2009 Community Excellence Award

CITY OF LANGLEY- A MODEL

COMMUNITY FOR ACCESSIBLITY

& INCLUSIVENESS Implementation of “Gold Star Program”

Category: Partnerships -Between the City of Langley

and the Downtown Langley Merchants Association

BIA

Submitted by: City of Langley, British Columbia

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Summary

With the 2010 Olympics and Paralympics Games in Vancouver and Whistler on the horizon, the

City of Langley has creatively positioned itself as a model community for accessibility and

inclusiveness. The City of Langley conducted an “Accessibility and Inclusiveness Study”

involving members of the Downtown Langley Merchants Association and representatives from

the community of people with disabilities, to learn what improvements must be made to support

an active and healthy lifestyle for all people. The recommendations led to the Downtown

Langley Merchants Association’s (DMLA) implementation of the “Gold Star Program,” which

rates facilities based on their accessibility. The overall result has been a tremendous success.

The City of Langley has and continues to make accessibility improvements to various public

facilities, plus many business owners have made accessibility improvements to their properties,

which might not have otherwise happened. Also, Tourism Langley and other information

resources now have the results of the Gold Star ratings audit to help people with disabilities to

select the City of Langley as ‘the place to be.’ This initiative is further proof that we can achieve

great success when we work together.

Background: Addressing a Market Niche With the 2010 Olympic and Paralympics Games in Vancouver and Whistler on the horizon, the

City of Langley is embracing the concepts of accessibility and inclusion. This goes beyond the

concept of a “special” measure for people with disabilities. It includes every member of the

community, be it a mother pushing a baby buggy, a young person who’s temporarily injured in

some sport activity, a person who uses a wheelchair, or a senior citizen who uses a walker.

Understanding that approximately 14% of BC’s population is disabled and that as the population

ages, this number will increase, the City of Langley recognizes the importance of creating an

accessible and inclusive community. Combining this desire to be a model accessible community

with our Economic Development Strategy, which has identified “tourism” as a potential

economic sector, the City of Langley is positioning itself as a leader in “accessible tourism.”

“An Accessibility and Inclusiveness Study” for the City of Langley With a keen interest in supporting the needs of all of our citizens, plus acknowledging the

importance of the accessibility market, the City of Langley embarked on a study to identify

issues that would help break down physical and ultimately social barriers.

Recognizing that engaging the community is critical to the success of this initiative, the City of

Langley established a Steering Committee that included people with disabilities, the Downtown

Langley Merchants Association (BIA) business community, and community agencies serving

people with disabilities. In May 2007, the City retained the Social Planning & Research Council

of B.C. to facilitate the community stakeholder workshops, coordinate accessibility audits and

undertake research on four key issue areas:

• Municipal Policies and Best Practices

• Physical Accessibility (Public Facilities; City Parks and Recreation; Restaurants,

Lodging (Hotels and Motels); Shopping and Entertainment)

• Accessible Tourism; and

• Inclusive Employment Practices

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The purpose of the Study was to develop a comprehensive strategy to make the City of Langley

accessible and inclusive for people with disabilities. In particular, this Study:

a) Inventories the existing conditions in the City of Langley’s built environment as they

relate to accessibility and inclusion;

b) Identifies issues and opportunities to improve accessibility and inclusiveness in the City;

and

c) Presents a plan and implementation strategy for making the City of Langley a model

community for accessibility and inclusiveness.

The “Gold Star” Program For Accessible Businesses

(Downtown Langley) As part of SPARC BC’s contract to assist Langley in its development of a plan for accessibility

and inclusion, SPARC BC conducted an accessibility audit of six motels/hotels, 26 restaurants,

and nine other retail businesses in the BIA. After the auditing process was complete, SPARC

BC sent specific recommendations to improve accessibility to each of the participating

businesses.

The DLMA (having had representation on the SPARC BC Steering Committee) recognized this

need and decided to put a program into action. They began to formulate a plan to establish a

“Gold Star Program”. This Program would recognize audited businesses which were deemed

accessible by assigning them a “Gold Star Rating” – ‘Bronze’ (one star) being somewhat

accessible and ‘Platinum’ (four stars) being exemplary. They would also provide them with a

written evaluation of their establishment’s accessibility and recommendations for

implementation.

