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Rawlco Radio Accessibility Progress Report

Introduction and Executive Summary

We are pleased to submit our first progress report on implementing our Accessibility Plan.

We are a private radio “only” company.  We operate 7 radio stations located in Regina, Saskatoon and Calgary.  We strive to be the best local broadcasters we can in all areas for the benefit of our local communities.  We always think about how we do best for our local communities.

We support many local charities and organizations that provide support to persons with accessibility challenges: we have made significant monetary donations and we provide on-going radio promotional support to these organizations.  We also lead many local fundraising initiatives in our communities supporting many of these local community organizations.

We believe in the principles of the Accessible Canada Act.

Our Accessibility Committee is responsible for advising on the activities we undertake in our Accessibility Plan.

We are committed to providing a barrier-free environment to all stakeholders, including clients, employees, job applicants, suppliers, and any visitors who enter our premises, access information we provide or use any of the goods and services we make available.

General

Contact to feedback on our Accessibility Plan or progress report:

Ian Koturbash
Sr. VP Finance & Administration

Rawlco Radio
715 Saskatchewan Crescent West
Saskatoon, SK.
S7M 5V7

Office telephone: 306-934-2222
Email address: feedback@rawlco.com
Website: www.rawlco.com

Our Accessibility Plan and progress report are also available in the following formats upon request:

  • Print
  • Large print
  • Audio format
  • Braille
  • An electronic format compatible with adaptive technology intended to assist persons with disabilities.

Our Feedback Collection Process

We welcome feedback from our, listeners, clients, and members of the community regarding our Accessibility Plan and our progress report. Individuals can submit feedback via our feedback form available at Rawlco.com or through a postal mail to:

Human Resources (Attention: Ian Koturbash)
Rawlco Radio
715 Saskatchewan Crescent West
Saskatoon, SK.
S7M 5V7

Individuals who provide formal feedback receive acknowledgement of their feedback along with any resulting actions.

  • We also welcome feedback from our employees regarding our Accessibility Plan and our progress report and any identification of any barriers that may be encountered by persons with disabilities. The digital feedback form is accessible to all staff internally. Employees also have the opportunity to provide anonymous feedback if desired; all feedback remains confidential unless the person consents to the disclosure of their personal information.
  • Our managers at each of our offices are expected to detail any feedback received related to accessibility issues in their specific location as part of their weekly reports. Individuals are free to provide feedback in the format most comfortable for them. The feedback process is published in accordance with the applicable legislation. Any changes to our Accessibility Plan or the feedback process are published as soon as possible, and notice of any changes are reported to the Accessibility Commissioner.

Progress on our Accessibility Plan

Employment

We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone is welcome.  We are conscious that we may have barriers to equal opportunity employment, we work to identify those barriers and then work on a plan to eliminate them.

This is an ongoing process – reviewing our employment practices and making sure we are doing things to ensure our employment is representative of the communities where we operate.

During the past year, we communicated our commitment to equality by including an identification “as an equal opportunity employer” in all recruitment advertisements.

During 2023, we hired two new employees who self-identified as employees with disabilities.  We strive to make our employment environment accessible.  We will continue to review our employment practices.

Our Built Environment

Our broadcast facilities in Saskatoon and Calgary were designed and built for accessibility to persons with physical disabilities.  We recognize the diverse needs of individuals with disabilities and actively take steps to create an inclusive and barrier-free space that allows everyone to navigate and engage with ease.

We intend to conduct on-going regular accessibility audits of our physical spaces and develop and find solutions to make our locations accessible if it is determined there is need to help reduce any possible negative experiences.  This is part of our accessibility committee’s responsibility.

We have identified a number of accessibility space planning practices in our built environment that we should take into account in any future renovations that we undertake at any of our operations.   Our goal is to make our built environment accessible where it is reasonable to accommodate.  We know there are practices we can implement when planning spaces that will make our spaces more accessible and we are committed to reviewing and planning our spaces with that in mind.

A simple step we have established – for any renovations we do, we will always be asking the question:  have we considered “accessibility” and accessibility will be part of our planning processes.

