New requirement to provide accessible customer service training

In 2007, the Ontario Government adopted Accessibility Standards for Customer Service. All public sector organizations in Ontario must comply with the regulation by January 1, 2010. All private sector organizations in Ontario must comply by January 1, 2012.

As a public sector organization, the City of London has undertaken several measures to ensure that we are compliant with the regulation before January 1, 2010. One of the requirements in the regulation is that any person or organization that provides goods or services to customers on behalf of the City of London must receive training on providing accessible customer service.

What does this mean for you?

Businesses and individuals that the City of London has contracted to provide goods or services to customers must ensure that their employees are trained on providing accessible customer service. This includes teachers in the Spectrum Program, construction workers, and more. In general, any person or organization that does business with the City of London should receive training before January 1, 2010.

There are many training resources available that can be used at no charge:

City of London?s Accessible Customer Service Training Video
Accessibility Directorate of Ontario?s Serve-Ability Training Video
Accessibility Directorate of Ontario?s Talk To Me Video
Other Resources from the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario

There are also many private organizations that can be contracted to provide accessible customer service training to employees.