Paul D. Ralph, BES, RPP, MCIP. Commissioner Development Services Department

Transcription

1 Public Report To: From: Corporate Services Committee Beverly Hendry, Commissioner, Corporate Services Department Paul D. Ralph, BES, RPP, MCIP. Commissioner Development Services Department Report Number: CORP Date of Report: June 15, 2017 Date of Meeting: June 19, 2017 Subject: Recommended Approach to Provide Closed Captioning for Webstreamed Council and Standing Committee Meetings File: A Purpose The purpose of this report is to: Respond to the following Corporate Services Committee directive of December 9, 2016 concerning Report CORP related to Closed Captioning for Webstreamed Council and Standing Committee meetings: That Report CORP be referred back to staff to further research municipalities such as Oakville, Halton Hills and Windsor as to possible opportunities to further enhance our communication with the public, as well as further contact with the appropriate provincial ministries for technical guidance and financial resources ; and, Recommend an approach to advance the closed captioning of webstreamed Council and Standing Committee meetings. Attachment 1 is Report CORP dated December 1, 2016 and entitled Closed Captioning for Webstreamed Council and Standing Committee Meetings. Attachment 2 are the minutes from the Corporate Services Committee meeting of December 9, 2016 concerning Report CORP

2 Item: CORP Meeting Date: June 17, 2017 Page Recommendation That the Corporate Services Committee recommend to City Council: 1. That, pursuant to Report CORP dated June 15, 2017, in an effort to enhance communication with the public, the City of Oshawa provide live captioning of its live webstreamed Council and Standing Committee meetings and that the files generated during the live broadcast/live captioning (not repaired) be uploaded to the City s website with the recorded webstreaming of these meetings; 2. That a Request for Proposal process be initiated under the City s Purchasing By-law to ensure the City receives competitive pricing and services to provide closed captioning; 3. That an Information Technology project be created to account for the required capital components related to the closed captioning initiative and the increased operating costs for 2017 be funded through the 2017 Annual Technology Projects; 4. That any future operating or capital costs be considered as part of the annual budget process; 5. That staff continue to investigate technological improvements and funding resources to improve the City s closed captioning services related to Council and Standing Committee meetings; and, 6. That staff continue to liaise with the Province to review the financial, technological and other administrative challenges municipalities encounter in order to provide closed captioning services while maintaining other City services. 3.0 Executive Summary Not applicable. 4.0 Input From Other Sources The following have been consulted in the preparation of this report: City Manager City Clerk Services IT Services Executive Director, Finance Services/Treasurer Legal Services Administration and Accessibility Services City of Burlington Town of Halton Hills Town of Oakville City of Windsor Ministry of Economic Development and Growth Accessibility Directorate of Ontario

3 Item: CORP Meeting Date: June 17, 2017 Page Analysis 5.1 Background The City of Oshawa is committed to meeting the accessibility needs of people with disabilities and providing them in a manner that addresses integration, independence, dignity and equal opportunity. By letter dated April 6, 2016 the Durham Deaf Accessibility Committee requested the City to caption televised Council meetings. On May 9, 2016, the Corporate Services Committee directed staff to investigate the cost and ability to provide closed captioning for webstreamed Committee and Council meetings. Staff presented Report CORP dated December 1, 2016 to the Corporate Services Committee on December 9, CORP provided: The legislative requirements for items posted on the City s website including webstreaming files. A number of options for closed captioning. An overview of services provided by other Durham municipalities. The technological and financial challenges the City faces to provide closed captioning services for webstreamed meetings that are posted on the City s website. The recommended option which was to not post recorded webstreamed files to the website in consideration of viewership, technology demand, financial and legislative considerations. This option ensured the City was compliant with Provincial legislation. Presently, the City has contracted services to provide live webstreaming with no closed captioning with an annual cost of $21,696 funded from the IT Operating Budget. On December 9, 2016 the Corporate Services Committee heard delegations from representatives of the Durham Deaf Accessibility Committee. They supported an option that would provide live closed captioning and repaired closed captioning on the City s website. The estimated cost of this option is $115,000 annually. On December 9, 2016, Corporate Services Committee asked staff to research municipalities such as Oakville, Halton Hills and Windsor as possible opportunities to further enhance our communication with the public and to contact the appropriate provincial ministries for technical guidance and financial resources. 5.2 Municipal and Provincial Review The captioning services provided by Oakville, Burlington, Windsor and Halton Hills were reviewed and the following information was obtained: All 4 municipalities have Live Cable TV broadcasting with Live Closed Captioning provided by the local Cable TV company. Only Oakville and Burlington Live webstream their meetings and both provide Live Captioning of the webstreamed meetings.

