Aviva Insurance Community Fund - Fund Raiser for Accessibility

Oct. 10, 2010 - PRLog -- A proposal to establish the AccessAbility Training Centre was submitted to Aviva Insurance - Community Fund on October 5, 2010 in order to raise partial funds needed to develop new educational programs for schools that provide necessary instruction to deliver accredited barrier free design certification through the Ministry of Colleges and Universities’ Apprenticeship Program, developed in accordance with Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Built Environments Standards.

The general public is being urged to share support by registering and voting - Support Accessibility Training by voting at the Aviva website http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf5898

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe-vsV7B1LE




The Need for an Accessibility Training Program:

The AODA ushered in a new era that will culminate in requiring all built environments across Ontario to be barrier free by 2025. Public spaces from parks to courts, hospitals to schools, commercial business spaces and housing will become accessible to the 1.67 million persons with disabilities. Those with mobility issues, hard of hearing/no hearing, low vision/no vision and those of short stature, will be able to fully participate in the community from which previously they had been excluded.

In order to accomplish the AODA mandate, there is a need to understand and have a working knowledge of the requirements of the AODA. This is where the AccessAbility Training Centre will come into the picture because it will be staffed by professionals that have experience in barrier free design and construction methods, who will be responsible for leading the curriculum development and training.

For those businesses and individuals who wish to become certified in barrier free design through the Ministry of Colleges and Universities’ Apprenticeship Program, the AccessAbility Training Programs will provide the training necessary to achieve this goal.

Moreover, the AccessAbility Training Program partners will proactively promote accessibility through education & awareness programs and share knowledge to enhance existing barrier free standards. This is an essential component to accommodate the rapidly growing aging population.

The need for a new approach for building trades people can best be illustrated by a true account. Recently, a man had acquired a grant from a federal funding body to modify his bathroom into a wet room so he could access a shower independently using a wheelchair. The funder required three separate quotes from different contractors to do the work. The first two contractors knew how to install a roll-in shower, but had little expertise in modifications for people with disabilities. They did all sorts of measurements and came up with a plan to renovate his existing bathroom. The third contractor was familiar with the standards needed to create a barrier free wet room because his company exclusively retrofits environments so that they are accessible to people with various disabilities. Within several minutes he ascertained that the existing bathroom could not be modified because the corridor leading to it was far too narrow to accommodate his wheelchair. He was able to design an entirely new wet room that conformed to the built environment standards. It was fortunate that the client in this situation had a contractor with the knowledge, expertise and creativity to adequately meet the needs of the client and truly develop a barrier free wet room that conforms to the standards set out by the AODA committee. This example illustrates how essential it is that trades people change their approach in barrier free design.

Thank you for reading. For more information, please visit our website at www.accessabilitytraining.org and kindly pass our information on to others.

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The mission of the AccessAbility Training Centre is to educate and provide practical learning experiences for building and trade professionals to be certified experts in creating residential and commercial barrier free spaces.