equity

In alignment with our commitment to equity and shared prosperity, we at ECO strive to provide a barrier-free environment to all employees, clients, partners, and the public. We are committed to providing accommodations for our employees, clients, partners, and visitors with disabilities and are dedicated to continuously improving and evolving our practices in this regard.

A) Office Accessibility: ECO’s current office location has a staircase and no elevator. There are parking spaces directly adjacent to the building entrance, including accessible parking spots. All doors are at least 36 inches wide and are easy to open. There are no steps or level changes from the parking area to the building entrance, but the door does have a threshold which is raised above ground level. The office contains two private restrooms, a kitchenette (with a sink, water cooler, and refrigerator), a thermostat, and a quiet room. For ​​employees, job applicants, clients, and partners with disabilities that would prevent them from accessing ECO’s second-floor office, ECO staff will work with the person remotely, or will determine an alternative accessible meeting location.

B) Remote Work: ECO has flexible policies that allow employees to work remotely for some or all of their hours for a variety of reasons, including employee location, health, logistics, and personal preference. The nature of our work is that some job responsibilities must be completed in person. These responsibilities will be discussed in the interview/hiring process, if applicable. Working remotely by an employee or contractor must be approved by their supervisor prior to each occurrence. Additionally, other logistic details may need to be agreed upon prior to approval.

C) Recruitment and Hiring: Throughout all stages of the recruitment and hiring process, including initial application, interview(s), and job offers, accessibility accommodations are available upon request to support an individual’s participation. ECO will work with the job applicant that has requested accommodation and arrange for the provision of suitable accommodation(s) in a manner that meets the applicant’s needs. If requested, ECO will make interview questions available to the candidate prior to the interview.

To prioritize equity, job requirements (such as in-person vs. remote work, educational qualifications, and physical requirements) will be carefully considered. When possible, functions and qualifications that are not essential to the role and/or that could prevent an otherwise qualified and successful applicant from applying will be removed. To determine whether a function is essential, the following will be considered:

• whether the position exists to perform that function,

• whether there are other employees available to share that function,

• the degree of expertise required to perform the function,

• the work and educational experience of present/past employees in the job,

• time spent performing the particular function, and

• consequences of not requiring the employee to perform the function.

D) Accommodation Planning: ECO will make every effort to provide accommodation to employees with known disabilities. Once the employee has disclosed their disability to a supervisor, accommodation measures will be taken. It is the responsibility of the staff member with a disability to discuss/request accommodation. In consultation with the employee upon their request, an Individualized Accommodation Plan will be created as a formal method of recording and reviewing details of accommodation. This plan will include:

• How the employee with a disability participates in the development of their own plan

• How an employee is assessed on an individual basis

• How ECO can seek outside assistance/advice if required to help determine an individual’s accommodation needs

• How the privacy of personal information will be protected

• If required, any information regarding the individual’s Workplace Emergency Response information

• Accommodation details, including an implementation plan

• How to provide the plan in an accessible format if required

• The schedule for how and when the next review/update of the plan will take place

• How ECO will inform the employee with a disability if their accommodation plan has been accepted or if it needs to be revised

Once the terms of the accommodation plan have been approved by all parties involved, the plan will be implemented and reviewed on an annual basis or as required.

E. Performance Evaluation and Retention: ECO will take into account the accessibility requirements of individuals with disabilities as well as the individual accommodation plan during all aspects of performance management, career development and advancement.

A) Communications: ECO is committed to communicating to the public in a manner that is accessible to everyone. Therefore, ECO will work with individuals directly to discuss effective communication and will use a variety of ways to make communication accessible, including:

• considering the needs of people with disabilities during the planning stage of projects and community engagement efforts

• using plain language in public documents

• offering information in alternate formats (e.g., large print, video transcripts, email instead of phone communication, etc.) on request

B. Public Meetings and Events: For public events and collaborative meetings, ECO commits to the following:

• hosting in-person events in wheelchair-accessible spaces

• posting an accessibility statement pertaining to the venue and event logistics, which includes contact information for accommodations requests

• offering a virtual option for participation whenever feasible

• turning on automatic captions during virtual meetings

• making meeting slides, transcripts, minutes, and recordings available to invitees

• captioning all video and audio content that is shared during meetings

• meeting other accessibility requests as they are presented whenever feasible

C. Website Accessibility: We commit to continually improving our website’s accessibility. ECO’s website is built on Squarespace, which has limited accessibility features. As such, we will improve web accessibility on the following schedule. By the end of Quarter 3 of 2023, we will have completed an accessibility audit of our website. By the end of Quarter 2 of 2024, our website will be conformant with WCAG 2.1 Level A web accessibility standards, with the long-term goal of meeting or surpassing the Level AA standards.

D. Work Products: ECO commits to centering accessibility when facilitating community engagement processes, designing structures and spaces, and producing public reports. This will include:

• following stated accessibility policies for public meetings and events,

• designing maps and figures that are accessible to color-blind people,

• engaging stakeholders with disabilities in decision-making processes, and

• providing reports, presentations, and materials in alternative formats upon request.

Furthermore, in our work designing green infrastructure, public greenspaces, and other community spaces, we will consult the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design as well as other standards and best practices. Our goal is to design spaces that can be enjoyed by all members of our community.

E. Educational Programs: ECO will include an accessibility statement on sign-up pages for all educational programs. This statement will briefly describe our accessibility policies and state that we can meet with families to discuss alternative options for participating in our programming. These options include, but are not limited to:

• using van transportation to reduce the amount of hiking for a participant while maximizing participation in other activities,

• hiking only on trails that are wheelchair accessible,

• providing a child with a detailed schedule for the week,

• accommodating allergies,

• permitting a child to use their cell phone to meet a sensory or accessibility need,

• discussing and using alternative forms of communication, and

• implementing COVID-19 precautions to protect immunocompromised kids and families.

As ECO’s educational programming services grow, we will seek to expand our accessibility efforts. ECO staff currently maintain a working knowledge of which trails and facilities at our various program locations are accessible, as well as alternate routes and adjustments that can be made as needed. In the future, we hope to expand this into a trail description / accessibility guide for Mill Creek Park and other frequently used facilities. Additionally, in future programming years, we plan to offer a wider variety of educational programs that cater to different activity levels, age groups, interests, and abilities.