The Accessibility Officer works in collaboration with Plant Services, Student Services and Human Resource Services, among other Board departments, to identify and support the needs of students, staff and the community through various accessibility projects.
All Access Washrooms
Between 2016 to 2018, YRDSB completed two pilot projects across 45 elementary and secondary schools, beginning in 2016 with an initial concept of creating "gender-neutral" washrooms. The initial pilot project was modified in 2017 to be inclusive, which led to the term "all access" washrooms.
All Access Washrooms are available for use by students or staff who self-identify as gender diverse or feel the need for privacy due to religious or other personal reasons.
Plant and Planning Services undertook a joint assessment and evaluation over the summer of 2018 to determine the requirements to fully implement the All Access Washrooms initiative across the system. Project preparations were conducted throughout the 2018-2019 school year, including reviewing and finalizing all access washroom signage following consultations with various stakeholders.
In June 2019, each school was contacted by Planning Services to finalize the recommended washroom locations that were identified in the project assessment. Plant Services has now begun the implementation phase of the project. A total of 483 school washrooms will be transitioned to an all access or all gender (not barrier-free) washroom.
Plant Services is now in the full-scale implementation phase of the Board's All Access Washrooms initiative.
Braille and High Contrast Signage (Pilot Project)
All YRDSB schools constructed after 2005 have Braille included as part of all school signage. However, signage colours were typically chosen to match school colours, which are not always accessible contrast ratios.
Blind/Low Vision (BLV) Services worked in collaboration with Plant Services to establish a standardized high contrast style and format for all new Board signage (i.e., white lettering on a black background).
Signage throughout two newer elementary schools (Viola Desmond Public School and Rouge Park Public School) used the new high contrast standard. Plant Services will continue to update and replace poor colour contrast signage as required.
BLV Services has now finalized a list of priority schools with students who are known to require Braille signage in order to access and navigate their school learning environments in a meaningful way.
Installation of Braille and high contrast signage was completed throughout three YRDSB schools during the 2020-2021 school year:
- Stonehaven Public School
- Michael Cranny Public School
- Keswick High School
The following schools have been identified for installation of Braille signage in the coming years:
- Wilshire Public School
- Maple High School
- Newmarket High School
- Doncrest Public School
- Hodan Nalayeh Secondary School