Accessibility Plan
Accessibility is built into everything that Surrey Place does and offers, including our programs, services and initiatives. As a leading organization that serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, we ensure that all clients can access what they need to meet their needs. Our mission is to remove accessibility barriers and make equal access and opportunity the norm. Please read our Accessibility Plan for more detailed information.
The Surrey Place website was designed to be as accessible as possible for the many diverse groups who may use it. Surrey Place strives to achieve WCAG 2.0 double AA rating, and to use industry best practices, including the following features below. We also use an external AI-powered accessibility compliance plug-in to increase accessibility.
Text Size
The Surrey Place website offers the ability to adjust text sizes according to your preference, making them larger or smaller. You can do this by clicking on the A-, A and A+ icons near the top right corner of any website page.
You can also change your text size preferences in your internet browser. For example, if you are using Internet Explorer 5, look under “View” on the menu bar and choose “Text Size.”
Contrast
The Surrey Place website has been built using high contrast colours to aid visibility.
Alternative Text
Images on the Surrey Place website have alternative text attributes, often known as “alt text”. This means when an image is used on a web page its content is also described in the alt text. Thus, the image can be understood by text browsers and assistive technologies such as screen readers. If an image is used for simply decorative purposes, the text attribute for the image is left empty in line with accepted best practice.
Descriptive Links
Links on the Surrey Place website have TITLE tags. These tags work like Alternative Text and provide more information for someone using a screen reader or when someone hovers over a link with their mouse.
Colour Reliance and Image Alternatives
The Surrey Place website was created with colour impaired visitors in mind and designed and tested to conform to minimum contrast requirements for colour-blindness or other ocular impairments that could prevent visitors from reading text.
The Surrey Place website sometimes uses images for communication. Where website visitors cannot view images, alternative and descriptive text is provided to ensure that the content of those images is communicated, where necessary.
The Surrey Place website aims to not rely exclusively on colour or image to convey information.
Scripting Languages and Device Independence
The Surrey Place website uses standard web technologies and requires no special scripting languages or plug-in software to navigate or use.
Tables are Used for Tabular Data Only
The Surrey Place website does not use tables for style or layout. As per best practices, tables are only used to present information or data best viewed in column or row format.
Software You Might Need
Some documents on the Surrey Place website are available in a PDF format and you will need Adobe Acrobat to open these files. Acrobat is available to download at no charge. Adobe also provides an excellent guide to using PDF documents.
Structural barriers present difficult for people who use wheelchairs to navigate buildings and elements such as hallways, doorways and rooms. Surrey Place has taken great strides to ensure that the 2 Surrey Place building is as accessible as possible from the moment you visit 2 Surrey Place. There is a wheelchair accessible main entrance at 2 Surrey Place and a wheelchair accessible washroom on the main floor Wheel Trans pick-up and drop-off. Please inform the receptionist or request in advance through your clinician.
A service animal is a dog that serves as a guide, hearing support or signal that is trained to assist a person with a disability. In accordance with Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and the Ontario Human Rights Code, Surrey Place welcomes all clients to bring service animals to accompany them on their appointments. For appropriate arrangements to be made, please inform your clinician in advance.
People with speech and hearing impairments are welcome to bring additional support to their appointments. If you require a sign language interpreter, please inform your clinicians in advance of your appointment so that the necessary arrangements can be made. If you wish to contact Surrey Place through our TTY line (teletypewriter line), the number is 416-925-0295.
Surrey Place welcomes all clients to bring interpreters who speak their language. If you would like to bring one, please inform your clinicians in advance of your visit so that every effort can be made to accommodate your request.