4 Item: CORP Meeting Date: June 17, 2017 Page 4 Oakville and Burlington post their recorded meetings to their website and include the original live closed captioned (not repaired) file to the website. [Not repaired means that not all sounds (e.g. clapping) and dialogue may be included or corrected.] On May 9, 2017 staff connected with the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario to discuss the provision and funding of closed captioned webstreamed meetings. Staff were advised that concerns expressed regarding the strict closed captioning compliance requirements and lack of funding resources would be discussed as part of the on-going review process of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) standards. Provincial staff did not provide any information on any Provincial financial resources available for local municipalities to provide captioning services. 5.3 Recommended Approach After considering the additional information received from other municipalities with respect to closed captioning, it is recommended that the City: Provide live closed captioning of live webstreamed Council and Standing Committee meetings; and, Post recorded webstreamed Council and Standing Committee meetings with live (not repaired) closed captioning on the City s website. Closed captioning service providers indicate that live (not repaired) closed captioning is near verbatim (95-99% accuracy) but errors and omissions can exist unless the files are repaired which adds significant cost to the process. Accordingly, this approach is not fully compliant with the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulations (IASR) made under the AODA, 2005, which requires recorded media to be closed captioned with all dialogue and important sounds included. However, the recommended approach does support the efforts of the City s Oshawa Strategic Plan to ensure transparency, inclusion and financial stewardship. The City s updated multi-year Accessibility Plan can include that the City will continue to investigate financial and technological opportunities to improve the City s captioning services. In addition, it is recommended that the City continue to liaise with the Province to ensure they are fully cognizant of the financial, technological and administrative challenges required to deliver closed captioning while maintaining other City services. 6.0 Financial Implications An Information Technology project can be created to account for the required capital components related to the closed captioning initiative. There is capacity within the 2017 annual technology projects budget to fund the increased operating costs for Ongoing operating and capital costs will be included as part of future budget submissions. The estimate to provide the addition of closed captioning services for live and recorded (not repaired) current webstreamed Council and Standing Committee Meetings is $45,000

5 Item: CORP Meeting Date: June 17, 2017 Page 5 annually, with an annual media platform plan of $7,270 and one-time hardware/software upgrades of $22,340. A Request for Proposal will be issued to confirm the City is obtaining competitive pricing for closed captioning services. Should there be a significant change from the estimate set out in Report CORP-17-30, staff will report back to the Corporate Services Committee. 7.0 Relationship to the Oshawa Strategic Plan This report advances the Accountable Leadership and Social Equity goals of the Oshawa Strategic Plan. Paul Ralph, BES, RPP, MCIP, Commissioner, Development Services Department Beverly Hendry, Commissioner, Corporate Services Department Attachments

6 CORP Attachment 1 - Report CORP Public Report To: From: Corporate Services Committee Beverly Hendry, Commissioner, Corporate Services Department Paul D. Ralph, BES, RPP, MCIP, Commissioner, Development Services Department Report Number: CORP Date of Report: December 1, 2016 Date of Meeting: December 5, 2016 Subject: Closed Captioning for Webstreamed Council and Standing Committee Meetings File: A Purpose The purpose of this report is to respond to the Corporate Services Committee directive of May 9, 2016: That in accordance with Correspondence CORP from the Durham Deaf Accessibility Committee, staff investigate the cost and ability to provide close captioning for webstreamed Committee and Council meetings. Attachment 1 is a letter dated April 6, 2016 from the Durham Deaf Accessibility Committee requesting captioning of televised Council meetings. Attachment 2 is the Closed Captioning Survey results from other area municipalities in Durham Region. Attachment 3 are 2015 City Meeting Statistics for Council and Standing Committee meetings (e.g. number of meetings and average length of meetings). 2.0 Recommendation That the Corporate Services Committee recommend to City Council: That Report CORP dated December 1, 2016 concerning Closed Captioning for Webstreaming Council and Standing Committee Meetings be received for information.

