Webinar summary: How to provide accessible client services – a framework for BC organizations
Final versions of BC’s accessible employment and accessible service delivery standards are expected in 2025. The BC Government and the Provincial Accessibility Committee are reviewing public feedback from last year’s public consultations.
On February 6, 2024, Untapped Accessibility hosted a webinar to help clients prepare for the release of the service delivery standards. The beginning of the session focused on key themes from the draft version. Then they introduced a practical framework to help BC organizations operationalize the standard, based on what they know from the key themes.
The session was presented by Sarah Molder, Nora Loyst and Trish Kelly from Untapped Accessibility.
Key themes from the draft service delivery standards
Sarah began the webinar by exploring overarching themes from the draft service delivery standards.
Equitable access to services
Sarah explained how ensuring equitable access to services would “require pre-planning for accessibility, as opposed to just responding to accommodation requests”.
She continued, “accommodations are still going to be important, and you’ll have to have a clear and efficient accommodations process for your clients, but you’re also going to have to shift your thinking to proactive accessibility planning.”
Eliminating the need to prove disability
Sarah shared, “if the standards were published as they are drafted, you would not be able to request proof of disability for things like, allowing the use of guide dogs, assistive devices, or support persons”.
Staff training
In relation to this theme, Sarah highlighted how the draft standards “require you to train all service delivery staff on accessibility, with supervisor level staff getting additional, specialized training so they can be a further resource and support for accessible service delivery.”
Documentation
Sarah mentioned that the draft standards encourage organizations to document and share accessibility-related information publicly to help people with disabilities know what to expect.
Designating a representative
The last theme involved designating an accessibility representative who can “serves as a public resource for accessibility inquiries.”
The Accessible Client Services Framework
Sarah introduced Untapped Accessibility’s Accessible Client Services Framework as “a practical approach to accessible service delivery that empowers staff at all levels of your organization to essentially align their work with these themes”.
The pilot analogy
Before reviewing the framework, Nora shared a pilot analogy to emphasize that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to accessibility.
The analogy compares the need for flexible services to an issue the U.S. Air Force faced in the 1950s. At the time, they wanted to improve pilot performance by designing better cockpits. To do this, they measured over 4,000 pilots and calculated the average size to create standardized cockpit dimensions. However, they soon realized that not a single pilot fit the “average” measurements. Instead of sticking with a one-size-fits-all approach, they used the data to design cockpits with adjustable features, making them more adaptable to different pilots.
“We can apply this learning to our interactions with our clients,” Nora explained. “There is no average service experience to design for. Everyone has different barriers and access needs. When you understand these demands, you can create flexibility in how people choose to engage with your service.”
With a flexible approach in mind, Nora went on to break down the four steps of the Accessible Client Service Framework:
Map the user flow of service
This involves putting yourself in the user’s shoes to understand what they experience when interacting with your service.
Break down the demands of your service
Nora stressed that there are many demands a client faces when accessing a service. She broke these demands down into three categories: cognitive, social-emotional, and physical.
“People have different abilities to meet the physical, cognitive, and social-emotional demands of a service. When someone doesn’t have the ability to meet a certain demand, they experience a barrier to accessing that service.”
Sarah shared an example, asking attendees to consider someone who’s neurodivergent entering a café. “They may naturally experience social-emotional demands on a higher level than cognitive or physical demands, especially if they are coming to the situation in an already activated state.” For example, if they’re feeling anxious about needing to communicate dietary restrictions to the cashier while ordering. This may lead to a social-emotional barrier.
Build adaptability and flexibility into your service
To honour varying capacities for physical, cognitive, and social-emotional demands, you can establish multiple ways for people to access your service.
Nora shared, “creating options around these different types of demands allows clients to access the service in ways that work best for them, and it also allows service providers to be more responsive when different needs come up.”
Going back to the example of the person at the café, Sarah highlighted flexibility by suggesting multiple ways for them to communicate their dietary restrictions and order, such as through a detailed print menu – which would tap into their cognitive abilities – or an app or kiosk, which would tap into their physical abilities.
“If we combine both options – having the detailed physical copy of the menu and the online ordering and pick-up system – we are giving this person the freedom to completely bypass the social-emotional demand of the ordering interaction by leaning on their cognitive and physical abilities.”
Name what you know about your accessibility
Lastly, Nora shared how having options for engaging with a service is only one part of accessible service delivery. People also need to know about these options. This is where “naming what you know” about the accessibility of your service is crucial.
As Nora said, “your accessibility is only as good as what people know about it.”
Learn more
The discussion concluded with next steps on how organizations can prepare for the final release of the accessibility standards. This can include signing up for the Accessibility Directorate’s Newsletter, building baseline accessibility awareness into your team and consulting with our key takeaways document.
At Untapped, we’re excited to help you implement accessibility in your organization and leadership. Reach out to learn how we can get you there.