Accessibility Information

Our Commitment to Accessibility

BrowseAloud Service

If you already have JAWS or another text-to-speech engine installed on your computer, you don't need to download BrowseAloud.

What is BrowseAloud?

BrowseAloud is free software that reads web pages out loud. It can help anyone who has difficulty reading on-line, including people with mild visual impairments, low literacy, English as a second language, or learning disabilities, such as dyslexia.

What does BrowseAloud do?

Reads web pages aloud in a natural-sounding voice.
Reads PDF and Word documents in their original format.
Highlights each word as it is spoken to show you where you are on the page.
Magnifies text to your chosen font size and font style.
Translates word-for-word between English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
Looks up accurate dictionary definitions.
Converts text to MP3.
Masks information on the screen to help you focus on a particular area.
You have control over the voice, word pronunciations and speech highlighting.

How do I install BrowseAloud?

You can download BrowseAloud from the BrowseAloud website:

Browsealoud Downloads

Follow the instructions on download page to install BrowseAloud on your computer.

Please Note

The Town of The Blue Mountains is providing the BrowseAloud service as a convenience for users of its website, for a trial 30-day period from January 15 to Februry 15, 2012. The Town does not review and is not responsible for the accuracy of the oral communication by BrowseAloud. Rules, policies (including privacy policies) and operating procedures of BrowseAloud may apply to you while using it, and the Town will not be responsible for information provided to you by BrowseAloud. If there are any discrepancies between the written information provided on the Town's website and the oral communication of that information by BrowseAloud, the written version on the Town's website shall govern. Use of the BrowseAloud services is at your sole risk and the town of The BLue Mountains will not be responsible or liable for any damages arising from use of, or inability to use, those services, including any translation or communication of the Town's website content provided by BrowseAloud. By using BrowseAloud, you accept these statements and terms of use.

Notice of Service Disruptions

Notice of Service Disruptions will be provided when facilities or services that people with disabilities may use to access municipal goods and services are temporarily unavailable or if the goods or service are expected in the near future to be temporarily unavailable. This notice will include the following information:

• Information about the disruption
• The reason for the disruption
• Anticipated duration
• Description of alternative facilities or services, if available
• Contact information

In the case of an unscheduled disruption, the notice will be posted at the physical location and on the Town's website as soon as practically possible.

In the case of a scheduled disruption, the municipality will post the notice prior to the disruption, at the physical location and on the Town's website.

How Are We Doing?

In accordance with our focus on customer service and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, we invite you to provide us with feedback.  A customer feedback form is available for download on the right-hand side of the page.

Other accessible formats of documents are available upon request and as soon as practicable. The Town welcomes you to fill out a Request for Document in an Alternat Format form available for download on the right-hand side of the page and submit it to the Clerks Office at the Town of  The Blue Mountains. Alternatively you may contact Lisa Kidd, Communications and Economic Development Coordinator, at  lkidd@thebluemountains.ca or 519-599-3131 ext. 282, for any assistance you may require in accessing documents, or municipal services as it relates to issues of accessibility.

Website Accessibility

The Blue Mountains website has been designed using the W3C technologies and guidelines and adhering to the following checkpoints:

• equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content has been provided
• no information has been conveyed using color alone
• markup and style sheets have been used appropriately
• use of tables has been restricted to use for conveying tabular data only and transform gracefully to text
• pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully (i.e. all pages are legible when style sheets, JavaScript etc are turned off)
• context and orientation information has been provided where appropriate
• clear navigation mechanisms have been put in place
• the site is designed in a clear and consistent manner to ensure ease of use for the widest range of users

Accessibility Design Guidelines

Most popular browsers contain built-in accessibility tools.
Internet Explorer: (http://www.microsoft.com/enable/products/default.aspx)
Firefox: (http://www.accessfirefox.com/)

Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view and print the PDF documents available on this website. To download this program for free, visit the Adobe website. (http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html)

Adobe Accessibility tools and resources: (http://www.adobe.com/accessibility/)

Plan

The Town's Accessibility Plan is delivered through a Joint Plan in partnership with and under the purview of  the County of Grey. The Blue Mountains is part of the Grey County Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee. 

Members of the County of Grey Accessibility Advisory Committee are as follows:

Voting Members of the AAC
Warden Arlene Wright
Councillor Dwight Burley
Don Bullock
Jerry Krauter
Nancy Seiler
Scott Seiler
Christina McDonald
Stan Arnelien

Joint AAC members (non voting members)
Bill Klingenberg, Georgian Bluffs
Dan Best, Grey Highlands
Don Tedford, Hanover
Mike Molloy, Meaford
Carol Watson, Southgate
Lisa Kidd, The Blue Mountains
David Mollison, West Grey

Administrative Support
Barb Fedy, Director, Grey County Social Services
Patti McNabb, Administrative Assistant, Grey County Social Services

A copy of the County Plan may be downloaded on the right-hand-side of the page.

Other accessible formats of the document are available upon request and as soon as practicable.

• County of Grey Accessibility Plan (463 KB)
• Customer Service Feedback Form (120 KB)
• Notice of Disruption in Services Form (31 KB)
• Request for Document in an Alternate Format (32 KB)