tailor University web content to the needs of differently-abled members of the campus community;	Ongoing s.5.3 (e)
that web publishing software be explored and adopted by the University to enable the creation of standard templates that meet W3C guidelines, with the intention that as more people become involved in developing web content we will continue to ensure that the content is accessible;	Ongoing s.5.3 (h)
that in-house opportunities for campus web developers to receive in-house instruction in accessible web design be made available.	Ongoing s.5.3 (h)
(d) A model to provide adaptive technology support for faculty and staff members using adaptive software in the course of their workday must be developed. This model should provide clear lines of responsibility for the provision of technical support and ensure the best use is made of campus computer expertise. The University’s Information Services Committee (ISC) should address this issue, soliciting input from users of adaptive software and from IT staff who are currently providing support, and should report back to the committee on its findings and recommendations.	Completed s.5.3 (d)
(e) The University should proceed with the formation of an advisory panel to make determinations about departmental and individual requests to purchase assistive devices and to assist managers with workplace accommodation and return-to-work matters.	Ongoing s.5.5 (e)
(f) The University’s Human Resources department should take the opportunity in upcoming negotiations with employee groups to identify clauses that might offer barriers to accessibility and attempt to eliminate those barriers by including permissive language, wherever possible.	Ongoing s.5.5 (f)
(g) The University must clearly enunciate the broad principles by which the pedagogic imperatives that underlie laboratory teaching can be assessed and strategies for increasing accessibility developed. This matter should be placed before the provost for action.	Ongoing s.7.1 (a)
(h) The University’s ISC should review current policy and practice concerning the media and formats in which information is released and disseminated by the University in order to ensure full accessibility. The ISC should report back to the committee on its findings and recommendations.	Ongoing s.5.3 (i)

3.2 Summary of 2005 -2006 Accessibility Plan Actions and Recommendations

The following table list the actions and recommendations identified by APDAC in this  2005 -2006 accessibility plan.

2005 -2006 Accessibility-Related Planned Actions	Location
(a) The library management and the Campus Accessibility Committee (CAC) will review the results of the physical accessibility audit of the McLaughlin Library and determine next steps.	s.6.1 (a)
(b) The CAC will continue analysing all major new construction projects and all renovation projects to ensure accessibility requirements are addressed in the design to the fullest extent possible, and that the equipping of buildings and design of their environs take advantage of opportunities to enhance accessibility.	s.6.1 (b)
(c) The CAC will continue to submit calls to the University community for accessibility-related construction projects, will assess and prioritize these requests according to impact and fiscal possibility, and will recommend to Physical Resources which specific projects should be funded from the University's facility renewal funds or other resources.	s.6.1 (c)
(d) Physical Resources is examining whether the new CSA standard B651 -04 , Accessible Design for the Built Environment, can be applied to campus projects and to what extent it needs amendment or supplementing to suit our particular needs. This will facilitate the development and recommendation to the University of building standards to address physical accessibility on campus.	s.6.1 (d)

(e) APDAC will promote campus community awareness of the committee and its working groups, the resources available on campus and in the broader community, and applicable legislation.

s.6.2 (a)

(f) The CSD will do the following: take a leadership role in Accessibility Awareness Week by providing strong resource support for this important student initiative; introduce new programs to raise awareness, including Learning Lunches for students and increased faculty training; continue to offer the Pre-Flight Program, a week-long, on-site summer preparation program for students with learning disabilities; continue education and awareness activities addressing disability, accessibility and accommodations.	s.6.2 (b) , (c) , (d) , (e)
(g) The HREO will do the following: continue their education and awareness activities addressing disability, accessibility and accommodations and expand workshops that include or specifically address accessibility and disability issues, particularly those that target faculty, managers, and others with supervisory responsibilities; continue Diverse Abilities, Infinite Possibilities, the disability awareness campaign.	s.6.2 (e) (ii) (iii)
(h) Teaching Support Services (TSS) will continue their education and awareness activities addressing disability, accessibility and accommodations.	s.6.2. (e)
(i) The HREO and the website manager will continue to develop and refine the accessibility website: www.uoguelph.ca/accessibility. APDAC will provide feedback on the website content and format.	s.6.2 (f)
(j) APDAC’s Awareness and Outreach (AO) working group will strategise to enhance the profile of Accessibility Awareness Week and expand on the activities carried out.	s.6.2 (g)
(k) APDAC will explore the establishment of accessibility awards for faculty, staff and students who contribute to identifying, removing and preventing barriers for persons with disabilities.	s.6.2 (h)
(l) The AO working group of APDAC will promote an accessibility tour of University facilities and services to be held during  Accessibility Awareness Week	s.6.2 (i)
(m) The Library Centre for Students with Disabilities (LCSD) co-ordinator will undertake accessibility testing of the Macintosh computer platform, and specifically the utility of the VoiceOver screen reading program built into OS 10.4.	s.6.3 (a)
(n) APDAC’s Information Resources and Adaptive Technology working group (IRAT) will promote development of video captioning to raise awareness of multimedia accessibility.	s.6.3 (b)
(o) IRAT will continue monitoring campus web portal development with consideration given to enhancing access to University information for differently-abled individuals.	s.6.3 (c)
(p) The LCSD will promote the creation of paid student Jaws-user positions to do accessibility/usability checks on campus web resources.	s.6.3 (d)
(q) IRAT will investigate the feasibility of bulk purchasing arrangements for adaptive software in order to reduce costs of software acquisition.	s.6.3 (e)
(r) IRAT will explore technologies that could be employed to improve campus wayfaring for people with disabilities and that might be incorporated into the development of accessible, web-based maps.	s.6.3 (f)
(s) An annual retreat will occur to ensure awareness of emerging technologies with implications for the learning environment and provision of accessibility support. Attendees will include IRAT, the ISC, representatives from Computing and Communication Services, the Office of Open Learning (OOL) and TSS.	s.6.3 (g)
(t) IRAT will continue efforts to ensure the accessibility of key campus information resources, such as University and College websites, Web Advisor and WebCT. Focus groups will be promoted to identify information accessibility and usability issues.	s.6.3 (i)
(u) IRAT will continue to focus on adoption by the University of web publishing software to enable the creation of standard templates that meet W3C guidelines.	s.6.3 (j)
(v) Beginning in the 2005 academic year, core exam and classroom accommodations for students with disabilities (extra time, use of a computer, scribe or note taker) will be provided without formal approval by faculty. Other accommodations will continue to require discussion with faculty in order to maintain the integrity of the course.	s.6.4 Academic Initiatives (a)
(w) Promotion of the adoption of UID principles on campus will continue by supporting the work of TSS and the OOL in this area and by encouraging the advancement of the initiative through the University governance process. TSS have enhanced and updated their UID resources. These will be used to support adoption of UID principles, which TSS will incorporate into its faculty/sessional Survival Guides. TSS will also offer UID workshops (see section 6.2.a.iii) ) .	s.6.4 Academic Initiatives (b)
(x) TSS will develop a set of standards and best practices for WebCT users.	s.6.4 Academic Initiatives (c)