7 Item: CORP Meeting Date: December 5, 2016 Page Executive Summary Not applicable. 4.0 Input From Other Sources The following have been consulted for input to this report: City Manager Accessibility Policy Advisor Manager of Administration and Accessibility Services Oshawa Accessibility Advisory Committee Legal Services City Clerk Services Information Technology Services Corporate Communications Webstreaming/Closed Captioning vendors Other Durham Region municipalities 5.0 Analysis 5.1 Webstreaming The City provides webstreaming of all Council and Standing Committee meetings on the City s website. Web streaming is the process of delivering multimedia over the internet. Streaming multimedia allows the user to begin viewing video and audio without first downloading the entire file. After a brief period of initializing and buffering, the file will begin to stream - or play in real time. In October 2011, Council directed the webstreaming of regularly scheduled Council meetings as part of a 12 month pilot project. Although viewership over the course of the pilot project did not prove to be an overwhelming success, City Council decided to extend the pilot project for an additional year and reevaluate webstreaming at that time. In October 2013, although viewership rates still did not demonstrate a high take-up on the program, Council approved webstreaming of all regularly scheduled Council meetings as there is benefit in allowing the public the opportunity to observe Council meetings without having to attend City Hall. Council approved a resolution to continue webstreaming with the existing vendor for a period of three years. A month-to-month arrangement is in place with the current vendor to provide webstreaming services pending a Council decision on whether to provide closed captioning services. In April 2014, Council directed webstreaming of all regularly scheduled Standing Committee meetings and that support for webstreaming on mobile devices be included. In June 2015, Council approved webstreaming of all special City Council and Standing Committee meetings.

8 Item: CORP Meeting Date: December 5, 2016 Page 3 From January 15 to October 3, 2016, the average number of people who viewed an external viewing of webstreamed Standing Committee meetings was 4 people per meeting and 9 people per meeting for Council meetings. The average external viewing time per person for Standing Committee meetings was 37 minutes and 56 minutes for Council meetings. 5.2 Legislation, Guidelines and Policies Human Rights Code The Human Rights Code (the Code) provides for equal rights and opportunities and freedom from discrimination. Customers with disabilities are entitled to equal treatment and equal access to facilities and services. Under the Code, service providers have a legal duty to accommodate people with disabilities to allow them to equally benefit from and take part in services. Many accommodations can be made easily and at low cost. In some cases, putting the best solution in place right away may result in undue hardship because of costs or health and safety factors. Even if this happens, there is still a duty to look at and take next best steps that would not result in undue hardship. Such steps should be taken only until more ideal solutions can be put in place Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation - Ontario Regulation 191/11 The Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation Ontario Regulation 191/11 (I.A.S.R.) made under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (A.O.D.A.) established the accessibility standards for information and communications, employment, transportation, the design of public spaces and customer service. In this Regulation, Part II Information and Communications Standards, Section 14 (4) (5) and (6) states that: (4) Designated public sector organizations and large organizations for their internet websites shall meet the requirements of this section in accordance with the following schedule: 1. By January 1, 2014, new internet websites and web content on those sites must conform with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (W.C.A.G.) 2.0 Level A. 2. By January 1, 2021, all internet websites and web content must conform with W.C.A.G. 2.0 Level AA, other than, i. success criteria Captions (Live), and ii. success criteria Audio Descriptions (Pre-recorded). O. Reg. 191/11, s. 14 (4). (5) Except where meeting the requirement is not practicable, this section applies,