In the past year we conducted a review of accessible parking at all of our office locations.  We are working on an adjustment at one of our locations where there is an issue with accessible parking being located a reasonable distance from our office space.

Following a review, we adjusted accessible parking signage at one of our office locations to ensure it was easily identifiable and visible.

Information and Communication Technologies

We are continually working to stay up to date on information and communication technologies to ensure they are accessible to individuals with disabilities.

We have reviewed all of our websites for compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines established by the World Wide Web Consortium and address any accessibility gaps and we have made changes to comply with the guidelines.

We are working on establishing a guideline and training for our staff to follow regarding posting to our websites.  The goal is to ensure that we are posting in manners that ensure maximum accessibility.  This will be implemented in the next year.

The Procurement of Goods, Services and Facilities

We are committed to ensuring the procurement of goods, services and facilities is accessible to all employees, including those with disabilities.  We encourage employees to provide continuous feedback on accessibility of procured goods and services to further improve our procurement processes.

During the past year, we changed a service supplier to a company that employees individuals with intellectual disabilities.

The Design and Delivery of Programs and Services

We are committed to ensuring the design and delivery of programs and services are accessible to all individuals, including those with disabilities.  We strive to be a leader in the radio broadcasting industry by following the legislation and industry requirements to create the most accessible, inclusive company possible.

During the past year, we have supported many local accessibility organizations through participation in their events and promotional support for their events on the radio.  We will continue to do that.

We solicit feedback from these organizations on how we operate and look for opportunities to do things differently in was that accommodate accessibility.

Transportation

We have reviewed our office parking to ensure we have accessible parking available at all times.

We are soliciting feedback from local organizations on special needs transportation access to out parking lots and to see if there are any issues with accessibility to our parking lots.

We are reviewing bus transportation and access to our office spaces to see if any modifications to bus routes should be requested to accommodate accessibility to our offices.

Consultations

Through the work of our Accessibility Committee, we have regular ongoing consultations with our entire staff about identifications of barriers to employment of persons with disabilities.  This is an ongoing process and will continue into the future.  Our Accessibility Committee will have discussions with our Employment Equity Committee to ensure any employment barriers are identified and eliminated.

In our weekly reporting process, we encourage employees to discuss any employment equity issues they identify, we will engage them on accessibility issues as well.

We have had discussions with several community organizations that either employee individuals with accessibility issues, or work to assist with accessibility.  We are working with them to identify accessibility issues that we have and their advice on how we can adjust our operating plans to be more accessible.  These discussions will be ongoing into the next year, and we intend to expand the number of organizations we are soliciting feedback from.

We are trying to do this in a smart way, what reasonable changes can we make to the way we operate that will make a difference to how accessible we are.  That includes a number of things:

  • Changes we can make now to be more accessible.
  • Learning about ways to be more accessible that may not be implemented now, but will be considered in future changes that we make to the way we operate (educate ourselves).
  • How we can continue to be supportive to these organizations in the community and get their message out. Our radio stations have a big voice in our local communities and we can be helpful to moving accessibility issues forward in our communities.

We will consider other methods of seeking input on our plan from our listeners, our clients and members of our community, including charitable organizations that we support.

Feedback

We will continue to seek feedback on an ongoing basis from our staff, listeners, clients, members of the public and from community partners in our communities.

We will seek feedback from and share ideas with other broadcasters whom we have good working relationships.

Feedback can be provided anonymously at the option of the individual providing feedback.

All feedback received (other than anonymous feedback) will be acknowledged.

Any personal information collected through completion of our Accessibility Feedback Form will be kept strictly private and confidential and will only be used for the sole purpose of responding to the submitted inquiry and/or to improve overall accessibility to all of our services and office locations.

In the past year:

  • We have received feedback from employees on accessibility issues which we have addressed.
  • We have not received any feedback via our website.
  • We are reaching out to organizations to solicit feedback.

Conclusion

We are committed to making our company more accessible to all.  During the past year, we made progress on implementing our Accessibility Plan.  We have plans to do more in the coming year.