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0 bs 5 Beaver | Thursday, March 23, 2023 | 2 £ Continued from page 1 é palities across the region have spent years working to improve accessibility in everything from elections 0 public transit. While Robaninag that signifi- cant progress has been made, Bccessibility advo. cates say the ways going progress, munici- palities make use of local volunteer committees, au- dits and full-time staff. to be done, but the region is more abcessible today than ever befor: Being able to. vote i isan essential right of citizens ina democracy. lowever, for many peo- ple there are serious phys- ical barriers that have his- torically prevented them from voting. Those barri- be an inability to get to the polling station or understand key signage. For the 2022 municipal election, the Town of Oak- ville tackled the issue of ccessibility for voters ith a wide range of strat- egies that included train- € 8 : 3 £& ing for over 700 electi f- ficials, physical changes to some voting sites, a braille option, a drive- through voting pilot pro- ject and even a Home Vote program for some. Andrea Coyne, manag- er of Elections, Policy and Print Services with the Town of Oakville, said that the Town has long been committed to elimi- nating barriers, and she believes the last munici- pal election was their most accessible one ever. want to ensure that we do it in a manner that respects dignity and inde- pendence. It's our respon- sibility and it's the town clerk's responsibility to inister a fair and ob- jective election. But we al- so do have a duty to en- gage citizens and commu- nicate with all in how they may exercise their right to vote," said Coyne. ACCESSIBILITY AT THE BUS STOP Getting around a com- munity is essential to en- joying everything it has to offer. Navigating the various challenges and social in- teractions that go along with public transit can be “We want to ensure that we do it in a manner that respects dignity and independence.” - Andrea Coyne, manager of Elections, Policy and Print Services with the Town of Oakville overwhelming for those wit certail challenges. that, Milton partnership with a company called Magnusmode. Users are able to down- load a mobile app called MagnusCards that uses digital guides and game el- ements to help people with special needs — ding jutism — access the community, It uses pictures and text to pro- vide step-by-step instruc- tions for various social in- feractions, Situations, be- ‘iow: c havio tivities such a ing Milton Trans: qo D'Alessandro, di- rector of Transit Services at the Town of Milton, said the app is part of the Town's commitment to making the whole commu- more accessible. “Accessibility, we be- eve, isfor r everybody and disabilities, It's forall abil- side or on the administra- tion side or even just kind of touch customer touch points," said D'Alessan- dro. ACCESSIBILITY TO RECREATION Considered by many to be one of the nicest pieces of parkland in Halton, Ac- ton's Fairy Lake isa popu- lar spot for swimming, boating and fishing. The problem is met for people with mobili sues, there wasn't a Yak way to get a boat into the water. The solution was to install a adaptive small watercraft launch. Mark Taylor, senior landscape architect with Come and explore! mohawkcollege.ca/ OpenHouse ACCESSIBILITY UPGRADES SEEN IN PUBLIC TRANSIT AND AT BALLOT BOX bat Town of Halton Hills, aid it was important that people of different abili- ties be able to make use of the lake. "We really wanted to make that waterfront ac- cessible and open for peo- ple. There's lots of active boating there, whether it's moeing, kayaking, pad- dle boarding, and the ac- cess that was there to get down to the water was in very poor condition," said ‘aylor. "So, we looked ata variety of different op- tions on how to replace that and create a really cool dock and a nice, ac- cessible waterfront." The launch, a moulded plastic cradle alongside the main dock, allows Per- sonal watercrafts to main stationary while the users enter or exit. A dock ladder and an overhead grab rail also make it easi- er to get in or out. The installation was a direct result of a request from a member of the pub- lic. IDEAS ABOUT ACCESSIBIL- ITY EVOLVING: ADVOCATES ond physical anges, rocates say there! 's also been anotable evolution in the way orga- 4 campuses | Starting March 28 nizations look at and ad- dress accessibility. For municipalities, those ideas are ingrained the way they conduct business. Adam Spencer, volun- teer chair of the Burling- ton Accessibility Adviso- ry Committee, said the ap- proach to the issue has dramatically shifted over the yeal “one | of the things that T've seen change in the last 10, 15 years is the differ- ence between embarrass- ing organizations about inaccessibility versus cel- ebrating the wins that we have in accessibility,” said Spencer. "We can't do ev- erything all at once, but we make steady progress. Those of us in accessibili- ty want everything to be lone tomorrow — I thought I was going to be out of a job 10 years ago. I thought this would be solved, and it's like, no, this is an ongoing engage- ment." STORY BEHIND THE STORY: With the road- blocks to accessibility varied and complex, we wanted to explore what Halton municipalities are doing to make the region more accessible to all residents. ‘SCAN THESE CODES for Parts 1 and 2 of Focus On Accessibility series. ual@) lee COLLEGE