Capital West Accessibility Advisory Committee Minutes

1. TERRITORIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

M. Watmough, Deputy Director of Corporate Services, read the City of Langford's Territorial Acknowledgment.

2. CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR APPOINTMENTS

2.1 Election of Chair

MOVED BY: Marie Watmough SECONDED: Sarah Jones

THAT the Chair of the Capital West Accessibility Advisory Committee be the Corporate Officer of the host municipality.

Motion CARRIED.

M. Watmough, Corporate Officer, Langford assumed the role of meeting Chair.

2.2 Election of Vice-Chair

The Chair called for nominations or volunteers for the position of Vice-Chair from the floor. M. Miles, Corporate Officer, Highlands was nominated to serve as Vice-Chair.

MOVED BY: Sarah Jones SECONDED: Melisa Miles

THAT Melisa Miles, Corporate Officer, Highlands serve as the Vice-Chair to the Capital West Accessibility Advisory Committee.

Motion CARRIED.

3. CALL TO ORDER

The Chair called the meeting to order at 2:03 pm.

4. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

MOVED BY: Deb Hopkins SECONDED: Marcy Lalande

THAT the Committee approve the agenda as presented.

Motion CARRIED.

5. NEW BUSINESS

5.1 Capital West Accessibility Advisory Committee Terms of Reference

The Chair asked for feedback from Committee members. Members shared the following:

• Colwood Council passed an amended resolution that would commit the Capital West Accessibility Advisory Committee to adding citizen representatives with lived experience from each member municipality within 12 months.
• Esquimalt noted since they have their own Accessibility Advisory Committee, they are a participant municipality, not a member.
• Highlands noted an amendment to be made in the section numbering of the terms of reference document.

MOVED BY: Marcy Lalande SECONDED: Melisa Miles

THAT The Capital West Accessibility Advisory Committee Terms of Reference be amended to ensure that committee membership is expanded within 12 months to include 1 (one) representative with lived experience from each member municipality.

Motion CARRIED.

5.2 Feedback Received to Date from each Municipality

The Chair asked members to share a brief overview of accessibility related feedback received to date:

Langford:

• Community members have expressed interest in joining the Committee.
• Comments received regarding local shopping centers needing accessibility upgrades.
• Reported difficulty receiving accessibility related information.
• Interest in the accessibility audit performed on the Langford Station site.
• Need for more accessible park benches.
• Look for opportunities to support other accessibility committees and initiatives locally.
• Possibility of increasing crossing times at crosswalks in the downtown core.
• Removing a row of chairs in Council Chambers and consider mobility assistive devices and those with accessibility needs when arranging the room.

View Royal:

• Accessibility audit of the Municipal Hall foyer was undertaken noting changes to be made. Information will be shared with member municipalities.
• Further accessibility projects and initiatives will be undertaken.

Highlands, Esquimalt, and Sooke:

• No feedback received at this time.

Metchosin:

• Noted that though they are not currently a member of the committee at this time.

Colwood:

• Accessibility feedback email address was established this week and no feedback has been received yet.

5.3 Accessibility Plan - Discussion

S. Jones, Corporate Officer, View Royal noted the following pertaining to timelines:

• Accessibility plan drafting ongoing throughout Fall of 2023. Examples from other municipalities will be circulated to the Committee for comments and feedback.
• Survey pertaining to accessibility to get community members thinking about accessibility to be posted in January 2024.
• April/May - have a consultant retained for public engagement.
• Survey will be produced to get information for the request for proposal regarding venues and engagement sessions.
• January-June working on the draft plan.
• July-September bring draft accessibility plan to Councils.
• October - post draft plan online for public feedback & incorporate advertising for citizen members.
• January 2025 - have an accessibility plan completed.

The Committee discussed the plan outline available from the province noting each municipality will need to draft their own section of the document.

5.4 Website Improvements - Focus on Visual Impairments

The Chair discussed the results of an accessibility audit performed on the City of Langford's website. Suggestions from the consultant retained included:

• Font considerations including size, format, and contrast.
• Addition of alternate text for photos and images.
• Consideration given to text on coloured backgrounds.

The Committee asked questions pertaining to the audit including costs.

5.5 Discussion - Next Steps

The Committee noted this item was sufficiently covered through the discussions previous. The following was shared:

• LGMA (Local Government Management Association) published their Fall issue of their "Exchange" magazine with a focus on accessibility.
• Statistics Canada is releasing their 2022 Canadian Survey on Disability which will give information pertaining to the labour market for persons with disabilities.
• Courses pertaining to accessibility are available. Courses discussed included the "Accessibility 101" course that has been completed by D. Hopkins, Corporate Officer, Esquimalt, S. Jones, Corporate Officer, View Royal, and E. Bolster, Deputy Corporate Officer, View Royal. Sarah Jones, Corporate Officer, View Royal is currently enrolled in the Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Course.

6. ADJOURNMENT

MOVED BY: Deb Hopkins SECONDED: Sarah Jones

THAT the Capital West Accessibility Advisory Committee meeting adjourn at 2:34 p.m.

Motion CARRIED.