CITY OF WEST KELOWNA

MINUTES OF THE ACCESSIBILITY AND INCLUSION COMMITTEE MEETING

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VIA ELECTRONIC MEANS
MEMBERS PRESENT:
  • Rusty Ensign, Chair
  • Melissa Grassmick
  • Karen Hartwig
  • Mieke Krus
  • Councillor Garrett Millsap
  • Danielle Needham
  • Sonia Newman
  • Vittoria Spindor
  • Councillor Carol Zanon
MEMBERS ABSENT:
  • Candice Henriques
Staff Present:
  • Melissa Hunt-Anderson, Community and Social Development Coordinator
  • Corinne Boback, Legislative Services Manager/Corporate Officer
  • Natasha Patricelli, Legislative Services Assistant
Others Present:

  • Spring Hawes, Disability and Ableism and Lived Experience Education Consultant

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1.
CALL THE ACCESSIBILITY AND INCLUSION COMMITTEE MEETING TO ORDER

 

The meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m.

It was acknowledged that this meeting was held on the traditional territory of the Syilx/Okanagan Peoples.

This meeting was open to the public.  This meeting was webcast live and archived on the City's website.

2.
INTRODUCTION OF LATE ITEMS

 

3.
ADOPTION OF AGENDA

 

  • It was moved and seconded

    THAT the agenda be adopted as presented.

    CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

4.
ADOPTION OF MINUTES

 

4.1
Minutes of the Accessibility and Inclusion Committee meeting held Wednesday, February 21, 2024 in the City of West Kelowna Council Chambers

This item has attachments. 
1.Post-Meeting Minutes - Accessibility and Inclusion Committee_Feb21_2024 - English.pdf

  • It was moved and seconded

    THAT the minutes of the Accessibility and Inclusion Committee meeting held Wednesday, February 21, 2024 in the City of West Kelowna Council Chambers be adopted.

    CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

5.
PRESENTATIONS

 

5.1
What We Heard Report from AIC Accessibility Survey

This item has attachments. 
1.Accessibility Plan - What We Heard Report.pdf
2.Attachment 1 - Feedback Summary Report.pdf
3.Attchment 2 - Detailed Survey Report.pdf

Spring Hawes, Disability and Ableism and Lived Experience Education Consultant provided a summary of the Accessibility and Inclusion Survey results from the What We Heard Report.

  • The Accessibility survey with 16 questions was available between April 9 - April 30, 2024;
  • Survey participation included online, by phone, in-person engagement and paper copies of the survey were available;
  • The summary report includes:
    • 111 responses to the survey, with 454 comments received;
    • 989 visitors to the City of West Kelowna's Accessibility page;
    • 3 e-news updates were issued to 3,726 recipients;
    • Social media received 3,000 impressions on Facebook, Twitter, X and LinkedIn;
  • Over 200 pages of responses were received from the survey with very good feedback;
  • Key highlights from the survey were reviewed along with some survey comments;
  • Prioritization process included reviewing all of the community survey comments and categorizing them into six main categories: Infrastructure, Facilities, Parks and Trails, Service Delivery, Policy and Attitudes;
  • The Committees role will be to look at the accessibility issues/challenges identified and prioritize them based on equity, impact, complexity/difficulty, time/cost to implement;
  • The prioritized list will go to staff who have the background information and knowledge for prioritizing the action items;
  • Suggestion for members to not take into consideration the cost and allow the experts to provide that direction; 
  • Suggestion for members to use their lens on the projects.

5.2
Post Community Survey Accessibility Actioning Exercise

 
  • The actioning exercise is to organize the potential activities and prioritize them under the following categories: Attitudes, Policy, Service Delivery, Parks and Trails, Service Delivery and Infrastructure;
  • A survey link will be provided to each committee member to prioritize accessibility challenges identified in the Community Survey;
  • The deadline to have the survey completed is May 27, 2024.

6.
DELEGATIONS

 

7.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS

 

8.
REFERRALS

 

9.
CORRESPONDENCE AND INFORMATION ITEMS

 

10.
OTHER BUSINESS

 

10.1
Discuss Accessibility of the Survey

 

It was mentioned that the survey was difficult for persons with vision loss to review graphs/charts. A recommendation to overcome this barrier was to include the graphs/charts for people with vision and under the charts to include a simple list of data for those who are visually impaired. Spreadsheets are okay to view through a screen reader however the best option would be a list of data as screen readers are best at reading words and numbers, not lines.

11.
ADJOURNMENT OF THE MEETING

 

The meeting adjourned at 6:53 p.m.

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