(y) The OOL will do the following: work toward enhancing accessibility in distance and continuing education courses by increasing awareness, media accessibility and web accessibility; heighten awareness of the issues surrounding accessibility and the challenges faced by learners with disabilities by providing information to non-UofG course developers and instructors. UID will increasingly be implemented for course design in both distance education and continuing education courses. implement plans to convert existing videos for distance education courses from VHS to DVD format incorporating captioning tracks and descriptive video where possible; make available, where possible, hard copy course and promotional materials in alternate formats for web delivery; implement changes to existing course and marketing  websites and  develop new approaches to creating websites that will increase web accessibility with the goal to achieve compliance with W3C guidelines (priority 1 level) .	s.6.4 Academic Initiatives (d)
(z) Student Affairs is preparing a guidelines document on accessibility issues not specific to physical space (e.g. , signage, service at support desks) . Once finalized, all managers in Student Affairs will be given a copy and urged to incorporate the guidelines into their training programs for staff (full-time and student) .	s.6.4 Non-academic Initiatives (a)
(aa) APDAC’s Academic and Non-Academic Support Services working group (ANSS) will strategise on how to introduce plain language users guides to University policies and the process that might be followed and present the results to the Vice-President’s Academic Council.	s.6.4 Non-academic Initiatives (b)
(bb) The ANSS  working group will promote the impact of the campus environment on people with disabilities as follows: identify strategies to promote a feeling of physical space in a rapidly crowding campus; identify and begin a process to designate quiet spaces for students; Computing and Communications Services (CCS) will complete an interactive map of campus that will allow users to selectively hide/remove layers of information, including a layer indicating accessible entrances and facilities such as parking spaces and washrooms.	s.6.4 Non-academic Initiatives (c)
(cc) APDAC intends to recruit another faculty member to sit on the committee.	s.6.5 (a)
2005 -2006 APDAC Recommendations
(a) APDAC  will recommend to the ISC that an institution-wide policy be created for the provision of adaptive technology and software support to students with disabilities which should resolve the following concerns: Students who require the software need access to a current version of Jaws screen reading software for accessing critical services such as the University's web portal both on campus and at home. Adaptive software and associated hardware (e.g. scanners) need to be available to provide information access on computers across campus in areas such as teaching laboratories and computer pools. The adaptive software programs that are supported by the University should be identified, and where and how this support is offered should be clarified. Opportunities to integrate CCS's expertise in the areas of software licensing and support into the campus adaptive software support model should be explored. Options for providing on-site computer triage services for students with disabilities need to be examined.	s.6.3 (h)
(b) APDAC continues to recommend that the ISC act upon and accelerate current policy development and application in the following areas: that in support of the adoption of the University‘s published standards for web development, the University set a deadline within which all official (see 5.3.f) University websites be in compliance; that the University endorse the philosophy that professional web design is synonymous with accessible web design; that in-house opportunities for campus web developers to receive in-house instruction in accessible web design be made available; that current policy and practice concerning the media and formats in which information is released and disseminated by the University should be reviewed in order to ensure full accessibility.
(c) APDAC continues to recommend the adoption of UID principles on campus.	s.6.4 academic initiatives (b)
(d) Accommodation continues to be an important employee retention measure, and the University needs to ensure the accommodation of both current and prospective employees. Therefore, APDAC recommends that the Assistant Vice-President (Human Resources) take the lead in working with the Director of HREO to develop and articulate a university-wide strategy on responding to the need for accommodation arrangements for employees (faculty and staff) , including temporary return to work arrangements and permanent accommodation arrangements.	s.6.5 (b)
(e) APDAC recommends that in concert with the development of a strategy on accommodation and return to work, the Assistant Vice-President (Human Resources) should review whether or not the current employment accommodation fund of $20,000 per annum is adequate.	s.6.5 (c)
(f) APDAC recommends that the University’s Human Resources department works with employee groups in established labour/management committee meetings (JCC) to determine whether or not collective agreement provisions exist that may offer barriers to accessibility with a view to eliminating identified barriers, whether through permissive language or other agreed upon means. APDAC further recommends that Human Resources establish a timeframe within which these discussions can be completed and a report submitted on the outcome.	s.6.5 (d)
(g) APDAC recommends that a start be made on the development of a University-wide, systematic and visible internal procedure to identify, characterize and eliminate barriers in University PPPS’s. Once developed, the procedures should ensure that preparation of new PPPS’s and review/revision of existing PPPS’s include an accessibility review to identify and eliminate barriers. The same accessibility review should also be applied to any PPPS that is the subject of accessibility complaints and to selected PPPS’s that are not ordinarily reviewed on a five-year cycle or less and are not scheduled for review/revision. The mechanisms and procedures by which these latter PPPS’s will be identified should be considered in development of the accessibility review process, with the intention that such targeted reviews be scheduled in advance in each year’s accessibility plan.	s.7. (a)
(h) APDAC recommends that there be two separate PPPS accessibility review processes, one to address non-academic activities, the other to address academic programs.	s.7. (b)
(g) APDAC recommends that standard tools be developed to assist and guide accessibility review.	s.7. (d)
(h) The need for accessibility review in the academic sphere will initially be placed by APDAC before the key Senate committees (the Board of Undergraduate Studies, the Board of Graduate Studies, and the Senate Committee on Open Learning) for their guidance. APDAC should perform a consultative and resource-related role in these preliminary discussions in conjunction with the CSD, the LCSD and Student Health Services.	s.7. (f)
(i) APDAC will start work on the development of tools for accessibility review in September 2005 , with a working target of September2006 for their completion. The projected horizon for development of the review process is September 2008, with determination by the University of a timetable for subsequent application of the review process to specific University’s PPPS’s to be included in this horizon.	s.7. (g)

4. The Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities Advisory Committee 2004 -2005 (alternate members are noted in parentheses)

• Luk Arbuckle – Graduate Student
• Laurie Arnott – Human Rights Advisor
• Melissa Beacom – Advisor, Centre for Students with Disabilities
• Patrick Case – Director, Human Rights and Equity Office
• Athol Gow – Coordinator, Library Centre for Students with Disabilities
• Ruth Gillespie – Classroom Technical Support Manager, Teaching Support Services
• James Gowdy – Student
• Paula Hearn – Student
• Isobel Heathcote – Dean, Graduate Studies
• Heather McIvor – Advisor, Centre for Students with Disabilities
• Cyndy McLean – Director, Health and Performance Centre
• Gisele MacNeil – Manager, Health and Wellbeing, Dept. of Occupational Health Services (Cathy Kannenberg, Occupational Health Nurse)
• Bruno Mancini – Director, Counselling and Student Development Centre
• Peter Physick-Sheard (Chair) – Faculty, Department of Population Medicine, OVC
• Barbara O’Neill – Registrar, Ridgetown College
• Chris Pickard – Director, Planning, Engineering and Construction Services (Wayne Aitken, Engineering Assistant)
• Rachel St. -Jean – Registrar, College d’Alfred
• Heather Stewart – Senior Lecturer (Communications) , Kemptville College
• Bill Teesdale – Manager, Microphobe Facility, Physics Department
• Brenda Whiteside – Associate Vice-President (Student Affairs)

4.1 Working Group Memberships

The committee has struck four working groups to address the seven areas of emphasis outlined in the COU Guidelines (see page 2 ) . Each working group is responsible for identifying barriers and advising the committee on the removal and prevention of barriers in one or more of the key areas. These areas are not mutually exclusive and therefore some of the work that the working groups perform overlaps. The working groups are composed of the committee’s members and members of the University community co-opted to the group to provide input and to assist the group in identifying and addressing issues in their area of particular expertise.

Academic and Non-Academic Support Services Working Group (ANSS)

• Isobel Heathcote (Leader)
• Brenda Whiteside
• Heather McIvor
• Luk Arbuckle
• Jayne Butler*
• Peter Physick-Sheard (ex officio)
• Bruno Mancini
• James Gowdy
• Barbara O’Neill

Awareness and Outreach Working Group (AO)

• Laurie Arnott (Leader)
• Samantha Walsh*
• Cyndy McLean
• Melissa Beacom
• Gisele MacNeil
• Peter Physick-Sheard (ex officio)

Information Resources and Adaptive Technology Working Group (IRAT)

• Athol Gow (Leader)
• Kyle Mackie*     
• Ruth Gillespie
• Gayleen Gray*
• Peter Physick-Sheard (ex officio)

Physical Accessibility Working Group (PA)

• Chris Pickard (Leader)
• Laurie Arnott
• Joseph Varamo*
• Wayne Aitken
• Steve Borho*
• Peter Physick-Sheard (ex-officio)

*Ad hoc members

5. Accessibility Initiatives  2004 - 2005

5.1 Physical Facilities

This section of the accessibility plan focuses on initiatives taken at the University to address physical barriers faced by persons with disabilities and the community as a whole. The following initiatives occurred in 2004 /2005 :

