Commercial real estate owners/managers, homebuilders and organizations that provide services and advocacy for people with disabilities have joined forces to promote accessibility in the built environment. The newly forged Accelerating Accessibility Coalition (AAC) is particularly targeting new housing construction as an opportunity to incorporate barrier-free universal design principles with minimum extra cost.
“It’s time to unlearn the practices that have established generations of inaccessible design and replace them with inclusive methodologies that reflect the authentic diversity of needs that people with and without disabilities require throughout life,” urged Maayan Ziv, founder and chief executive officer of AccessNow, an app offering navigational support and accessibility ratings.
Her organization is among the AAC’s 21 founding members represented at yesterday’s launch event in Toronto. A compendium of those members’ experiences and best practices — dubbed the Accessibility Toolbox — has also been made available as a resource for developers and property managers looking for guidance on accessibility standards and certification and/or connections to organizations involved with people with disabilities.
“Let’s do the right thing today, rather than wait until we’re required to do so. The Accessibility Toolbox makes it easy to take those important first steps,” maintained Jake Cohen, chief operating officer with The Daniels Corporation, an AAC member, which also hosted the event in the company’s World Urban Pavilion community space in the Regent Park neighbourhood.
Choice Properties REIT, BentallGreenOak and Cadillac Fairview likewise figure as prominent commercial real estate players in the coalition. The Toronto District Council of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) will serve as the AAC’s secretariat, while the 10 participating accessibility organizations include the Rick Hansen Foundation, Accessible Housing Network, CNIB Frontier Accessibility and Community Living Toronto. CivicAction, the originator of the Race to Reduce campaign for commercial buildings, and the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design have also signed on.
AAC plans to host a series of events, webinars and workshops in the coming months. That lines up with the agenda of Accessibility Standards Canada, the federal agency tasked with developing accessibility standards and funding related research.
“We are proud to be part of this networking event and are looking forward to advancing discussions on accessibility with AAC members,” affirmed Philip Rizcallah, chief executive officer of Accessibility Standards Canada. “We want Canadians to experience accessibility in a consistent and seamless way, no matter where they live. Collaborations like these are mutually beneficial. They can only lead to a greater positive impact in the lives of all Canadians.”
