General:
The Valley Fiber Accessibility Plan has been prepared in accordance with the Accessible Canada Act. We welcome feedback on this plan or other accessibility concerns through the following ways:
By email: hr@valleyfiber.ca
By phone: 1-800-958-5698 ext. 148
By mail: Valley Fiber Ltd., 965 – Hwy 14 Winkler MB R6W 0L7
Select social channels, such as: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
The person responsible for receiving accessibility feedback at Valley Fiber is the Executive Director of Human Resources. Feedback can be provided anonymously.
This plan will be reviewed in 2026.
Executive Summary:
Valley Fiber gathered all director-level leaders of the company to discuss the Accessible Canada Act. Barriers have been identified and actions are being planned to ensure that people with disabilities are able to fully participate in Valley Fiber activities and to receive exceptional customer service.
Accessibility Statement:
Valley Fiber is committed to ensuring equal access and participation for people with disabilities. We believe in integration and are committed to treating people with disabilities in a way that allows them to maintain their dignity and independence. Everyone should have their communications needs accommodated without discrimination. That is why Valley Fiber is committed to removing and preventing barriers to accessibility and by meeting our accessibility requirements under the Accessible Canada Act.
Consultations:
To seek input:
- The Human Resources Team and Marketing Team created and conducted an accessibility survey with 674 responses from current customers
- The comments received all related to improved accessibility of service such as more options for TV customization and ways of communicating with customer service, install and billing departments
- Invited employees who self-identified as having a disability were asked to take an employee-focused survey to provide their feedback
Consulted with the following local non-profit organizations:
- Eden Mental Health Centre (mental health diagnoses and challenges)
- Gateway (intellectual disabilities and challenges)
- Tabor Home (physical disabilities and challenges)
Areas of Canada Accessibility Act (Barriers and Actions)
1. Employment
Currently:
- Accessibility statement on all Valley Fiber job postings:
Valley Fiber does not discriminate against individuals who have a disability or based on their culture, nationality, ethnicity, gender, or religion. Valley Fiber strongly encourages individuals from minority-groups to apply and is willing to reasonably accommodate where possible - Job postings encourage self-disclosure
- Interviewees are asked about accommodation needs
- Supportive workplace culture has been created through leadership training and staff certified in Mental Health First Aid
- A standardized interview process is used to avoid bias
- Provide flexible work arrangements
Barriers:
- Not all employees/ candidates may be aware on the availability of accommodations for people with disabilities
Actions:
- Short Term:
- Continue to develop and improve our Request for Accommodation process
- Long Term:
- Develop training on disabilities, ableism, stigma and accessibility, and evaluate effectiveness
- Research available accommodation (ASL interpretation/ accessible sites, etc) and create inventory
- Ongoing:
- Review processes of candidate/ employee experience related to accessibility
- Ensure that artificial barriers aren’t created through use of clear and plain language
- Develop practical ways to increase inclusion and accessibility in the workplace
- Continuous evaluation/improvement of how we work with persons with disabilities
- Research and source out ergonomic evaluations/equipment upon request
2. Built Environment
Currently:
- Accommodate different sensitivities related to light and shared office spaces
- Provide sit/ stand desk options, laptop risers, mouse/ keyboard options
- Flexible work arrangements
Barriers:
- Counters create a physical barrier
- Noise levels in open floor plan offices can create challenges
- Small spaces cannot accommodate a mobility device/ service animal
- Some locations include stairs and no elevator
Actions:
- Ongoing:
- Increase awareness about scent sensitivities
- As new spaces are planned, keep accessibility at the forefront
3. Information and Communication Technologies
Barriers:
- No process to request ICT accommodations
- Our website does not have the option for different font sizes
- Our videos do not have described video/ closed captioning options?
Actions:
- Short Term:
- Develop or research accessibility evaluation tools
- Create a process to request ICT accommodations
- Long Term:
- Designate employees in various departments responsible for accessibility
- Assess website and apps for accessibility – navigability, usability, built-in accessibility such as audio/video prompts/ descriptions, ability to select font size
- Ongoing:
- Use plain language
- Build accessibility into the development new system
4. Communication, other than ICT
Barriers:
- Our promotion does not include images of individuals with disabilities
- Our documents are not currently available in multiple formats (both external/ internal)
Actions:
- Short Term:
- Edit graphics/ web content to include photos/ graphics of people with disabilities
- Train call Center Operations team members to speak more loudly and slowly, particularly for elderly customers who are not tech-savvy
- Long Term:
- Create response plan for customers requesting information in alternate formats (ASL/captioning/large font/ audio)
- Create accessibility guidelines for documents (aim for grade 8 reading level in all documents)
- Create information document for customers on accessibility practices
- Create a live texting chat option for customers who are hearing-impaired.
- Utilize voice-over/screen reader software for communicating with customers.
- Ongoing:
- Promote alternate formats in marketing materials/advertisement
5. Procurement of Goods, Services and Facilities
Actions:
- Ongoing:
- Consider accessibility in planning for future office locations
- Assess current procurement processes to ensure that they take into account accessibility.
6. Design and Delivery of Programs and Services
Barriers:
- Technology can be hard to use due to its complexity for some customers
- Smaller font sizes hard to use for those with low vision
- Some employees may not have an understanding/comfort level with customers with disabilities or know how to respond.
Actions:
- Short Term:
- Create more options for bill payments.
- Long Term:
- Research options to provide larger and simplified TV remotes for elderly and low-tech customers
- Install routers where customers can reach them
- Arrange support/interpreter for installs
- Offer plain writing workshops
- Ongoing:
- Accessibility training – disability, ableism, stigma, accessibility, how to respond to customers with disabilities (mandatory training) and evaluate effectiveness of training
7. Transportation
Barriers:
- None determined
Appendices
The Principles of the ACA are set out at section 6 of that Act. They are:
- all persons must be treated with dignity regardless of their disabilities;
- all persons must have the same opportunity to make for themselves the lives that they are able and wish to have regardless of their disabilities;
- all persons must have barrier-free access to full and equal participation in society, regardless of their disabilities;
- all persons must have meaningful options and be free to make their own choices, with support if they desire, regardless of their disabilities;
- laws, policies, programs, services and structures must take into account the disabilities of persons, the different ways that persons interact with their environments and the multiple and intersecting forms of marginalization and discrimination faced by persons;
- persons with disabilities must be involved in the development and design of laws, policies, programs, services and structures; and
- the development and revision of accessibility standards and the making of regulations must be done with the objective of achieving the highest level of accessibility for persons with disabilities.