1. As part of its strategy to address long-term physical accessibility planning on campus, the Physical Accessibility (PA) working group of APDAC has begun a review of the University’s building standards for accessibility. The working group has examined standards of Ontario universities and other bodies to determine best practices. The working group is in the process of determining which of these standards is best to incorporate into University of Guelph policy. Currently, it appears that the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) standards are most appropriate for the University with modification to harmonize with City of Guelph standards.
2. The CAC continues to be responsible for the analysis of all major construction/renovation projects for accessibility features and for review of proposed smaller accessibility projects (retrofits) . The CAC submitted a call to the University community for accessibility-related construction projects. It assessed and prioritized the requests according to importance and fiscal possibility. The CAC then recommended to Physical Resources that specific projects be funded from the University's facility renewal funds ($125 ,000 for 2004 -05 ) or other resources. The CAC has representation from the Centre for Students with Disabilities (CSD) , Physical Resources, Student Housing, Classroom Technical Support, students, and faculty. The CSD was consulted on construction of all new buildings.
3. The CAC, CSD and TSS facilitated the installation of  Gentner systems in 12 classrooms to enhance equality for students with hearing impairments.
4. The CAC also completes or commissions campus audits of physical accessibility. This past year, the CAC commissioned an audit of the McLaughlin Library. For more information on the CAC, visit the following website. (www.counselling.uoguelph.ca/csd/committee.shtml)
5. As part of an ongoing program addressing issues of physical accessibility on the main campus, the following modifications to physical plant have been made in 2004 /2005 :
   1. New buildings, additions and full renovations constructed to fully barrier free standards:
      • 140 Science Complex Phase One - new construction
      • 172 Lennox Addington Hall Café and Lounge - new addition
   2. Projects undertaken to improve accessibility of existing facilities either completed or under construction at this time:
      • 002 Macdonald Hall  - An assistive listening device (Gentner Transmitter and Receiver) was installed in classroom 149.
      • 009 War Memorial Hall - An assistive listening device (Gentner Transmitter and Receiver) was installed in the main hall.
      • 021 Zavitz Hall - Two handrails were replaced on exterior stairs that were non-code compliant to present standards and did not extend to the full extent of the stairs.0
      • 23 Macdonald Stewart Hall - The power door operators on the main entrance doors and their push plate controls were reconfigured to establish a more direct access through the foyer.
      • 025 J.D. Maclachlan Building - One new power door operator will provide barrier free access through the existing ramped entrance on the south side of the building. The existing exterior door with a new operator will provide barrier free access to the main corridor adjacent to the accessible washrooms and the elevator. The operator can be controlled by remote transmitters and by wall mounted push plates. An assistive listening device (Gentner Transmitter and Receiver) was installed in classroom 102.
      • 026 Reynolds Building - Two new power door operators will provide barrier free access through the main entrance off the west end of Stadium Walk. One leaf of the exterior doors and one leaf of the interior foyer doors will operate with a power operator controlled by remote transmitters and by wall mounted push plates.
      • 031 Axelrod Building - An assistive listening device (Gentner Transmitter and Receiver) was installed in classroom 200.
      • 032 Graham Hall - Four handrails were installed on exterior steps where none existed.
      • 038 Food Science - Two handrails were installed on exterior steps where none existed.
      • 039 OVC  Main Building - As part of a general renovation of a portion of this building, new washrooms which are fully compliant with barrier free standards have been constructed on the first and third floors.
      • 044 James Archibald Small Animal Clinic - The renovations undertaken for the new MRI facility included the construction of a barrier free access with power door operators and barrier free washroom facilities.
      • 045 Stewart Building - A unisex accessible washroom  was retrofitted to accommodate specific requests of the users.
      • 050 W.F. Mitchell Athletics Centre link to 160 John T. Powell Building - Two new power door operators will provide a barrier free link through a second floor enclosed corridor between these two buildings. The installation of the operators will provide barrier free access to the second floor of building 050 via the accessibility lift in building 160. To maintain security between the two buildings, the new operators will be controlled only by specific remote transmitters signed out to those persons requiring barrier free access through this area.
      • 051 Landscape Architecture - An assistive listening device (Gentner Transmitter and Receiver) was installed in classroom 204.0
      • 068 MacKinnon Building - an assistive listening device (Gentner Transmitter and Receiver) was installed in classroom 120.
      • 069 Crop Science Building - Two new power door operators will provide barrier free access through the main entrance off Reynolds Walk. A large single exterior door with a new operator will provide barrier free access to the main foyer. To gain access to the main corridors of the building a double set of narrow doors will be activated with a single operator to open as a pair providing ample clearance. Each power operator can be controlled by remote transmitters and by wall mounted push plates. Repairs are in progress on a deteriorated ramp. Handrails were installed on two sets of exterior steps.
      • 070 Animal Science and Nutrition - An assistive listening device (Gentner Transmitter and Receiver) was installed in classroom 156. Handrails were installed on three exterior platforms and steps.
      • 071 McLaughlin Library - Renovations were undertaken to a men’s washroom and a women’s washroom on the third floor to make them more accessible. In both washrooms the entrances were completely reconstructed to provide level, smooth and spacious entrances. Washroom fixtures and cubicle partitions were reworked or replaced and grab bars and other fitments were installed. A comprehensive accessibility study of the entire library facility was funded to ascertain the full extent of the barriers within and to accessing the library services.
      • 073 MacNaughton Building - Assistive listening devices (Gentner Transmitter and Receiver) were installed in classrooms 105 and 113.
      • 080 Edmund C. Bovey Administration Building - A new power door operator on the west facing exterior door will provide barrier free access at the closest door to the adjacent parking lot P34 where there are two designated barrier free parking spaces. Operation of the door will be through hand activated post mounted push plates and remote transmitters.
      • 081 Edmund C. Bovey Laboratory Building - Two new power door operators were installed to provide barrier free access through the main entrance off of Gordon Street. One leaf of each of two double doors forming the entry will be retrofitted with the power operators operable by remote transmitters and by wall mounted push plates.
      • 119 McNally House - Appropriate signage was installed on the existing ramped access. Approval was obtained from the City of Guelph Committee of Adjustment to continue the agreement to maintain the ramp in its present location which encroaches on city property.
      • 158 University Centre - One men’s washroom and one women’s washroom on the first floor were retrofitted to improve on the level of accessibility of each facility. Three assistive listening devices (portable transmitters) were purchased to be signed out by the CSD as required.
      • 159 Albert A. Thornbrough Building - Assistive listening devices (Gentner Transmitter and Receiver) were installed in classrooms 1200 and 1307. A new exterior stair handrail was installed to provide a higher level of safety.
      • 172 Lennox/Addington Hall - A residence suite consisting of a single room with a kitchenette and a bathroom was renovated to accommodate the needs of the resident. The bathroom area was equipped with a hand held shower unit and grab bars to provide support at all fixtures. The kitchenette area was renovated to provide knee space at the sink complete with protected services below. In the dressing area a new tilting mirror and a fold away dressing table were installed in accordance with the resident’s requirements. Four power door operators were installed on four doors in the corridors at the second floor commons area which provides the residents with a barrier free corridor between two residence wings and the commons area.
   3. Walkways, curb cuts and parking improvements:
      • Two designated barrier free parking spaces plus a drop off area were constructed parallel to Macdonald Street directly in front of the Macdonald Stewart Hall main entrance. The parking spaces are designed to accommodate two vans with either a side or rear loading platforms. A 2.0m wide concrete walkway was constructed abutting the parking and drop off area with ramped and rolled curbs to the street level and the adjacent walkway system. A speed bump was placed in the roadway just south of the parking to assist in slowing traffic in this area.
      • Two designated barrier free parking spaces were provided in each of parking lots P8, P9 and P11 as part of a general reconstruction of these lots. Each of these designated areas was designed with two 4.0m wide parking spaces separated with a 2.5m wide loading area with a full width curb cut and concrete walkway connecting to the general walkway system. Each space was fully identified by signs and symbols painted on the asphalt.
      • Several sidewalk and street reconstruction projects completed in the fall of 2004 included the construction of curb cuts and ramped walks at all crossings and access points.
      • A new concrete sidewalk has been constructed along the south side of McGilvray Street from Student Family Housing to Food Science and includes curb cuts at all street crossings and access points.
      • Two large ramps and six sets of steps on Winegard Walk and Stadium Walk were fitted with new metal handrails where none existed.
   4. Physical Resources is engaged in a major ongoing program of upgrading fire alarms to include strobe lights to benefit the deaf/hearing impaired and updating certain interior signs with Braille.

5.2 Awareness and Outreach

This section of the accessibility plan focuses on initiatives taken to address attitudinal barriers as they impact on people with disabilities and the community as a whole. The following are primarily new initiatives and significant enhancements of core programs. Details of core activities for the 2004 /2005 reporting year are provided in Appendix IV of  this report. The following new initiatives took place in 2004 /2005 :

1. There have been a number of new initiatives in terms of outreach and awareness in which the CSD has taken a leadership role:
   1. Sessions were conducted with 22 different academic departments to educate faculty about supporting students with disabilities in light of the fact that students are asking for different and more unusual academic accommodations.
   2. The CSD was an active participant in the organization and delivery of Accessibility Awareness Week in February.
   3. The CSD increased its involvement in student orientation week through the development of programming specific to the needs of students with disabilities. In order to support students with psychological disabilities, orientation activities were categorized according to size, social expectations and involvement. New activities involving walks in the arboretum and meditation workshops were conducted with positive results. The following changes were also made to improve accessibility in 2004 :
      • An improved section on how to make an event accessible was included in the event planners toolbox.
      • The CSD offered a guaranteed small group event for orientation week and asked that others on campus do the same to increase accessibility for students with psychiatric disabilities who cannot access large events.
      • The Orientation Guide was changed to include a “day-at-a-glance” schedule for students with organizational and spatial difficulties. Each event was marked with a symbol to let students know which would be loud or quiet, large or small, and physically accessible.
      • The CSD provided a group of orientation volunteers trained to assist students with disabilities. The CSD also offered students with disabilities a new  student welcome event.
2. The University has developed and published an accessibility website: www.uoguelph.ca/accessibility. This website brings together all information and links to accessibility related items at the University. It also contains information and links for community resources as well as more general information sorted by topic, including education, employment, finances, housing, information resources and adaptive technology, internet accessibility, legislation and policy, transportation, travel, universal design, government links, Canadian and international links, and disability related articles and magazines.

   The accessibility website also contains a section through which community members can provide feedback. This feedback will be presented to APDAC and the appropriate department so that it may be addressed. The website also has an events calendar to promote disability news and initiatives. The accessibility website will continue to evolve as more information becomes available. The HREO is maintaining this website with the assistance of the University website manager.

3. The HREO initiated a disability awareness campaign. ,   This campaign was designed to create awareness of the abilities and capacity for success of persons with disabilities. The campaign, whose  slogan was Diverse Abilities, Infinite Possibilities,. The intent of Diverse Abilities, Infinite Possibilities was to raise disability awareness across campus. Therefore, it was aimed at focused on the entire University community: students, staff and faculty. The campaign was funded by these groups and campaign images featured members of each of these groups.

   Campaign materials and events included posters, brochures, workshops and a speaking engagement by Jeff Adams, Paralympic and Olympic athlete, who spoke about disability and the capacity for success. The University’s student newspaper, the Ontarion, and CKCO television provided media coverage of the event. Diverse Abilities, Infinite Possibilities will continue into the next ODA reporting period.