Accessibility and Inclusiveness Coordinator

In addition, through a grant from Service Canada, an Accessibility and Inclusiveness Program

Coordinator was hired from May 2008 to September 2008, with the intention of educating,

raising awareness, creating communication amongst the membership, and improving access

within the downtown BIA. This initiative continued the auditing process that the City of

Langley had started, thus allowing the business owners to learn about their establishment’s

accessibility and how they could improve it.

The first step for the A & I Coordinator was to revisit the businesses previously audited by

SPARC BC, in order to review their “Gold Star Rating”, answer any questions they had

regarding their previous audits, and to see if they had followed up on any of SPARC BC’s

accessibility recommendations.

Information Package

A brochure and information package was created to introduce the program and inform the

business owners of the program’s goals and objectives. The “Accessibility and Inclusiveness

Brochure” contained basic and introductory information regarding how business owners could

provide better service to their customers with permanent or temporary disabilities. This brochure

also provided information regarding the “Gold Star Program” and additional information

regarding possible funding opportunities. A total of 300 brochures were hand delivered to a

wide diversity of businesses and they were invited to contact the BIA office for more

information.

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Goal and Follow-up

The initial goal was to recruit 25 new businesses, and once the 80 information packages were

distributed, a total of 44 new businesses signed up for audit appointments. The free audits were

conducted by using the SPARC BC Accessibility Checklist, which contained accurate

specification standards and guidelines.

As part of the auditing process, Marika Van Dommelen, Ambassador Coordinator for the Rick

Hansen Foundation (wheelchair user born with Spina Bifida) was asked to do a follow-up

evaluation for each of the audited businesses. Ms. Van Dommelen was also part of the initial

SPARC BC Steering Committee, and her involvement helped us by allowing us the opportunity

to compare our audit outcomes with hers. Ms. Van Dommelen’s involvement went a long way in

helping authenticate the program for the participating businesses, as the business owners were

very pleased to have a follow-up audit conducted by someone with a physical disability.

Initial Results In total, there were 36 new businesses and organizations that agreed to take part in the DLMA

“Gold Star Program” and have their information released on the Tourism Langley, City of

Langley and DLMA websites.

The information released includes each business’s contact information, their rating (one to four

stars), and a write-up regarding their accessibility. The report also provides information on non-

profit organizations and associations that support accessibility and inclusiveness throughout the

community.

Additional New Opportunities In addition to the successful implementation of the Program and the bringing together of the BIA

community in a common goal of accessibility, some very fortunate opportunities arose that

contributed to the overall success and publicity of the Accessibility and Inclusiveness Program.

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY The A & I Coordinator was invited to a seminar that was sponsored by Access Abbotsford,

which provided a forum to brainstorm ideas and programs to make their communities more

accessible.

TOUR LEADS TO RECOMMENDATIONS AND PUBLICITY With the assistance of the DLMA Ambassador Coordinator, the A & I Coordinator organized

and accompanied a group of individuals with disabilities on the City of Langley Historic

Walking Tour (this is a free walking tour developed by the DLMA as part of their Ambassador

Program and the tour provides an interactive, in-depth explanation of the City of Langley’s

history and highlights). The objective of this tour was to assess its accessibility and observe how

those with disabilities found this particular activity. Most of the guests were wheelchair users,

and a few were vision and/or hearing impaired. The tour was deemed very accessible; however,

a few improvements were necessary for future tours. Some examples of these improvements

included trimming shrubs, repaving curb cuts and fixing heaving sidewalk pavers. When

reported, these improvements were immediately acknowledged and acted upon by the City of

Langley. Representatives from the Langley Times and Langley Advance newspapers were

invited and both participated, resulting in an editorial in both publications.

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SPEAKING OPPORTUNITY

Because of the Program’s publicized success, the A & I Coordinator was invited to speak at a

Sunshine Rotary luncheon, and did so to a room of 45+ individuals who own businesses and

conduct business throughout the Langleys. The resultant impact was the request for information

regarding the Program for use in other businesses not necessarily located within the BIA.

