Why is AODA training important?

It was in the year 1995 when the Ontario Public Service passed the AODA or The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. That made AODA training a necessity for all the workers and employees in Ontario. The AODA act made Ontario the very first province to have taken action for increasing accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities

Now for many years, the AODA training has been a necessity in Ontario. But unfortunately enough, some workers and employers are still unfamiliar with the terms disability and accessibility. On the other hand, many firms fail to provide the proper AODA training to their volunteers or workers around here.

Whenever the firms fail to provide the much-needed disability and accessibility training, it means they are violating the AODA act and will be dealing with severe consequences. Organizations will also fail their workers by not giving them a chance on ways to interact properly with customers with disabilities.

The AODA training will offer not just the organizations but also the workers the chance and knowledge of AODA and the Human Rights Code. Along with that, the workers will get the chance to learn ways to interact with people suffering from various disabilities around here.

The requirements as part of the AODA training module:

Before you proceed further and address the AODA Training module to your workers, it is important to know more about the requirements, which form a part of this training session.

The AODA training needs to be workplace-specified training. So, that means the AODA training will relate to the responsibilities and tasks in any of the areas of accessibility standards like information and communications, employment, design of public spaces, transportation, and customer service.

Reasons why AODA training is gaining such big popularity among the masses:

The chosen AODA training will provide employees with all kinds of basic knowledge about accessibility and how it might influence people suffering from disabilities. People have the tendency to think that disabilities are always visible or physical. But, AODA has addressed some of the non-visible disabilities on the list, like mental health and learning disabilities within the platform.

• Employees, who are given a chance to take the AODA training on customer service, will learn about the ways to offer promising customer service to people with visible and non-visible disabilities.
• For example, whenever an employee interacts with an individual with visual impairment, then he must always identify his name and his post before approaching the person.
• Moreover, the employees should speak directly to the person with a disability and not to his guide or service animal as that makes them feel bad.
• On the other hand, if the individual has a mobility disability, then the employees should never touch the person’s equipment without permission.

The rules and training are pretty simple and straightforward, and these should come straight from the heart. Through the AODA Workshops, the employees will grow empathy towards the disabled individuals and let them know that they feel for them.

Trish Robichaud, founder of Changing Paces is a leading AODA consultant in Canada. She has been conducting AODA workshops for 15years and is a pioneer in developing and implementing accessible customer service training in the province of Ontario. If you have any queries related to the need for AODA training in your organization, you may connect with the team at Changing Paces at www.changingpaces.com