2 minutes in a wheelchair in downtown Hamilton

A wheelchair really rumbles when it rolls across the bumps and cracks of downtown Hamilton. These are not the easiest sidewalks to traverse in a chair.

This — and other obstacles to accessibility in the city — is what staff members at PATH Employment Services are reminding themselves this week.

Behind the office’s wheelchair-accessible doors on King Street East, their staff members are learning to walk with guide dogs, practicing sign language and taking turns in wheelchairs, among other skills.

It’s all part of an Accessibility Awareness Week to better prepare their already-astute staff to train Hamilton employers on sensitivity, employment policies and customer service.

In September, the office is launching Accessibility 360, a program to bring these skills to local businesses.

"What we’re trying to avoid is, ‘If I spend a day in a wheelchair, I know what it’s like to have a disability’," said Emily LeDuc, PATH’s accessibility and marketing coordinator. "The way we explain it to staff is, ‘if I spend a day in your shoes, I wouldn’t know exactly what it’s like to be [you]’."

They don’t want to foster pity, she said, but a better understanding of people’s needs.

Currently, one in seven people in Ontario have a disability. In about 20 years, as the population ages, that number is expected to rise to one in five.

Anticipating this, the Ontario government has slowly been implementing new standards for public areas and the private sector — part of its Access for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).

The changes mean Hamilton businesses will have to accommodate a range of abilities, which is where PATH comes in.

LeDuc said that although the public sector is generally accessible, many businesses don’t know about AODA. Come September, her team hopes to be working with more employers across the city to equip them to adjust their practices.

"We want to make sure that Hamilton is accessible and that Hamilton develops a reputation for being a place people want to come to and invest in," LeDuc said.