Recommended first steps

From: Employment and Social Development Canada

On this page

• Choosing who prepares the report
• Tracking and measuring your progress
• Consulting persons with disabilities

Choosing who prepares the report

The Accessible Canada Act (ACA) and the Accessible Canada Regulations (regulations) require your organization to prepare and publish accessibility plans. They also require your organization to prepare and publish progress reports about the implementation of these plans. We suggest you start planning your progress reports by choosing who will be responsible for preparing them.

Preparing and implementing your accessibility plan will likely involve a number of people (including experts in the different areas set out in section 5 of the ACA, if required). If possible, we recommend making the same individuals and experts involved in drafting your accessibility plan, responsible for preparing your progress reports.

There are many advantages to choosing the same people:

• they will be familiar with the accessibility plan, its goals, and how they relate to what your organization does
• they will better understand the organization’s realities, logistical or others, behind the plan
• they will be able to describe the role feedback has played in implementing and updating the accessibility plan

Regardless of whom you choose, they should know your organization well and be able to contact those with decision-making authority, as need be.

Tracking and measuring your progress

To prepare a progress report, you need to know what progress your organization has made in implementing its accessibility plan. To do this, you need a meaningful way to track and measure progress.

A good progress report is based on a good accessibility plan. The guidance on accessibility plans recommends including specific goals, actions, and timelines. A plan with clear goals, actions, and timelines makes measuring progress easier and more accurate.

A good progress report will also benefit from a clear approach to tracking your progress along the way. Your organization should keep records of measures it implements, milestones it passes, or barriers it removes. It can be helpful to use project management software or applications to keep track.

Organizations have different kinds of operations and different resources. When tracking progress, organizations should choose an approach that works best for them. The approach should support their efforts to identify, remove, and prevent accessibility barriers.

Here are some things you may wish to consider in planning your progress report. You should also consider these when planning your consultation with persons with disabilities:

• how accessible your organization is in the areas set out in section 5 of the ACA, and how this has changed since your most recent accessibility plan, including any data you have to confirm these changes
• your organization’s shorter- and longer-term plans for improving accessibility further
• whether your organization, in implementing its accessibility plan, has:
  • met specific goals
  • completed concrete actions
  • kept within any timelines set in the plan
• whether you have identified, removed, or prevented new barriers that you had not addressed in the most recent accessibility plan
• which achievements in improving accessibility are most notable
• which remaining obstacles to improving accessibility are most significant
• whether any other measures are helping improve accessibility since your most recent accessibility plan or progress report
• how you took what you heard during consultations with persons with disabilities into consideration

Remember: You must consult persons with disabilities in preparing your progress report. These consultations will help you produce a comprehensive, accurate, and meaningful account of your organization’s progress.

Consulting persons with disabilities

You must consult persons with disabilities in preparing your accessibility plans. You must also consult persons with disabilities in preparing your progress reports. There are different stages of preparation at which you could conduct this consultation. For more information on when you could conduct consultations, read our guidance on consulting for progress reports. We recommend consulting well before you publish your progress report. This will allow for a more meaningful consultation with persons with disabilities and provide flexibility for persons who may require additional time to review the progress report and submit feedback.

The ACA and its regulations do not require a specific way to conduct these consultations. This recognizes that different organizations may have different resources, needs, and clients.

Read the guidance on consulting persons with disabilities. It has recommendations for:

• planning accessible in-person, virtual, or hybrid consultations
• developing questions to ask consultation participants
• understanding different types of disabilities, barriers, and accommodations
• considering intersectional and cultural factors in planning your consultations
• using inclusive and respectful language

Continuity between consultations

If possible, include people you consulted for your accessibility plan in your progress report consultations. People who helped develop your plan can offer special insight into its implementation. This connection can also help show your commitment to meaningful, ongoing change.

Consultation approaches

You will want to seek input on progress in implementing your accessibility plan. Some participants in the consultations may point to improvements. Some may identify accessibility barriers you could consider addressing in your next accessibility plan.

The planning and reporting cycle covers a considerable period. There may be times when you see a need to revise or adapt your consultation approach. For example, you may wish to consult with more (or fewer) people. You may want to change how you consult (virtually, in-person or both).