City of Kingston

Mr. Ochej provided an overview of the report, highlighting that the report was divided into two sections. He noted that the first section included dense legal wording and the second section focused on the best practices and implementation of City policy to reach the requirements under the provincial legislation. He added that this policy is to ensure the City of Kingston meets the minimum standards regarding accessibility legislation and does not preclude the City from going above and beyond to reach the highest level of accessibility and inclusion possible. He stated that it is staff's intention to develop a training program that will focus on best practices and customer service. 

Ms. Quin complimented the formatting of the new policy, noting that it's more referenceable than the previous policy. 

There were no other comments from the Committee. 

The Chair provided an opportunity for members of the public to speak. There were no members of the public present.

Mr. Ochej provided an overview of the report, highlighting the increase in statistics regarding accessibility inquiries. He noted parking and recreation facilities as two of the city services that have seen the largest increase in reporting barriers that exist. He stated that it is important that these barriers are being reported so that they can be addressed and added that the increasing numbers indicate there is still work that needs to be done. He added that the Accessibility Features Map is now available on the City of Kingston website.

Ms. Quin inquired about the functionality of the forward-facing interactive map. She noted that when the map is zoomed-out, it can be difficult to see all of the features. She asked if features could be grouped contextually so that certain categories could be selected and unselected for ease of viewing and reading. Mr. Ochej stated that could be opportunities to build in filters and layers. He added that he would provide an update in the next quarterly report.

Ms. Brown noted a lack of features outside of the downtown area on the Accessibility Features Map. She inquired about the reasoning for this. She further inquired about the possibility of merging with Access Now. Mr. Ochej explained that many of the facilities are in the downtown core but added that there would be more updates and that he would be happy to take suggestion from the Committee on additions to the map. He noted that a collaboration with Access Now could be explored.

Ms. Palmer-Nash inquired about the possibility of Committee members assisting with reporting back on accessibility features at facilities outside of the downtown core to add to the map. Mr. Ochej noted this idea for mapping future parks and facilities.

The Chair provided an opportunity for members of the public to speak. There were no members of the public present.