1.1.3 Accessibility Policy

POLICY TYPE: 1.0 Administrative Policies \ 1.1 Fair Treatment
EFFECTIVE DATE: 2019-03-21	LAST REVISED: 2025-10-23
THIS POLICY APPLIES TO: Contractors – Individuals engaged to provide services under a contract with SelfDesign Learning Foundation Support Providers – Individuals engaged under a contract or agreement with SelfDesign Learning Foundation to provide services for a specific learner Families – Learners and parents(s)/guardian(s) of learners participating in SelfDesign Learning Foundation’s programs Volunteers – Individuals providing goods/services under the terms of an agreement with SelfDesign Learning Foundation Board Members – Members of the Board of Directors for SelfDesign Learning Foundation and the Foundation for SelfDesign (FSD)

Policy Statement

SelfDesign Learning Foundation (SDLF) is committed to supporting people with disabilities to meaningfully participate in their communities, starting with our community here at SelfDesign Learning Foundation.

Definitions

Barrier – an obstacle that prevents movement, access, or participation.

Disability – any impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment – or a functional limitation – whether permanent, temporary or episodic in nature, or evident or not, that, in interaction with a barrier, hinders a person’s full and equal participation in society.

Impairment – includes a physical, sensory, mental, intellectual, or cognitive impairment, whether permanent, temporary, or episodic.

Policy

SelfDesign Learning Foundation will maintain a plan to continually identify, remove, and prevent barriers for individuals within or interacting with the organization. The plan may include accessibility in some, all, or more than the following areas:

Recruitment
Delivery of services
Online environment
Information and communications
Transportation
Health
Education
Procurement
Governance

Protocol

Accessibility Plan Development

In accordance with the Accessible British Columbia Act, SDLF, in developing its accessibility plan, will:

consult with its accessibility committee, and
will consider any feedback received from those participating in SDLF and the public.

The provincial accessibility committee must consider the following principles when developing a proposed accessibility standard:

Inclusion
Adaptability
Diversity
Collaboration
Self-determination
Universal design

SDLF will also consider those principles to guide the work we commit to in our accessibility plan. We will review and update our accessibility plan at least once every 3 years.

Providing Feedback

Those participating in SDLF and the public can provide feedback regarding our accessibility plan and/or barriers experienced interacting with SDLF through a variety of feedback mechanisms.

Accessibility Committee

In developing our accessibility committee, we will form a group that reflects the diversity of people in BC, including people from the following groups:

Persons with disabilities
Individuals affiliated with organizations that support persons with disabilities
Indigenous peoples