9 Item: CORP Meeting Date: December 5, 2016 Page 4 (a) to websites and web content, including web-based applications, that an organization controls directly or through a contractual relationship that allows for modification of the product; and (b) to web content published on a website after January 1, O. Reg. 191/11, s. 14 (5). (6) In determining whether meeting the requirements of this section is not practicable, organizations referenced in subsections (1) and (2) may consider, among other things, (a) the availability of commercial software or tools or both; and (b) significant impact on an implementation timeline that is planned or initiated before January 1, O. Reg. 191/11, s. 14 (6). (Note: The City s refreshed website in 2015 is considered a new internet website for the purposes of this regulation) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (W.C.A.G.) 2.0 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (W.C.A.G.) 2.0 are part of a series of web accessibility guidelines published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (W.A.I.) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which is the main international standards organization for the internet. W.C.A.G. 2.0 is a technical standard that has several guidelines with testable success criteria at three levels of conformance identified as A, AA and AAA. Section 14 (accessible websites and web content) of the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (I.A.S.R.), Ontario Regulation 191/11 provides that as of January 1, 2014 the City must comply with the requirements of the World Wide Web Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (W.C.A.G.) 2.0 Level A which includes the captioning of recorded webcasts posted after January 1, The captioning of live webstreaming is currently not a requirement under the I.A.S.R. For the purposes of this report, W.C.A.G. 2.0 guidelines related specifically to captioning are reviewed in more detail: W.C.A.G. 2.0 Level A - Guideline Captions (Recorded) The intent of the Captions (Recorded) Guideline is to enable people who are Deaf, deafened or hard of hearing or who require literacy accommodations to watch synchronized media presentations previously recorded. Captions provide the part of the content available via the audio track. Captions not only include dialogue, but identify who is speaking and include non-speech information that is conveyed through sound, including meaningful sound effects. Captions are not needed when a complete dialogue is presented as text on the web page. The City does not currently provide closed captioning for recorded Council or Standing Committee meetings posted to the website; however, it is a requirement of the I.A.S.R.

10 Item: CORP Meeting Date: December 5, 2016 Page W.C.A.G. 2.0 Level AA Guideline Captions (Live) The intent of this success criterion is applied to the broadcast of synchronized media to enable people who are Deaf, deafened or hard of hearing or who require literacy accommodations to watch real time (live) presentations. The City does not currently provide closed captioning for live webstreamed Council or Standing Committee meetings and it is not presently a requirement of the I.A.S.R City of Oshawa Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation Policy The City is committed to meeting the accessibility needs of people with disabilities in a timely manner that addresses integration, independence, dignity and equal opportunity. As indicated in the City of Oshawa Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation Policy, approved by Council in December, 2012, the City shall incorporate accessibility criteria and features when procuring or acquiring goods, services or facilities except where it is not practicable to do so. If it is not practicable to do so, the City shall provide, on request, an explanation. Currently, upon request, accessibility accommodations (i.e. American Sign Language Interpreters, Community Access Realtime Translation (C.A.R.T.), Assistive Listening Devices, Magnifiers, Large Print, etc.) are available to members of the community wishing to attend Council and Standing Committee meetings. 5.3 Area Municipalities An assessment of the municipalities in Durham Region was undertaken (see Attachment 2). The results indicated that: Oshawa, Whitby, and the Region of Durham live webstream meetings. Whitby is advancing a one year pilot project to provide live webstreaming for its Council meetings and two out of three of its Standing Committee meetings. Whitby does not provide captioning of live streamed meetings and does not post recorded meetings on its website. Whitby is compliant with the legislation because they do not post their recorded videos on the website. The Region of Durham live webstreams and posts recorded (not closed captioned) Council and Committee of the Whole meetings to its website. Ajax, Clarington, Oshawa, Pickering, the Region of Durham and Scugog post recorded meetings on their websites; they are not closed captioned. Ajax records its General Government Committee meeting once a month, posts it to its YouTube channel which is linked to its website and provides subtitles on occasion. Clarington posts audio only files of its meetings.

