Accessibility Achievements

The City of Vancouver’s accessibility and disability inclusion achievements for 2021-2023 include:

Strategic

• First full time ADA Coordinator hired in 2023
• Updated ADA web content is accessible via every page of the City website
• ADA Coordinator position was moved from Risk and Safety (Human Resources) to the Office of Equity and Inclusion (City Manager’s Office)

Social Inclusion

• Several departments, including Public Works – Transportation, Communications and Community Development, regularly engage the disability community and the City’s development plans are made more inclusive as a result.
• Oftentimes, ASL interpreting is provided by default for these engagement events
• The Office of Equity and Inclusion sent out the “Summer of Neighborly Inclusion” newsletter, bringing awareness to the complex and diverse experiences of our neighbors and Week 10 focused on Disability Justice

Built Environment

• Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services has constructed accessible and inclusive playgrounds at Marshall Community Park and Esther Short Community Park
• Capital reconstruction projects managed by the Transportation Division (Public Works) along S.E. 1st Street between 164th Avenue and 177th Avenue reconstructed 20 intersection curb ramps, constructed approximately 8,500 feet of new ADA-compliant sidewalk and added Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS) to three signal systems
• Over the past three years, through the Transportation Division’s pavement management program, retrofitted hundreds of curb ramps at various street intersections throughout the City. This includes 148 locations in 2021, 196 locations in 2022, and 196 locations in 2023
• Design teams working with Capital Projects must first demonstrate their expertise in accessibility best practices and then are tasked with integrating those strategies into their renderings when working on City projects
• Parking has improved and increased signage in several City-owned lots. They have also incorporated weekend enforcement to help with prohibited violations (i.e.: ADA, fire lane, crosswalks)
• The City boasts more ADA parking spaces than what is required by law and members of the public with ADA placards are able to park for free throughout the parking district and in any on-street parking spaces (accessible or otherwise)

Other Accessibility

• Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services offers separate programs specifically for people who identify as having disabilities while, of course, supporting the inclusion of individuals with disabilities in all program offerings
• All Vancouver Police Department staff (including officers) enable Deaf and Hard of Hearing members of the public to indicate which method of communication they prefer via a card with symbols for ASL, lip reading, captioning, and more. All VPD staff are also equipped with the technology to quickly jump on a video relay call with a qualified interpreter whenever needed
• All training videos in the Workday employee learning tool have captions and all Percipio training videos in Workday also have audio description
• The City’s new web platform, rolled out Sept. 2023 and managed by the Communications Department, is fully accessible, compliant with current WCAG AA standards and includes an accessibility menu where accessibility settings can be customized to meet individual user preferences and accessibility needs
• Accessibility needs were included in the design process of the City’s new brand. Attention was paid to contrast ratios, complementary colors, and font types for readability and comprehension
• Communication began utilizing built in captioning on Instagram and Facebook stories in 2022. All pre-produced videos shared to the City’s social channels include closed captioning
• Clark Vancouver Television (CVTV) provides closed captioning of the video coverage of meetings and events. The captions appear on cable, web, social media and in the meeting rooms. For meetings with an ASL signer, CVTV incorporated a window to show the signer to viewers.
• The Facilities team has updated the language on accessible parking and entry signage at city facilities to be in line with more inclusive language
• All Planning Commission and Transportation & Mobility Commission presentations and material templates are fully accessible. This includes providing all maps in an accessible tactile format as needed