Following the completion of the Program audits, the Langley Spirit of BC office contacted the

DLMA, informing us that they had heard of the Program and would appreciate more

information. The Langley Spirit of BC had recently hired an Accessibility Coordinator, so the

DLMA willingly shared their audit information, results and reports with the Langley Spirit of BC

Accessibility Coordinator. This resulted in a continuation of the audits being conducted

throughout the City and Township of Langley through the Langley Spirit of BC office.

Impact of the Initiative

The introduction of the program has had a significant impact on the BIA, in the City of Langley,

and in the community at large.

Implementation of Improved Accessibility

CITY OF LANGLEY

The City of Langley was very supportive of the Program. By providing an extra set of

“accessibility eyes” (in addition to the original SPARC study), the City of Langley was able to

deal with some of the smaller accessibility issues that were easy to do, but may not have ever

been reported.

The City of Langley continues to make accessibility improvements, which include items such as

handicap accessible parks and public facilities, curb cuts and replacements, extensive hedge and

tree trimming, creating and marking disabled parking spots and the ongoing inspections and

repair of heaved sidewalk pavers.

DOWNTOWN LANGLEY BUSINESS OWNERS Some Downtown Langley business owners have followed up with information regarding the

installation of automatic door openers, elevators and other high-end accessibility improvements,

while others have decided to follow through with simple and inexpensive ways to keep their

businesses accessible. In a follow up survey conducted in October 2008, we were pleased to see

that most business owners followed through with their recommendations immediately; their

“Gold Star” rating being their main incentive. For example, if a business owner was rated at a

gold accessibility of 3 stars, and in order to be rated at 3 ½ stars they needed to adjust their door

tension or lower the height of a counter, they did so immediately. Overall, the program was

extremely successful and insightful for business owners.

Funding Opportunities for Future Accessibility Improvements

In a desire to make this program sustainable, the DLMA proposed a plan to Mayor and Council

to help provide business owners with options and funding opportunities to make expensive

accessibility improvements to their establishments.

The City of Langley has begun to review the DLMA’s proposed funding opportunities for

business owners. Working together, we can source the necessary government grants, funds and

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incentive programs for business owners that will ultimately improve accessibility and

inclusiveness in our community.

Promoting an Accessible Community

This program has also had a tremendous impact on the community. With the audit results being

made available on the DLMA, City of Langley and Tourism Langley websites (as well as the

DLMA office), those residents and visitors with accessibility needs can now review what

businesses best accommodate their needs. Due to the tremendous variety of audited businesses,

any person wishing to access this resource will find information on accommodations, restaurants,

retail and service businesses; thoroughly detailing their accessibility rating, special features, and

specific accessibility recommendations.

Conclusion: The City of Langley, a Model for Accessibility & Inclusiveness The creation of a program that focuses on and implements improving accessibility contributes to

a community that is fit for everyone. This Program deserves to be recognized because its main

goal is to make our unique downtown a model for accessibility. This successful initiative has

endless potential and outstanding sustainability, and therefore will continue to evolve and grow.

By approaching merchants face to face and by physically conducting accessibility audits, it has

proven to be an exceptionally effective way of implementing accessibility improvements while

informing businesses about the importance of inclusion.

In 2009, the program will focus on extending the auditing process by encouraging the

participation of more business owners, which will then add to the information available to the

public through the “Gold Star Program” website links. In addition, part of the 2009 process will

be to map out the participating businesses, showing their locations and accessibility ratings,

while providing a direct link through the map to each business’s contact, audit and accessibility

information. The City of Langley will also continue to make improvements to public property,

as outlined in the recommendations.

With the onset of 2010, the province will be welcoming the world to our communities and every

community should make it a priority to be inclusive. It is our desire to see this Program become

part of the bigger picture, so that every community works together to promote accessibility and

inclusion for our entire Province. We have established this program so that we can work towards

the goal of making our community as accessible and inclusive as possible. This should be

showcased so that other communities realize the importance of this initiative and so that they

strive to make their communities accessible as well.