Accessibility

Accessibility means addressing barriers to participation — social, economic or physical — to allow the fullest community participation in the benefits and activities of the Games. For example, VANOC’s hiring and purchasing procedures encourage access for a broad spectrum of people (see Economic Benefits).

VANOC is currently working with inner-city, disability, at-risk and Aboriginal groups to identify targets that will ensure inclusiveness in the Games and a lasting legacy.

Our approach focuses on six areas:

Barrier-free venues
To deliver an accessible Games experience, VANOC is ensuring barrier-free access for persons with a disability at all venues and facilities.

To fulfill this commitment, a barrier-free design consultant was engaged to advise on all our operational planning. We developed Barrier-Free Accommodation Guidelines, Barrier-Free Venue Development Guidelines, Barrier-Free Special Events Guidelines and Barrier-Free Games Time Transportation Guidelines. We are also in the process of developing Barrier-Free Games-Time Operation Guidelines. These guidelines have been shared with our partners, and provide information necessary to ensure Games-time transportation, major events, announcements and public meetings are accessible.

To ensure these are applied within VANOC’s capital construction projects, an accessibility review occurs within the venue design phases. Accessibility detail design reviews have been completed for Whistler Sliding Centre, Whistler Olympic Park, UBC Winter Sports Centre and the Richmond Olympic Oval. In addition, accessibility reviews at the 30 per cent completion and 95 per cent completion stages were realized for three venues and villages: Vancouver Olympic Centre/Vancouver Paralympic Centre, the Olympic and Paralympic Village Vancouver, and the Olympic and Paralympic Village Whistler. (The 30 per cent and 95 per cent design stages are the two most significant design phases. At that point designs are reviewed to ensure they are incorporating the accessibility requirements outlined in the Barrier-Free Guidelines.)

Accessibility reviews were also completed for facility upgrades of two existing venues (Trout Lake Arena and Pacific Coliseum), and we are in the process of completing accessibility reviews for our remaining venues.

Accessible workplace
Renovations to VANOC’s head office included accessible design features to provide a comfortable work environment for employees with a disability.

VANOC’s workforce hiring and purchasing procedures encourage access for a broad spectrum of people. We have begun tracking the number of employees who voluntarily identify themselves as having a disability. As of July 31, 2007, 0.004 per cent of employees voluntarily identified themselves as having a disability.

Accessible website
Accessibility has been addressed in our redesigned website. Where practical and possible, we added additional options to meet the needs of those with visual impairments. VANOC is now in compliance with the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

VANOC accessibility group
A cross-functional group of VANOC staff meets quarterly with the barrier-free design consultant to ensure our practices and procedures take into account the needs of persons with a disability.

Buy Smart Sustainable Purchasing Guidelines
Our Sustainable Purchasing Guidelines (Buy Smart Program) include provisions for firms that are owned by or hire persons with a disability to be actively considered in the procurement process.

Recruitment
VANOC works with a consortium of disability agencies who serve persons with a disability to recruit for paid and volunteer positions.

This consortium has established the Disability Advisory Committee (DAC) with the administrative support of 2010 Legacies Now. DAC serves as VANOC’s external advisory group on accessibility issues. Access Works was established by a similar consortium with a specific focus on working with VANOC and other organizations interested in hiring people with a disability and procuring from firms that are owned by or hire persons with a disability. Neil Squire Society, a member of the latter consortium, hosts Access Works.