4. The CSD surveyed all registered students to measure its services and hear comments, complaints and ideas at the end of each semester. The CSD also had a comment box located at the main desk which allowed all students, parents and visitors to voice accessibility concerns anonymously.
5. The CSD works closely, and one staff member meets regularly, with numerous departments to identify any barriers for persons with disabilities in areas such as orientation, grounds, student housing, teachng support services, parking, the First Response Team, police and fire departments. The CSD staff met weekly to discuss all barriers and initiatives for removing barriers, and to develop a plan of action where gaps in accessible services arose within departments
6. The Accessibility Awareness Week Committee, a student-run body, organized a series of events to celebrate and acknowledge Accessibility Week (March 7 – March 11 , 2005 ) on campus. Events included:
   • a  fundraising wheelchair basketball demonstration between the Burlington Vipers and the University of Guelph Women’s Varsity team;
   • guest speaker Linda Hamilton, a Paralympic athlete and physical education teacher, who spoke of her experience losing her leg in a car accident;
   • a simulation exercise where various student leaders used wheelchairs for a day, followed by a round table discussion of their respective experiences;
   • guest speaker Jeff Adams, a Paralympic and Olympic athlete and motivational speaker, who spoke of disability and the capacity for success;
   • a dinner challenge simulation which invited students to participate in dinner activities while simulating various disabilities including visual impairment and fine motor impairment; and
   • a silent auction.

   Funds raised by this committee were used to purchase an electric door opener for the East Residence Townhall, a central building used by many members of the community.

7. The CSD and the CAC collaborated to place advertisements in the University’s newspapers each semester requesting that people outline physical access needs, ideas, comments and complaints. The CSD also held focus groups to allow students and staff to voice any concerns about snow removal, grounds issues and physical improvement possibilities.
8. Each semester several students with disabilities create a newsletter which promotes disability awareness programs and highlights the accomplishments of fellow students with disabilities. The newsletter is available at the CSD, HREO and various other locations on main campus.
9. The University hosted the 2nd Annual Rick Hansen Wheels in Motion event for the Guelph area. This event involved participants who wheeled, biked, skated, walked or ran a two or five kilometre route through the University of Guelph campus. Half of the net proceeds from the event were returned to Guelph to assist individuals with equipment needs, recreation and other initiatives that enhance the quality of life of those with spinal cord injuries (SCI) . The other half has been committed to spinal cord research. Three departments challenged one another, which assisted the awareness and money-raising components of this event. A University employee is the Chair for the Guelph event.

5.3 Information Resources and Adaptive Technology

This section of the accessibility plan focuses on initiatives taken at the University to create an accessible environment for persons with disabilities through technology. The following initiatives occurred in 2004 /2005 :

1. Using funding from the CAC and the Student Life Enhancement Fund, the CSD has arranged for the installation of Gentner listening devices in 11 classrooms on campus that have 100 seats or more and that already have P.A. systems. It is hoped that 10 more classrooms can be retrofitted with these listening devices. Currently, this technology is being used by 26 students with hearing impairments on campus.
2. The LCSD replaced two of its scanners this semester. The scanners, HP Scanjet 8200's, were chosen because of their compatibility with Kurzweil software. The LCSD has upgraded its versions of Kurzweil 3000, TextHELP Read & Write, Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred, Jaws, Kurzweil 1000 and Zoomtext. A networked-based version of Jaws was purchased and should enable the LCSD to bring screen reader functionality to a much larger portion of the Library’s computers.
3. A joint provincial college/university listserv was created that focuses on accessibility and policy issues arising from the implementation of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act. The moderator of this list and director of disability services at Cambrian College’s Glenn Crombie Centre, Susan Alcorn MacKay, is to be commended for readily agreeing to open a pre-existing college listserv on ODA implementation to university participation. IRAT will continue to consider how to encourage participation by university ODA committees in this listserv, which can be joined by e-mailing Susan MacKay at: SAMACKAY@cambrianc.on.ca
4. A need was identified in the 2004 -2005 accessibility plan for the development and implementation of a model to provide adaptive technology support for faculty and staff members who use adaptive software in the course of their workday. A proposal for addressing this need was presented to the ISC which is responsible for recommending policy and strategic direction in the provision and use of information services in support of the teaching, learning, research, service and administrative missions of the University. A support program has now been instituted and an adaptive software support page for faculty and staff has been created that describes the program,  provides links to the support pages of adaptive software manufacturers and describes the new campus adaptive software support listserv: http://www.lib.uoguelph.ca/services_for/students_with_disabilities/Support.html

   The University's CCS website also provides a link to these adaptive software support resources on their First Visit for Faculty and Staff page: http://www.uoguelph.ca/ccs/first/facstaff.shtml. Monitoring of the effectiveness of the plan will continue.

5. The University is in the process of developing a web portal. The development of the portal is being monitored and suggestions are being collected on how it could be used to improve access to University information for differently-abled individuals. Communication with the portal implementation management team is ongoing and accessibility issues are receiving a high priority. A member of the team will be joining APDAC to facilitate liaison.

   Accessibility of the portal is being facilitated by recent enhancements by the vendor of the portal software and an ongoing program with the vendor will ensure new releases comply with accessibility guidelines.

   Additionally, the portal technology will be leveraged to take advantage of opportunities to optimise information accessibility for persons with disabilities. The Information Services Group (ISG – a subcommittee of the portal management group) will be encouraged to identify opportunities as new portal services and content are developed. Liaison between APDAC and the portal management group will be ongoing to ensure implementation does not introduce barriers.

6. Meetings between IRAT, the ISC, CCS and the University’s website manager to discuss the concept of an “official” website, web publishing guidelines and the creation of standard templates that meet W3C guidelines are ongoing. A workable definition of what constitutes an “official” website is that the University’s web design guidelines, which include accessibility standards, should be followed, with guidance from the University website manager as necessary, for all sites developed in association with the University’s programs and services and to which members of the University community (staff, students and faculty) or members of the general public may need to refer when accessing the University’s programs and services. In support of this concept, ISC will be asked to recommend that conformity with the University's web design guidelines, and any additions thereto, be required for all such sites.
7. The philosophy that professional web design is synonymous with accessible web design will be promoted by the University’s official endorsement of the campus web design guidelines, which include accessibility standards, by adoption of authoring tools (see below) including promoting the use of content editors, by encouraging referrals to the website manager for guidance, and by promoting the use of professionally designed templates in the development of web pages and websites.
8. The University has committed to the acquisition of site licenses for Macromedia Contribute and for the Web Publishing System. These packages will be supported at campus level and will be used in the ongoing development and maintenance of web media on campus. Part of this initiative will involve the development of standardised templates, through which accessibility can be ensured and publication of content in alternate formats facilitated. The University will be offering workshops on the use of Macromedia Contribute during the summer and is planning ongoing training opportunities for those responsible for website maintenance.
9. A working group has been struck by the ISC to review current policy and practice concerning the media and formats in which information is released and disseminated by the University in order to ensure full accessibility and to report back to them. The group has been asked to identify issues and opportunities involved in making all information released by the University available in multiple formats. The horizon for this group to report back to the ISC is September 2005.

5.4 Academic and Non-Academic Student Support Services

This section of the accessibility plan focuses on initiatives to address support services as they impact on students with disabilities and the community as a whole. The following initiatives occurred in 2004 /2005 :

Academic Initiatives

1. The University recognised the value of UID principles as a means of enhancing the accessibility of courses and programs in the 2003 -2004 accessibility plan. The ANSS working group has continued to promote the adoption of UID on campus by placing the principles before the provost for her consideration. The provost has requested that  TSS provide guidance on mechanisms, opportunities and requirements (including resource issues) associated with the introduction of UID at campus level. Work on this initiative is well advanced and includes the rewriting of a number of support documents in support of this  initiative. It is anticipated that the initiative will be placed before the Senate Committee on Open Learning, Board of Graduate Studies and Board of Undergraduate Studies this fall.

   While preparing their response to the provost’s request, TSS continues to incorporate UID principles into its everyday practices. The department uses UID to create workshops and resources, both in terms of content and delivery. TSS staff conducted approximately 85 workshops throughout the year to support teaching at the University. They also worked with faculty and provided resources to help incorporate UID principles into selected courses. In particular, the technology-related workshops offered (e.g. , WebCT, Photoshop, digital images, video) all serve to help faculty provide their students with material in multiple formats. A staff member in TSS participated as a speaker in an off-campus workshop organized by the provincial government on UID.

2. The CSD provides support to undergraduate and graduate students with permanent and temporary disabilities. The Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities and the University of Guelph provide funding. In 2004 /2005 , 766 students were seen and supported by the CSD, representing 4.25 % of the student population. The largest group among these continues to be in the LD/ADHD category, but the greatest percentage increase involves students with psychological and psychiatric disabilities. In addition to its ongoing core activities (see Appendix IV) ,  the following new initiatives were undertaken in the current reporting year:
   1. In order to support graduate admissions for students with special needs and at the same time protect their privacy, a graduate student profile form was developed. Completed forms go from the applicant directly to the CSD, allowing the CSD to consult with the Faculty of Graduate Studies in supporting students with disabilities.
   2. The CSD offers a wide range of supports and accommodations for students with disabilities. A number of these services have been restructured in an attempt to meet students’ need more effectively by reallocating resources. For example, the note taking service has been changed to foster the students’ independence and sense of responsibility. The exam process has been altered to deliver exam accommodations more appropriately. Staff resources have been reallocated to support the growing number of students with psychological disabilities.
   3. A comprehensive evaluation was conducted during this reporting period to evaluate the services of the CSD, producing positive and useful feedback.
   4. Balance and mental health have been promoted by introducing free arts workshops, available to all students who access support from the CSD or the Counselling Unit. The objective is to promote student independence and foster development of skills that allow students to transition smoothly throughout their university experience.
   5. This past year, the CSD has increased its services and improved programs in the following manner:
      • revised and simplified its registration and examination process (see also 5.4. (b) .ii. , 6.4. (a) ;
      • streamlined note taking services to reduce the time frame within which students receive their notes and promote a service that emphasises student independence;
      • updated the CSD website to ensure all information is accessible with any type of screen reader or other adaptive technology. Most forms were added to the website for students to download and submit.
      • involved CSD staff in the design and implementation of all programs designed for potential students attending in the Fall 2005 semester.
    