11 Item: CORP Meeting Date: December 5, 2016 Page 6 The Township of Scugog posts recorded General Purpose and Administration Committee and Council meetings on its website and provides YouTube subtitles (subtitles are not considered closed captioning). YouTube can use speech recognition technology to automatically create captions for videos. These automatic captions are generated by machine learning algorithms, so the quality of the captions may vary. Automatic captions might misrepresent the spoken content due to mispronunciations, accents, dialects, or background noise and should always be reviewed and edited for any parts that have not been properly transcribed. 5.4 Types of Closed Captioning Services Live Closed Captioning With this process, live remote captioners listen to the meeting and produce captioning that is transferred through a series of programs and hardware to produce a very accurate record of a proceeding. For this service, specially trained stenographers are required to ensure accuracy and speed. The cost provided for a captioner is approximately $125/hour Repaired Closed Captioning Prior to posting a recorded version of a livestreamed closed captioning meeting, it is necessary for some repair to ensure that the timing and content is accurate for the viewer. Although great care is taken, there can be errors and delays that are modified to ensure the version is synchronized with the video/audio output. The cost for repaired captioning is approximately $120/hour Offline Closed Captioning Off-line closed captioning is defined as the captioning of a recorded file that has not been previously captioned and is essentially working with a raw media file to produce a captioned file. This is an expensive process as more time is required to prepare and proof the necessary closed captioned output. The cost for providing offline closed captioning is $285/hour. 5.5 Closed Captioning Options for Consideration Options Options for consideration include: (a) Status Quo Live webstreamed meetings, no live Closed Captioning, recorded webcast files posted to the website with no Closed Captioning (b) Live webstreamed meetings; live Closed Captioning; recorded webcast files posted to the website with repaired Closed Captioning (c) Live webstreamed meetings; no live Closed Captioning; recorded webcast files posted to the website with offline Closed Captioning

12 Item: CORP Meeting Date: December 5, 2016 Page 7 (d) Live webstreamed meetings; live Closed Captioning; no recorded webcast files posted to the website (e) Live Webstreamed Meetings; no Live Closed Captioning; no recorded webcast files posted to the website Assessment of Options City meeting statistics from 2015 for Council and Standing Committee meetings (see Attachment 3) were used as a reference point (e.g. number of meetings and average length of meetings) in the calculation of the costs associated with closed captioning services (Refer to Table 1). Table 1: Assessment of Closed Captioning (CC) Options Options Details Financial Cost Legislated Compliance Option A Option B Option C Option D Option E Live webstream, no live CC, recorded posting, no CC, Status Quo Live webstream, live CC, recorded posting, CC Repaired Live webstream, no live CC, recorded posting, CC Offline Live webstream, live CC, no recorded posting, CC N/A Live webstream, no live CC, no recorded posting, CC N/A $21,696 Not compliant $85,358 + hardware/media plan = $114,967 $100,845 + hardware/media plan = $130,453 $44,713 + hardware/media plan = $74,321 The City became noncompliant for recorded meetings in 2015 when the new City website was created. Exceeds Meets Exceeds $21,696 Meets Option A Status Quo Live Webstreamed Meetings, No Closed Captioning; Recorded Webcast Files Posted to the Website with No Closed Captioning Live webstreaming provides an opportunity for a number of people to view Council and Standing Committee meetings as they are taking place; however, this provision can be limiting for people with disabilities. Real time captioning or live closed captioning is not a current requirement of the I.A.S.R., but correspondence from the Durham Deaf Accessibility Committee (see Attachment 1) indicates that Deaf and hard of hearing

