Canadian Hearing Society (CHS) has partnered with the Ontario Recreation Facilities Association Inc. (ORFA)  for a one year project titled: Creating Accessible Recreation Facilities for People Who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing. This EnAbling Change project is being produced with the support of the Government of Ontario.

Educational resources – webinars, videos, and articles will be produced to educate ORFA members about their obligations under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). These resources will help to create accessible and inclusive environments in recreation facilities throughout Ontario. This will enable deaf and hard of hearing people to have increased access to opportunities that promote healthy living and leisure activities. A key element of the project is the creation of a video that provides insight into how to communicate with deaf and hard of hearing consumers, along with incorporating communications and alerting devices into the built environment. A series of scenarios were filmed over a two-day period in August at the Pickering Recreation Complex with a number of volunteers and recreation staff. The video will premiere at ORFA’s annual general meeting in December, along with an Introduction to a series of webinars on customer service, technology, the built environment, legislative requirements and noise induced hearing loss. ORFA members will receive a certificate upon completion of the educational webinars as part of the project, which is expected to be completed by May 2014. JoAnn Bentley, CHS Program Director Communications Devices and Accessibility Consulting Programs, and Gordana Mosher, Special Project Lead Accessibility Consulting Services, are working closely with John Milton, ORFA’s Chief Administrative Officer, and Remo Petrongolo, Director, Business Development, in this joint project.