3. In September 2004 , the LCSD launched a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) , digital recorder and MP3 player loan program. The program, funded with grant money from the Student Life Enhancement Fund, was created in response to student interest in testing this equipment before making a purchase. The MP3 player will be used to listen to course readings in MP3 format.
4. Teaching Support Services
   1. TSS continues with the UID project through promotion of barrier free course and curriculum design. It has also developed online materials and provides UID resources through its website: http://www.tss.uoguelph.ca/projects/uid/index.html. Information on UID has been provided for teaching assistants in the TA Survival Guide. Arising out of its research on UID, the department has developed measurement instruments to help assess the impact of UID on student learning.
   2. In addition to pedagogical guidance, TSS has developed a series of practical workshops on topics including:
      • best practices for WebCT;
      • website accessibility;
      • proper document structure for screen readers (Jaws) ;
      • navigation aides and advanced organizers. (see section 5.2 )
   3. TSS has also developed a handbook that provides advice to faculty around accommodating students with LD: http://www.tss.uoguelph.ca/trc/lophandbook.pdf.
5. Office of Open Learning
   1. To better accommodate the needs of learners, including persons with disabilities, the OOL has established goals to promote the following in distance education courses:
      • exploration of improved methods of making online course materials readable by screen reading, text enlargement and voice synthesization software;
      • provision of course websites that make content more accessible through use of explanatory alt tags and captions for images, illustrations, charts;
      • production and increased use of captioned videos,  providing both audio and text captions;
      • development of a better understanding of available adaptive technologies and how they can be used to provide better services to all distance learners.
   2. Although the OOL’s distance education courses already incorporate most of the methods associated with UID, policies developed by the OOL further strengthen compliance with UID principles and promote compliance with established accessibility guidelines, notably web accessibility.
   3. In February 2005 , eight OOL staff responsible for the development and implementation of continuing professional education courses participated in a workshop on UID. In continuing education courses OOL continues to accommodate specific accessibility needs on an as needed basis.
   4. All OOL marketing websites have been reviewed for compliance with W3C guidelines (priority one level) . A plan was created to complete necessary changes, which are underway.
6. Student Life Enhancement Fund

   The Student Life Enhancement Fund is administered by the Student Support Services Fees Committee through the Office of the Provost. The fund provided the HREO with $2 ,400.00 to create a disability awareness campaign. This campaign was designed to create awareness of the abilities and capacity for success of persons with disabilities in the University community. Campaign materials and events included posters, brochures, workshops and a speaking engagement with Paralympic and Olympic athlete Jeff Adams.

   The fund also provided financial support to:

   • the Accessibility Awareness Week Committee to carry out its awareness and fundraising activities which included speaking engagements, simulation exercises, a wheelchair basketball game and a silent auction;
   • the CSD for the purchase of a three wheel scooter to loan to students;
   • the CSD to install Gentner transmitters in a number of classrooms;
   • the Women's Resource Centre to offset some of the costs of making the space accessible to students in wheelchairs.
7. In the Winter 2005 semester, the Faculty of Graduate Studies hosted a workshop for graduate coordinators and graduate secretaries on the topic of "Working with Students with Disabilities". The workshop included presentations from the HREO and the CSD. A similar training session for graduate program services staff is scheduled for Fall 2005.

Non-Academic Initiatives

1. In its 2003 -2004 accessibility plan the University recognised the value of UD principles as a means of enhancing the accessibility of non-academic student support services. This past year, members of APDAC met with the management of non-academic units on campus including Student Housing Services, Athletics, the Counseling and Student Development Centre, and Student Life and Career Services to discuss the principles of UD. Arising from this meeting, Student Affairs is preparing guidelines on accessibility issues not specific to physical space (e.g. , signage, service at support desks, see section 6.4 ) .
2. The 2003 -2004 accessibility plan identified the need for plain language versions of major campus policies, and/or plain language user's guides for these policies. As part of the process to evaluate this need, ANSS has identified good examples of plain language policies and user’s guides. After evaluating these documents ANSS concluded that user's guides are preferable to policy revisions at this stage. The initiative to promote plain language is being supported by the University’s ISC, which will participate in the authoring of documents written in plain language and will promote the use of plain language in all communications.
3. Work was started on a new digital map of the main campus. The CSD was consulted to identify proper signage for accessible parking and all accessible entrances with security services.
4. Centre for Students with Disabilities
   1. The CSD loaned mobility aids to students requiring this type of service on a short or long term basis, and purchased a new three wheel scooter with funding provided by the Student Life Enhancement Fund.
   2. A CSD staff member worked with hospitality services on an as-needed basis to address equipment assessment and rental referrals.
   3. Two CSD staff joined the Orientation Week Advisory Council to ensure orientation programs are fully accessible. The CSD designed and planned orientation events, including a new student welcome and events that offer a more relaxed and quiet environment.
   4. The CSD supplied the Grounds Department with a comprehensive list of snow removal priority routes in order to facilitate access by students and staff with disabilities to required buildings.
5. The Department of Athletics
   1. The Department of Athletics weight room had limited access to students using mobility devices after working hours as the elevator required to access the weight room located in the Powell building was locked after business hours. Arrangements have been made between Health Services and Athletics to ensure access to users who need to use the Powell Building lift to access athletics facilities when the Powell Building is locked.. This is a temporary solution. The department will be moving to a swipe-card access. Once this is in place, students will be able to gain entry using their identification card, and will no longer need to get keys.
   2. The University’s Recreational Equity Club promotes access to athletic facilities by providing expert advice for participants with disabilities and volunteer support to engage in physical activity. Approximately half of Recreational Equity Club participants are students and half are faculty or staff. The volunteers that run the club are all students.
   3. The department holds aquatics classes for persons with arthritis and fibromyalgia.
6. Student Health Services

   Student Health Services provides on-campus comprehensive health care to all students and their immediate families. For students with challenging medical conditions, whether acute or chronic, access to medical, psychiatric, and health services is an essential support in maintenance of the personal wellbeing necessary for academic success. Continuance of medical care is provided for those with chronic conditions to facilitate their access to the University’s programs and to ensure a prompt medical response and avoid lengthy interruptions to academic studies. For students with temporary medical conditions or disabilities, the clinic offers physician and nursing services that address short term needs such as wound care following surgery or injury. These services enable students to return to school quickly while recovering. Student Health Services has continued to enhance client accessibility through extended hours of operation, accessible facilities, and expanded services including a walk-in clinic, laboratory services and allergy and immunization clinics. Any student with special needs is encouraged to discuss their personal health requirements so that accommodations can be arranged.

5.5 Human Resources Initiatives for Faculty and Staff

This section of the accessibility plan focuses on human resources initiatives to address support services as they impact on faculty and staff with disabilities and the community as a whole. The following initiatives occurred in 2004 /2005 :

1. In 2003 -2004 , APDAC had no staff representatives and only one faculty representative. In order to ensure that all groups on campus are appropriately represented and APDAC’s effectiveness optimized, the committee recruited two staff representatives and continues to seek increased faculty representation. Two additional student representatives have also been appointed.
2. In 2003 -2004 , APDAC had no representatives from the University’s regional colleges. In order to ensure broad participation and input from all campus units, a representative from each regional college was appointed to the committee.
3. The University has a central employment accommodation fund which was increased this year to $20,000. University departments or individuals can consult with the HREO when developing proposals for accommodation, and explore entitlement to any accommodation items or services through other programs such as the Assistive Devices Program and the Ontario Disability Support Program. Requests for funding are accepted throughout the year. For more information on the employment accommodation fund visit its website: http://www.uoguelph.ca/hre/disability/dis_employment.shtml

   Examples of accommodations funded during the 2004 -2005 fiscal year include: peer helper support for a visually impaired staff member doing library research; accessibility modifications to a van; purchase of hearing aids; purchase of an ergonomic chair; provision of American Sign Language interpretation services; scooter repairs, counselling sessions; and, lowering light switches.

4. Since 1991 the University has received an annual grant, The Women's Campus Safety Initiatives (WCSI) grant, of $50,000 from the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. The purpose of these monies is to  promote the safety of women on campus. The grant, through the WCSI Committee and the HREO, has also been used to address some of the University community’s accessibility needs. Examples of accessibility related disbursements during the 2004 -2005 fiscal year include the purchase of video resources on disability issues for the Women’s Resource Centre, lowering of light switches at the Women’s Resource Centre, the purchase of resources on cognitive behaviour therapy for the CSD, and funding for training and education on human rights and equity issues including disability accommodation. For more information visit the WCSI website: http://www.uoguelph.ca/hre/WCSI.htmhttp://www.uoguelph.ca/hre/saftey.shtml.
5. The 2004 -2005 accessibility plan recommended the formation of an advisory panel to make determinations about departmental and individual requests to purchase assistive devices and to assist managers with workplace accommodation and return-to-work matters. This recommendation was put before the Assistant Vice-President (Human Resources) last year and is an element in a review of employee accommodation presently being undertaken by the new AVP (see 6.5.b) .
6. The 2004 -2005 accessibility plan recommended that the University’s Human Resources department take the opportunity in upcoming negotiations with employee groups to identify clauses that might offer barriers to accessibility and attempt to eliminate those barriers by including permissive language, where possible. This recommendation was put before the Assistant Vice-President (Human Resources) last year. It has now been restated and presented as an ongoing initiative to the new AVP (see 6.5.d) .

