Persons with disabilities may experience barriers that make it hard to experience full and equal participation when they are trying to:
- Access a school district program, building or information
- Receive a service or support
Our District wants to know the specific barriers persons with disabilities face.
By “accessibility” we mean “How easily can this thing be reached, entered, or used by a person with a disability?
By “disability” we mean the inability to participate fully and equally in society as a result of the interaction between an impairment and a barrier.
An “impairment” includes a
- physical,
- sensory,
- mental,
- intellectual, or cognitive impairment,
- whether permanent, temporary, or episodic.
By “barrier” we mean anything that hinders the full and equal participation in society of a person with a disability caused by environments, attitudes, practices, policies, information, communications, or technologies, and affected by intersecting forms of discrimination.
Some examples of barriers may include:
- Buildings with no wheelchair ramps at the entrances
- Floors without wheelchair-accessible washrooms
- Information that is hard to understand
- Forms that are not available in a different form, like Braille or large print
- Important videos without captioning or ASL alternatives
The definitions used are those outlined in the Accessible British Columbia Act. BCA has formed an Accessibility Committee to advise the organization in its development of an Accessibility Plan. Following the directives of the Accessible British Columbia Act, the plan will include strategies to identify, prevent, and remove barriers to accessibility that persons with disabilities may face when interacting with the School District. The committee will follow the principle of “nothing about us without us.”