13 Item: CORP Meeting Date: December 5, 2016 Page 8 individuals prefer meetings be closed captioned so that they too can view meetings from the comfort and convenience of their homes, just like other taxpayers in Durham Region. To meet I.A.S.R. compliance, the practice of providing recorded webcast files to a website requires the City provide closed captioning. Not providing live closed captioning limits people with disabilities from reviewing Council and Standing Committee proceedings from their home on the day of the meeting. Options such as American Sign Language Interpreters, assistive hearing devices, large print, magnifiers etc. are provided at meeting sites upon request. Option B - Live Webstreamed Meetings; Live Closed Captioning; Recorded Webcast Files Posted to the Website with Closed Captioning Captioning of live webstreaming is not a current requirement of the I.A.S.R. but is a legislated requirement for recorded Council and Standing Committee meetings. With this option, meetings would be closed captioned at the time of the live webcast and the closed captioning text would be modified afterwards for a more accurate account of the discussion and posted to the website with the merged file. The Oshawa Accessibility Advisory Committee supported the inclusion of closed captioning for live and pre-recorded Council and Committee meetings. Option C Live Webstreamed Meetings; No Live Closed Captioning; Recorded Webcast Files Posted to the Website with Closed Captioning With this option, meetings would continue to be webstreamed with no live closed captioning but the recorded files would be closed captioned afterwards (off-line) and posted to the website. Not providing live closed captioning limits people with disabilities from reviewing Council and Standing Committee proceedings from their home on the day of the meeting. Options such as American Sign Language Interpreters, assistive hearing devices, large print, magnifiers etc. are provided at meeting sites upon request. Option D - Live Webstreamed Meetings; Live Closed Captioning; No Recorded Webcast Files Posted to the Website Providing live web closed captioning provides a greater opportunity for people of all abilities to learn about City Council and Standing Committee meetings; however, this option does not include the posting of recorded files as they have not been web captioned as per W.C.A.G. 2.0 which is a requirement of the I.A.S.R. Option E - Live Webstreamed Meetings; No Live Closed Captioning; No Recorded Webcast Files Posted to the Website Legislation does not require municipalities to close caption live webstreaming and if the recorded files are not posted to the web then closed captioning is not required. This method of delivery does not provide access for people with disabilities requiring closed

14 Item: CORP Meeting Date: December 5, 2016 Page 9 captioning and limits transparency to all citizens as the meetings are not posted to the website for viewing at a later time Recommended Option There is currently no budget to provide close captioning services. At this time after carefully considering such matters as viewership, technology, demand, financial and legislative considerations staff will be implementing Option E Live webstream meetings, no live Closed Captioning, no recorded webcast files posted to the website. The recorded webcast files will no longer be available on the website. This option ensures the City is in compliance with the applicable legislation. In the future this decision can be revisited as technology may improve and a sustainable funding source is determined. Staff will continue to review this matter and report to Council as appropriate (e.g. if more affordable technology is created or other funding sources are identified). 5.6 Required Hardware/Media Streaming Plan for Closed Captioning To provide closed captioning services, staff have been informed by vendors that it is necessary to provide compatible stationary (P.T.Z.) optics cameras, encoders and controllers and to provide a media platform plan with live streaming and media on demand with closed captioning support, storage, data transfer and a universal player supporting playback on computer and mobile devices. The cost for hardware items is estimated at $22,340 with an annual estimated media platform fee of $7,270. If a closed captioning vendor is chosen that only uses analog technology then the existing digital cameras will need to be replaced with analog cameras which often provide a poorer image compared to digital cameras. 5.7 Cable/Community Television Rogers TV Durham Region, in partnership with the City, broadcasts a number of live Council meetings on cable/community television. Not all meetings are televised due to Rogers commitments to other municipalities and programming. The City has no input into the staffing and televising of these meetings. During webstreaming discussions with Rogers, they advised of their inability to televise and webstream all meetings due to staffing. They also advised they do not provide closed captioning services for their programming as this would require additional staff or contracting the service with a third party provider. In April 2013, Rogers TV Durham Region advised that the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (C.R.T.C.) issued its new Community Television Policy (Broadcasting Regulatory Policy C.R.T.C ) and with it, new requirements for closed captioning. As a condition of license, licensees will be required to caption at a minimum 100% of original licensee-produced programming by the end of their next license term.

15 Item: CORP Meeting Date: December 5, 2016 Page 10 Rogers indicated that they intend to work in close collaboration with municipal and regional councils and as licensee-produced programming, closed captioning will be provided for these meetings by the end of the community channel s next license term. 6.0 Financial Implications Estimates for providing closed captioning of Council and Standing Committee meetings are varied and dependent upon the option selected and the number and length of meetings. A full Request for Proposal (R.F.P.) process will be required to confirm exact pricing for this project if approved by Council. There is currently no budget to provide closed captioning services. The option being implemented by staff has no budget implications. 7.0 Relationship to the Oshawa Strategic Plan This report advances the Accountable Leadership goal of the Oshawa Strategic Plan. Paul D. Ralph, BES, RPP, MCIP, Commissioner, Development Services Department Beverly Hendry, Commissioner, Corporate Services Department Attachments