6. Accessibility Plan for 2005 - 2006

6.1 Physical Facilities

This section of the accessibility plan explores ways that the University intends to address current barriers and prevent future barriers in the physical environment which may limit universal access. The following list outlines the University’s plan to address these barriers in 2005 -2006: 

1. The library management and the CAC will review the results of the physical accessibility audit of the McLaughlin Library and determine next steps. For more information on the CAC, visit the following website: www.counselling.uoguelph.ca/csd/committee.shtml
2. The CAC will continue its primary activities:
   • analysis of  all major new construction projects to ensure accessibility features are built into the design, the equipping of the buildings and the design of their environs;
   • analysis of all renovation projects to ensure accessibility requirements are addressed in the design to the fullest extent possible, and that the equipping of buildings and design of their environs take advantage of opportunities to enhance accessibility.
3. The CAC will continue to submit calls to the University community for accessibility related construction projects, will assess and prioritize these requests according to impact and fiscal possibility, and will recommend to Physical Resources which specific projects should be funded from the University's facility renewal funds or other resources.
4. Physical Resources is examining whether the new CSA standard B651 -04 , Accessible Design for the Built Environment, can be applied to campus projects and to what extent it needs amendment or supplementing to suit our particular needs. This will facilitate the development and recommendation to the University of building standards to address physical accessibility on campus.

6.2 Awareness and Outreach

As described in the Government of Ontario’s Annual Guide to Accessibility Planning, "Many people with disabilities identify attitude as the major barrier they encounter. People with disabilities experience attitudinal barriers as stigma and prejudice. Attitudinal barriers, when unchallenged, serve to legitimize discrimination. " (www.gov.on.ca/citizenship/accessibility/index.html)

This section of the accessibility plan focuses on addressing attitudinal barriers as they impact on people with disabilities and the community as a whole. The following list outlines the University’s plan to address these barriers in 2005 -2006:

1. Despite an unprecedented level of activity in the area of accessibility initiatives and planning and the creation of an extensive website, APDAC has not been successful to date in achieving broad community awareness of the committee‘s existence and activities, or of the resources available on campus to address accessibility issues. Similarly, the campus community in general and the disabled community in particular is not adequately aware of the role the committee can play in identifying and addressing accessibility issues. Accordingly, promoting campus community awareness of APDAC and its working groups, of the resources available on campus and in the broader community, and of applicable legislation will be a primary goal for the committee in 2005 - 2006.
2. The CSD will take a leadership role in Accessibility Awareness Week by providing strong resource support for this important student initiative.
3. The CSD will introduce new programs to raise awareness, including “Learning Lunches” for students and increased faculty training.
4. The CSD will continue to offer the University's Pre-Flight Program, a week-long, on-site summer preparation program for students with learning disabilities and open to all current high school students who plan to attend any Ontario university in Fall 2005.
5. The CSD, the HREO and TSS will continue their education and awareness activities addressing disability, accessibility and accommodations:
   1. The CSD intends to continue its education and awareness workshops on disability and accommodation for persons with disabilities for University students, staff and faculty. (see section 5.2 (a) (i) )
   2. The HREO intends to continue and expand workshops that include or specifically address accessibility and disability issues, particularly those that target faculty, managers, and others with supervisory responsibilities. (see section 5.2 (a) (ii) )
   3. Diverse Abilities, Infinite Possibilities, the disability awareness campaign launched by the HREO, will continue in the 2005 -2006 academic year. (See section 5.2 (d) )

   APDAC recommends that the University provide support for these activities.

6. The HREO and the website manager will continue to develop and refine the accessibility website: www.uoguelph.ca/accessibility. APDAC will provide feedback on the website content and format.
7. Building on the success of the 2005 Accessibility Awareness Week, the AO working group will strategise to enhance the profile of this week and expand on the activities carried out.
8. APDAC will explore the establishment of accessibility awards for faculty, staff and students who contribute to identifying, removing and preventing barriers for persons with disabilities. The AO working group will discuss the steps necessary to create and implement such an award.
9. The AO working group of APDAC will promote an accessibility tour of University facilities and services to be held during  Accessibility Awareness Week

6.3 Information Resources and Adaptive Technology

This section of the accessibility plan focuses on current University plans to create an accessible environment for persons with disabilities through use of technology. The following list outlines the University's 2005 -2006 plan to address the technological environment:

1. The LCSD co-ordinator will undertake accessibility testing of the Macintosh computer platform, and specifically the utility of the VoiceOver screen reading program built into OS 10.4.
2. The development of a campus project involving video captioning will be promoted in order to raise awareness regarding multimedia accessibility and to gain first-hand knowledge of the technical and copyright issues involved.
3. Monitoring of the development of the campus web portal will continue and will include the collection of suggestions on how the portal could be used to enhance access to University information for differently-abled individuals.
4. The creation of paid student Jaws-user positions to do accessibility/usability checks on campus web resources will be promoted.
5. Investigation will continue of the feasibility of bulk purchasing arrangements for adaptive software at a regional or province-wide level in order to reduce the cost of this software for both institutional and individual users.
6. Technologies that could be employed to improve campus wayfaring for people with disabilities and that might be incorporated into the development of accessible, web-based maps will be explored and the findings made available to the PA and ANSS working groups, the University website manager and CCS.
7. To ensure awareness of emerging technologies with implications for the learning environment and the provision of accessibility support, an annual retreat with IRAT, ISC, representatives from CCS, the OOL and TSS will be arranged.
8. A recommendation will be made to the ISC that an institution-wide policy be created for the provision of adaptive technology and software support to students with disabilities. This policy should include solutions for the following concerns:
   1. Students who require the software need access to a current version of Jaws screen reading software for accessing critical services such as the University's web portal both on campus and at home.
   2. Adaptive software and associated hardware (e.g. scanners) need to be available to provide information access on computers across campus in areas such as teaching laboratories and computer pools.
   3. The adaptive software programs that are supported by the University should be identified, and where and how this support is offered should be clarified.
   4. Opportunities to integrate CCS's expertise in the areas of software licensing and support into the campus adaptive software support model should be explored.
   5. Options for providing on-site computer triage services for students with disabilities need to be examined.
9. Concern continues regarding the accessibility of key campus information resources, such as University and College websites, Web Advisor and WebCT. Efforts to ensure these resources are accessible will continue. To this end, focus groups consisting of students, faculty and staff with disabilities will be promoted in order to identify information, accessibility and usability issues.
10. Attention will continue to be focused on adoption by the University of web publishing software to enable the creation of standard templates that meet W3C guidelines.
11. In 2004 -2005 , APDAC put forth recommendations to the ISC. APDAC continues to recommend the following items be acted upon by ISC and that current activities in these areas be accelerated, and policies be developed and applied:
    1. that in support of the adoption of the University‘s published standards for web development, the University set a deadline within which all official (see 5.3.f) University websites be in compliance;
    2. that the University endorse the philosophy that professional web design is synonymous with accessible web design;
    3. that in-house opportunities for campus web developers to receive in-house instruction in accessible web design be made available;
    4. that current policy and practice concerning the media and formats in which information is released and disseminated by the University should be reviewed in order to ensure full accessibility.

6.4 Academic and Non-Academic Student Support Services

This section of the accessibility plan focuses on plans to address support services as they impact on students with disabilities and the community as a whole. The following list outlines the University’s plan for these services in 2005 -2006:

Academic Initiatives

1. Beginning in this academic year, core exam and classroom accommodations for students with disabilities (extra time, use of a computer, scribe or note taker) will be provided without formal approval by faculty. This is a significant change in policy and reflects the fact that many accommodations are now core and acceptable to faculty and need not be negotiated. There are, however, many accommodations that will continue to require discussion with faculty in order to maintain the integrity of the course. Faculty will continue to be consulted on unusual or unique accommodations. This shift in practice is a reflection of the fact that students with disabilities and the service and support provided to them are viewed as very much part of the University’s mandate.
2. Promotion of the adoption of UID principles on campus will continue by supporting the work of TSS and the OOL in this area and by encouraging the advancement of the initiative through the University governance process. TSS have enhanced and updated their UID resources. These will be used to support adoption of the UID principles, which TSS will incorporate into its faculty/sessional Survival Guides. TSS will also offer UID workshops (see section 6.2.a.iii) ) .
3. TSS will develop a set of standards and best practices for WebCT users.
4. Office of Open Learning
   1. i) OOL staff will work toward enhancing accessibility in distance and continuing education courses in the following three ways: increasing awareness, media accessibility and web accessibility.
   2. ii) The OOL will continue to heighten awareness of the issues surrounding accessibility and the challenges faced by learners with disabilities by providing information to non-UofG course developers and instructors. UID will increasingly be implemented for course design which builds in accommodation for those with differing learning styles and/or learning or physical disabilities, in both distance education and continuing education courses.
   3. iii) In the next year, the OOL will implement plans to convert existing videos for distance education courses from VHS to DVD format. With this process, captioning tracks and descriptive video will also be incorporated where possible. It is hoped that all existing videos can be digitized and captioned within the next 12 to 18 months.
   4. iv) Where possible, hard copy course and promotional materials will be made available in alternate formats for web delivery.
   5. v) Throughout the coming year, the OOL will implement changes to existing course and marketing  websites and will develop new approaches to creating websites that will increase web accessibility. The goal is to achieve compliance with W3C guidelines (priority 1 level) . Work on existing and new websites will include:
      • providing equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content;
      • consistent and proper use of markup and style sheets, including ensuring that tables have necessary markup to be transformed by accessible browsers and other user agents;
      • ensuring that website design, navigation and use promote device independence, using features that enable activation of page elements via a variety of input devices;
      • moving away from use of pdf to html content pages;
      • providing alt and descriptive tags for all images used online;
      • providing print and audio captions for images, charts, illustrations, etc. which are  used on course websites;
      • redesigning web pages using templates;
      • ensuring that all new multimedia is accessible or that alternative formats are available.

