2012-2025

• Introduction
• Areas To Be Addressed
• Accessibility Plan
• Report Card
• Conclusion

Section 1: Introduction

The McMaster Accessibility Council (MAC) is responsible for ensuring the University's adherence to Accessibility Standards under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). The Council provides a mechanism for planning, reviewing and evaluating the implementation of the AODA Accessibility Standards within the University. MAC is responsible for addressing the identified barriers and developing the plan for the removal and prevention of barriers. MAC will also review work from the previous year to determine if all objectives have been met, identify reasons for unaddressed objectives, and specify how these objectives can be re-instituted going forward. MAC shall review its membership on an annual basis to ensure adequate representation from persons with disabilities.

McMaster University introduced its first accessibility plan in compliance with the Ontario Disabilities Act (ODA) in the 2003-2004 academic year. This plan outlined a number of accomplishments McMaster has achieved over the last few years in terms of barrier removal, and active steps taken to prevent barriers. This list is not exhaustive, and McMaster recognizes that individual departments make many efforts to accommodate without necessarily seeking recognition. The university applauds such efforts and encourages continuation of this practice. This document contains a record of known accomplishments as a means of demonstrating its efforts in the removal and prevention of barriers to access for persons with disabilities.

This continually expanding 2010-2025 document is but one snapshot of a series of successive plans, and remains to be a model for future accessibility plans. The document retains a progressive plan of activities that forecast full implementation of the AODA standards by 2025. This Plan will be updated annually to reflect progress made towards full compliance with the AODA. Each year, the plan for the current year will be addressed through the McMaster Accessibility Council (MAC).