16 CORP Thornton Road North, Oshawa, ON UJ 8LS Attachment 1 CORP John Henry, Mayor City of Oshawa SO Centre Street South Oshawa, ON LlH 327 April 6, 2016 Dear Mr. Henry, We are writing in regard to accessibility for Deaf and hard of hearing individuals to view town and city council meetings. We have communicated in the past about our request for captioning for televised council meetings and to date, this has not yet been provided. Last year, we took the opportunity to visit one of your council meetings. We would like to thank you for providing us with sign language interpreting for the meeting - they were excellent Requesting and booking the interpreters was also easy and efficient. The setting for us to be able to view the meeting in its entirety was excellent too as well. We would still like to emphasize that captioning is still our preference. We would really appreciate viewing council meetings from the comfort and convenience of our homes, just like any other taxpayers in the Durham Region, without needing the additional arrangements for sign language interpreting. We hope that you will stilj be aware about the need to provide full accessibility for your council meetings and will undertake measures in working with Rogers to ensure that this will be provided to us as soon as possible. With thanks, ~ Kim Reid Chair 17

17 , 1 cc: Oshawa Accessibility Advisory Council cc: Lynda Lawson, Accessibility Policy Advisor cc: Gary Malkowski, Vice President, Stakeholder and Employer Relations, The Canadian Hearing Society cc: Julie Middleton, Program Manager, Counselling Services, The Canadian Hearing Society cc: Durham Deaf Accessibility Committee- Don Kinsley, Veronica Bickle, Gordon Ryall, Beverley Dooley, Mike Finnegan, Edgar Daniell and Michael Austin 18

18 Attachment 2 CORP Area Municipality Closed Captioning Survey Function Clarington Oshawa Whitby Ajax Pickering Scugog Uxbridge Brock Durham Live webstreamed meetings No Yes Council/ Committees Pilot Yes Council/ 2 Committees No No No No No Yes Council/ Committee of the Whole Closed N/A No No N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A No captioned Pre-recorded meetings on website Audio only Council/ Committees Yes Council/ Committee No Yes Council/ Committee Yes Council/ Committees Yes Council/ Committee No No Yes Webstreamed Yes Yes N/A Yes YouTube Yes Yes YouTube No N/A Yes Closed captioned No No N/A Some No No No N/A No

19 Attachment 3 CORP City Meeting Statistics Body Number of meetings in 2015 Average Meeting Length* City Council Corporate Services Committee Development Services Committee 37 Total 19 Total 13 regular 24 special 13 regular 6 special 16 Total 13 regular 3 special 2 h 30 min Regular 3 h Special 2 h 15 min 2 h 15 min Regular 2 h Special 2 h 45 min 49 min Regular 58 min Special 7 min Planning Act Public Meetings 6 Total 1 h 15 min Community Services Committee 14 Total 13 regular 1 special 54 min Regular 58 min Special 13 min Finance Committee 16 Total 13 regular 3 special 52 min Regular 38 min Special 2 h Joint Committee 1 Total (DSC and FIN) 2 h 45 min 109 (separate meetings that would now have web Total Meetings in 2015: streams) *Times longer than 1 hour have been rounded up to the nearest quarter hour.