   The OOL is currently in the process of hiring a Project Manager, Multimedia, whose job, in part, will be to move forward plans to redesign and create websites and multimedia that comply with accessibility guidelines.

Non-Academic Initiatives

1. Student Affairs is preparing guidelines on accessibility issues not specific to physical space (e.g. , signage, service at support desks) . The University of Manitoba's UD Standards are being used as the best practice in developing these guidelines. Once finalized, all Student Affairs managers will be given a copy and urged to incorporate the guidelines into their training programs for staff (full-time and student) . One of the goals will be to use the guidelines with focus groups of student users of programs.
2. Recognition of the importance of plain language and information access will be promoted. Based on ANSS’s conclusion that plain language user's guides are preferable to policy revisions, ANSS will strategise on how to introduce these documents and the process that might be followed and present the results to the Vice-President’s Academic Council.
3. Recognition of the impact of the campus environment on people with disabilities will be promoted. In particular:
   1. CCS will complete an interactive map of campus that will allow users to selectively hide/remove layers of information, including a layer indicating accessible entrances and facilities such as parking spaces and washrooms.
   2. Strategies will be identified to promote a feeling of physical space in a rapidly crowding campus.
   3. Quiet spaces for students will be identified and a process identified to designate these areas.

6.5 Human Resources Initiatives for Faculty and Staff

This section of the accessibility plan focuses on human resources initiatives to address support services as they impact on faculty and staff with disabilities and the community as a whole. The following list outlines the University’s 2005 -2006 plan related to human resources initiatives:

1. In 2004 -2005 , APDAC had only one faculty representative. In order to ensure that all groups on campus are appropriately represented and APDAC’s effectiveness optimized, the committee intends that another faculty member be recruited and appointed to the committee.
2. Accommodation continues to be an important employee retention measure, and the University needs to ensure the accommodation of both current and prospective employees. Therefore, APDAC recommends that the Assistant Vice-President (Human Resources) work with the Director of HREO to develop and articulate a university-wide strategy on responding to the need for accommodation arrangements for employees (faculty and staff) , including temporary return to work arrangements and permanent accommodation arrangements.
3. APDAC recommends that in concert with the development of a strategy on accommodation and return to work, the HREO and the Assistant Vice-President (Human Resources) should review whether or not the current employment accommodation fund of $20,000 per annum is adequate.
4. APDAC recommends that the University’s Human Resources division work with employee groups in established labour/management committee meetings (JCC) to determine whether or not collective agreement provisions exist that may offer barriers to accessibility with a view to eliminating identified barriers, whether through permissive language or other agreed upon means. APDAC further recommends that together with the HREO, Human Resources establish a timeframe within which these discussions can be completed and a report submitted on the outcome.

7. Measures to Assess By-Laws, Policies, Programs, Practices and Services to Determine their Effect on Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities at the University of Guelph

The Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2002 (ODA) , the Act under which this accessibility plan is prepared, requires Universities to take steps toward evaluating their policies, programs, practices and services (PPPS) for accessibility. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) has recently replaced the ODA. The AODA will eventually set very specific standards with respect to PPPS preparation and revision. These standards have not yet been defined in the new legislation, though it is probable that AODA standards will be significantly more rigorous that those under the ODA. Additionally, the AODA establishes penalties for non-compliance with standards, further emphasizing the University’s responsibility to incorporate accessibility in PPPS preparation and review.

The AODA is a multi-year initiative, and change under this legislation will be gradual. While reflecting the spirit of the ODA, the intent in this section of the accessibility plan is to anticipate and prepare for the broad implications of the introduction of more rigorous legislative requirements in accessibility review and planning. The emphasis is thus on strategies that will help the University deal with regulatory change as it continues to enhance the accessibility of its programs and services. Review and revision of PPPS’s is an ongoing process in the University, and it is clear that these reviews need to include a review of accessibility issues. In support of a barrier free institution, to fulfill obligations under legislation, and to provide all members of University community with support in these areas, therefore, the following recommendations are made.

1. APDAC recommends that a start be made on the development of a University-wide, systematic and visible internal procedure to identify, characterize and eliminate barriers in University PPPS’s. Once developed, the procedures should ensure that preparation of new PPPS’s and review/revision of existing PPPS’s include an accessibility review to identify and eliminate barriers. The same accessibility review should also be applied to any PPPS that is the subject of accessibility complaints and to selected PPPS’s that are not ordinarily reviewed on a five-year cycle or less and are not scheduled for review/revision. The mechanisms and procedures by which these latter PPPS’s will be identified should be considered in development of the accessibility review process, with the intention that such targeted reviews be scheduled in advance in each year’s accessibility plan.
2. APDAC recommends that there be two separate PPPS accessibility review processes, one to address non-academic activities, the other to address academic programs.
3. The broad goals of the PPPS accessibility review processes should be:
   • to identify barriers;
   • to ensure, at a minimum, compliance with applicable provincial and federal statutes;
   • to increase awareness of disability issues and of barriers;
   • to assist the University in making its programs, facilities and services accessible;
   • where barriers are identified and their retention is deemed necessary, to support documentation of the basis for that position;
   • to optimise opportunities at the University for persons with disabilities.
4. In anticipation of the development of a review process, APDAC recommends that standard tools be developed to assist and guide accessibility review. APDAC should take a leadership role in the development of these tools, working in collaboration with the HREO, the CSD and other interested units, and anticipates the tools will include a series of questions constructed to guide and inform the review. To optimise the ability of the tools to identify barriers, input should be sought from all members of the University community, particularly persons with disabilities. A University-wide consultation will be conducted before presenting the review process for adoption. The consultation will involve the Senate structure for academic matters and the Office of the Associate Vice-President (Student Affairs) for non-academic matters.
5. APDAC should also take a leadership role in the development of the accessibility review process. The resulting review process should be applied consistently across the University.
6. The University recognises the challenges involved in addressing accessibility issues in academic programs and courses. While it is anticipated that the process will follow the same general steps as in the non-academic sphere, the review of academic PPPS’s should have special characteristics. “Accessibility” needs to be defined in the context of program goals and criteria for admission and successful completion considered. Increasing accessibility creates an opportunity to enrich programs and promote individual opportunity. This must be balanced by careful evaluation of how to ensure the needs of constituents are met and of how to protect the academic integrity of programs. Program-specific issues will need to be identified and resolved.

   The need for accessibility review will therefore initially be placed by APDAC before the key Senate committees (the Board of Undergraduate Studies, the Board of Graduate Studies, and the Senate Committee on Open Learning) for their guidance. APDAC should perform a consultative and resource-related role in these preliminary discussions in conjunction with the CSD and the LCSD.

7. APDAC will start work on the development of the tools in September 2005 , with a working target of September2006 for their completion. The projected horizon for development of the review process is September 2008, with determination by the University of a timetable for subsequent application of the review process to specific University’s PPPS’s to be included in this horizon.

APPENDIX I

Ongoing accessibility initiatives

Through units such as the CSD, the LCSD, Student Health Services, and the CAC, the University addresses the needs of disabled members of the community on a daily basis. Some of these activities do not change in the short term and have been adequately addressed in preceding accessibility plans or on the University's accessibility website; they do not represent new initiatives and are not detailed in the body of this report. However, for those activities that are ongoing but whose level of involvement is subject to change, the current level of involvement is detailed in this section. The intention is to ensure completeness in the accessibility plan without obscuring new initiatives with details of activity in previously reported areas.

Awareness and Outreach

1. CSD Workshops

   Awareness and education workshops addressing accommodation for persons with disabilities are facilitated by the CSD, the HREO, and TSS who work collectively to promote awareness and education. CSD peers and staff provided approximately 50 awareness workshops throughout the year including:

   1. 6 training workshops for on-campus student leaders (including Start Leaders) ;
   2. 15 training workshops for residence life staff, Campus Safe Walk, First Aid Response Team, campus liaison and other student service providers on campus;
   3. 3 training workshops for staff and faculty including program counsellors, new faculty, specific academic programs, security services, athletic centre staff;
   4. 6 training workshops for proctors, scribes and readers to assist students with exams each semester;
   5. 5 learning disabilities workshops presented by the CSD learning disabilities strategist;
   6. The director of the Counselling and Student Development Centre held 22 workshops with deans, faculty and staff to discuss CSD services.

