Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
If you had the opportunity to attract clients from a new market the size of the GTA– one you had previously not tapped – would you be interested?
Recent study results from IPS Insights suggest that in Canada, persons with disabilities represent a consumer market of over 6 million people. That is a population roughly the size of the GTA – with estimated disposable income of over $30 billion. Add the consumers who are directly connected to persons with disabilities – family members and friends who recognize and value companies that serve their loved one’s needs well – and the total stakeholder population surges to more than 9 million people, with over $250 billion in estimated disposable income.[1] According to author, Rich Donovan, businesses that ignore this market do so to their own detriment. At the recent Ontario Disability Employment Network (ODEN) conference held in October 2010, Donovan said in his keynote address: “Imagine being the CEO of a company and telling your board that you are not interested in pursuing the GTA market in Canada? Or that as a global company you were going to pass on pursuing a consumer market the size of China? How long do you think your board would let you stay in charge?”
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2005 (AODA) forces the issue of the disabled consumer market to the forefront. By January 2012, every business with 1 or more employees who serve the public must be in compliance with the first part of this act – Customer Service Standards. The public sector was required to comply by January 2011 – which provides business with the opportunity to learn from their experiences and use the next few months as more than a period of becoming compliant. Businesses have the opportunity to really consider the value this perhaps previously untapped market presents and ensure real ROI in terms of customers, revenue and profits from providing better customer service not just to the disabled, but to all.
As a provider of corporate, college and individual training services across the Province, Grade Learning has had integrated campuses and learning environments since 1993. Our experience in training and working with persons with disabilities ensures that we are uniquely qualified to assist companies with their AODA compliance. Our services include:
• Complementary AODA compliance training assessment
• Best practice sharing from the public sector’s experience to assist you in leveraging the compliance process in order to realize real business benefit
• Customized AODA course modifications based on your organization’s policies, procedures and culture
• Training delivery for all of your staff – at your location, our location or via live web conferencing
• Training administration for organizations that need assistance with communication, scheduling and tracking of the training delivered.
We will be holding free AODA Information Sessions online on January 19th at 2:00pm and January 26th at 10:00 am to review key components of the Act and provide recommendations on how to best leverage compliance for business benefit. We hope you’ll join us. Please register at: http://gradelearning.ca/upcomingevents/