20 Corporate Services Committee Meeting CORP Attachment 2 Minutes from Corporate Service Committee Meeting held on December 9, 2016 December 9, 2016 Minutes of the thirteenth meeting of the Corporate Services Committee for 2016, held to finish to the business from December 5, 2016, in the Committee Meeting Room, Council Building, Oshawa Civic Administration Complex on Friday, December 9, 2016 at 9:30 a.m. Present: Also Present: Absent: Councillor McQuaid-England, Chair Councillor Sanders, Vice-Chair Councillor Diamond, Member Councillor Kerr, Member M. Medeiros, Manager, Support Services, City Clerk Services J. Sharma, City Manager B. Hendry, Commissioner, Corporate Services Department A. Brouwer, City Clerk D. Potts, City Solicitor J. Conlin, Director, Municipal Law Enforcement and Licensing Services K. Man, Policy and Research Manager C. Rutherford, Manager, Licensing and Support Services K. Feagan, Manager, Municipal Law Enforcement Services P. Ralph, Commissioner, Development Services Department J. Shestowsky, Manager, Administration and Accessibility Services L. Lawson, Accessibility Program Coordinator D. Mawby, Director, Information Technology Services Councillor Neal, member Mayor Henry, Ex Officio The Chair advised the purpose of today s meeting is to continue with the Committee s unfinished business from the December 5, 2016 meeting. Moved by Councillor Sanders, That the rules of procedure be waived in order to hear the delegations of Veronica Bickel and Gord Ryall concerning Report CORP Carried on a 2/3 vote of members present The Chair introduced Glenda Messier and Tara Godfrey, A.S.L. interpreters for the delegations. Gord Ryall and Veronica Bickel addressed the Corporate Services Committee in opposition to the recommendation contained in Report CORP stating the Durham Deaf Accessibility Committee supports Option B as outlined in the report and supported by the Oshawa Accessibility Advisory Committee and requested Council endorse this option. Gord Ryall further stated the City has an obligation to support deaf and hard of hearing citizens the same way it supports other

21 Corporate Services Committee Meeting CORP Attachment 2 Minutes from Corporate Service Committee Meeting held on December 9, 2016 December 9, 2016 Minutes of the thirteenth meeting of the Corporate Services Committee for 2016, held to finish to the business from December 5, 2016, in the Committee Meeting Room, Council Building, Oshawa Civic Administration Complex on Friday, December 9, 2016 at 9:30 a.m. Present: Also Present: Absent: Councillor McQuaid-England, Chair Councillor Sanders, Vice-Chair Councillor Diamond, Member Councillor Kerr, Member M. Medeiros, Manager, Support Services, City Clerk Services J. Sharma, City Manager B. Hendry, Commissioner, Corporate Services Department A. Brouwer, City Clerk D. Potts, City Solicitor J. Conlin, Director, Municipal Law Enforcement and Licensing Services K. Man, Policy and Research Manager C. Rutherford, Manager, Licensing and Support Services K. Feagan, Manager, Municipal Law Enforcement Services P. Ralph, Commissioner, Development Services Department J. Shestowsky, Manager, Administration and Accessibility Services L. Lawson, Accessibility Program Coordinator D. Mawby, Director, Information Technology Services Councillor Neal, member Mayor Henry, Ex Officio The Chair advised the purpose of today s meeting is to continue with the Committee s unfinished business from the December 5, 2016 meeting. Moved by Councillor Sanders, That the rules of procedure be waived in order to hear the delegations of Veronica Bickel and Gord Ryall concerning Report CORP Carried on a 2/3 vote of members present The Chair introduced Glenda Messier and Tara Godfrey, A.S.L. interpreters for the delegations. Gord Ryall and Veronica Bickel addressed the Corporate Services Committee in opposition to the recommendation contained in Report CORP stating the Durham Deaf Accessibility Committee supports Option B as outlined in the report and supported by the Oshawa Accessibility Advisory Committee and requested Council endorse this option. Gord Ryall further stated the City has an obligation to support deaf and hard of hearing citizens the same way it supports other

22 people with different disabilities, stating that it doesn t matter what other municipalities are doing concerning close captioning and requested the Committee to keep in mind the obligation to provide access for everyone, including those who are deaf and hard of hearing who happen to have unique needs. The Committee questioned Gord Ryall and Veronica Bickel. Discussion Agenda Matters Excluded From Consent Agenda CORP Closed Captioning for Webstreamed Council and Committee Meetings Recommendation defined.) (Referred See Page Error! Bookmark not That the Corporate Services Committee recommend to City Council: That Report CORP dated December 1, 2016 concerning Closed Captioning for Webstreaming Council and Standing Committee Meetings be received for information. The following recommendation was now before the Committee: That Report CORP dated December 1, 2016 concerning Closed Captioning for Webstreaming Council and Standing Committee Meetings be received for information. Moved by Councillor Diamond, That Report CORP be referred back to staff to further research municipalities such as Oakville, Halton Hills and Windsor as to possible opportunities to further enhance our communication with the public, as well as further contact with the appropriate provincial ministries for technical guidance and financial resources. Carried.