   The CSD's peer helper supervisor and trained peer helpers also presented workshops to staff that assist in education and awareness on accommodation for persons with disabilities upon request.

2. HREO Workshops

   The HREO conducted awareness and education workshops throughout the year. These workshops were attended by over 1 ,700 students, staff and faculty. The workshops included:

   1. 19 search committee training sessions (faculty and chairs) ; 
   2. 6 supervisor training sessions;
   3. 30 staff training sessions;
   4. 12 committee and council orientations;
   5. 1 professional development workshop;
   6. 5 student group/organization workshops;
   7. 4 regional college training and orientation sessions.

CSD Caseload

In the 2004 /2005 academic year, 766 students registered with the CSD. Support to students included:

• assistance with the admission process
• assistance with arranging appropriate on-campus housing
• orientation to campus and to CSD services for new students
• individual support in the  form of counselling, customized learning strategies and academic  accommodations from a CSD advisor
• classroom supports such as assistance accessing notes and campus resources; facilitating support from faculty; accessing ASL/oral interpreters
• examination supports such as extra time; quieter space; access to assistive technology, scribes and/or readers
• screening and referrals for students who suspect that they may have a learning disability
• assistance with individual parking needs.

Pre-flight Summer Preparation Program for Students with Learning Disabilities

Pre-flight is a week-long, on-site summer preparation program for students with learning disabilities and is open to all current high school students who plan to attend any Ontario university in fall 2005. The program affords candidates the opportunity to get prepared for life as an undergraduate student, including the opportunity to live in residence, find out about campus resources, learn to use adaptive technology, find out what to expect at university, experience life on campus, learn effective academic strategies, learn about themselves, and meet other new students. Students are required to complete an application for the Pre-Flight program, which is free of charge to accepted students and includes residence accommodations, access to the library, computer labs with assistive technology, and course materials. Participants are responsible for the costs of travel, some meals and social activities. The program is funded by the Learning Opportunities Task Force, Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities.

Student Sign Language Club

The University has a student based Sign Language Club that promotes awareness of deaf and hard of hearing culture. The Central Student Association subsidizes this club which offers intermediate and advanced ASL courses to staff and students at no cost. Information about this club can be found at their website: http://www.uoguelph.ca/~sign/information/thesignclub/.

The LCSD

The LCSD offers three main services to students who are registered with the CSD:

• Adaptive Technology: The LCSD provides access to, and training in the use of adaptive software (e.g. , screen reading, text magnification, scanning/reading, writing support and concept mapping software) and technology. Three of the Centre’s seven computers are on motorized, height-adjustable tables.
• Reference Help:  The LCSD provides students with instruction in how to use the Library’s TRELLIS catalogue and journal indexes. Students can also receive intensive, one-on-one reference support.
• Alternate-Format Text Services:   The LCSD provides course-related texts and research material in alternate formats (e.g. electronic text, Braille, tapes or MP3 's) for students with print disabilities.

Other services include retrieval of books and articles from the Library’s stacks and reserve area, locker loans and 4 -track tape player loans. The LCSD Coordinator also acts as a resource for students who are interested in purchasing adaptive technology, computers or peripherals, as well as for faculty and staff who are interested in accessibility issues relating to technology.

In July 2004 and July 2005 , the LCSD Coordinator took part in the Pre-Flight program by introducing participants to adaptive software programs and providing instruction on how to incorporate adaptive software into a variety of learning strategies. Useful hardware and peripherals like digital recorders, personal digital assistants and tablet PCs were also demonstrated.

Each fall, the LCSD Coordinator also participates in the PSYCH 1300 Learning Disabilities - Experience to Understanding course. This is a first year course offered through the CSD and the Psychology Department. Enrollment is limited to students who have a clearly diagnosed learning disability and are approved by the CSD’s Learning Disabilities specialist. The course focuses on learning disabilities and strategies. The LCSD Coordinator provides library instruction sessions, an introductory lecture on adaptive software and leads a hands-on adaptive software workshop.

Additional Non-Academic Supports

Additional non-academic supports provided by various administrative units across the University include:

• parking accommodation;
• meal plan and on-campus food accommodation;
• assistance with meals on campus;
• residence priority for room selection;
• workshops that promote balance e.g. Free Arts Workshops;
• disability awareness training for non-academic units such as Housing and Athletics;
• sighted guiding for students with vision disability;
• specialized campus tours for students with disabilities;
• provision of non-academic information in alternative format;
• employment information and work placement support for students with disabilities;
• social events for students with disabilities;
• assistance with locating community resources such as housing and attendant care;
• working with orientation committees to provide accessible orientation.

APPENDIX II

  Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities Advisory Committee Mandate

In striving to create an environment that supports the ability of all community members to live, work and study on campus, the University of Guelph recognizes the particular and diverse needs of persons with disabilities, and endeavours to provide services and facilities that meet those needs. Reporting to the President, it is the responsibility of the Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities Advisory Committee to monitor and advise on the development and implementation of the University’s annual plan to address accessibility for persons with disabilities and to promote awareness of the plan so that it can guide decisions affecting the University’s operations.

The University of Guelph is guided by the definitions of “disability” and “barrier” found in the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, and is concerned with issues and circumstances that constrain access to the University, its programs and services. Consistent with the values and principles in the University’s Human Rights Policy, the University is also concerned with the development of educational initiatives that will address subjective perceptions and misconceptions and that will contribute to the University community’s overall ability to create a welcoming environment for persons with disabilities.

Broad Goals of the Committee

1. To identify and create mechanisms and channels whereby information on disability issues is continuously gathered, assessed and acted upon, and the University community advised of measures already in place.
2. To foster the identification and promotion of opportunities whereby disability issues can be kept before the University community so as to cultivate awareness.
3. To seek out and promote opportunities whereby the principles of UD can be applied in the course of addressing accessibility, with the intent that persons with disabilities be recognised as members of a continuum of abilities rather than as a distinct and separate group.
4. To promote development of policies whereby issues of accessibility for persons with disabilities are implicitly as well as explicitly addressed in all University endeavours.

Specific Duties of the Committee

In advising on the development of the University’s annual plan to address accessibility for persons with disabilities, the Advisory Committee will:

1. Consult regularly with faculty, staff and students, and particularly those with disabilities, to identify barriers on campus;
2. Recommend to the President’s Advisory Council (PAC) measures to be used for the review of the University’s by-laws, policies, programs, practices and services to determine their impact on accessibility for persons with disabilities and prepare an ongoing plan for the review of by-laws, policies, programs, practices and services. Where possible, the advisory committee should benefit from and build upon the work done in various other related University committees and initiatives, such as those associated with the Employment Equity Plan, the services of the CSD, and the work of the Advisory Committee on Physical Accessibility;
3. Prepare an annual report to be presented to the President that will form the basis for the University’s annual plan to address accessibility for persons with disabilities. The report will focus on the identification, removal and prevention of barriers to persons with disabilities at the University of Guelph, give an update on progress the University has made in the preceding year in removing barriers, and provide advice on the University’s ongoing need to be in compliance with the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001.

The University’s HREO will take a co-coordinating role to support the work of the Advisory Committee, providing it with a secretariat and guidance on how to access information and resources to carry out its responsibilities. The HREO will assist the Advisory Committee with the identification of resource people who can be invited to provide specialized expertise and attend meetings for background briefings as appropriate.

APPENDIX III

Principles of Universal Design

Principles of Universal Design  (© 1997 NC State University, Centre for UD1 )

Designs should:

1. Be useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities - equitable use.
2. Accommodate a wide range of individual preferences and abilities - flexibility in use.
3. Be easy to understand, regardless of the user’s experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level - simple and intuitive use.
4. Communicate necessary information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions for the user’s sensory abilities - perceptible information.
5. Minimize hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions - tolerance for error.
6. Be used efficiently and comfortably and with a minimum of fatigue - low physical effort.
7. Provide appropriate space for approach, reach, manipulation, and use regardless of user’s body size, posture or mobility - size and space for approach and use.

APPENDIX IV

Principles of Universal Instructional Design

Instructional materials and activities should:

1. Be accessible and fair.
2. Provide flexibility in use, participation and presentation.
3. Be straightforward and consistent.
4. Be explicitly presented and readily perceived.
5. Provide a supportive learning environment.
6. Minimize unnecessary physical effort or requirements.
7. Ensure a learning space that accommodates both students and instructional methods.

Further information on these principles can be found at:

http://www.tss.uoguelph.ca/uid/index.html, including examples of the translation of the principles for different teaching and learning roles.

APPENDIX V

Consolidated List of Website Addresses

• Ontario. Guide to Accessibility Planning
• Ontario. Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005
• Student Sign Language Club
• Susan MacKay, moderator of joint college/university accessibility listserv
• University of Guelph. Campus Accessibility Committee
• University of Guelph. First Visit for Faculty and Staff
• University Of Guelph. Teaching Support Services. Universal Instructional Design
• University of Guelph. Teaching Support Services. Handbook for Faculty on Disability Issues
• University of Guelph. Library. Adaptive Software Support
• University of Guelph. Employment Accomodation Fund
• University of Guelph. Accessibility
• University of Guelph. Women’s Campus Safety Initiatives

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¹ The Centre for UD (1997) The Principles of Universal Design, Version 2.0. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina State University.

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