On this page

• Overview
• Designating a person to receive feedback
• Means of receiving feedback: overview
• Receiving feedback by mail
• Receiving feedback by telephone
• Receiving feedback by email
• Receiving feedback by other means an organization uses to communicate with the public
• Receiving anonymous feedback

Overview

The description of your accessibility feedback process must explain how your organization will receive and deal with feedback about your accessibility plan or about barriers people encounter.

You can read the guidance sections on dealing with feedback and on publishing the feedback process description. This section provides tips, recommendations and best practices for establishing a process to receive feedback.

As you establish this process, here are some preliminary steps that we recommend:

• review your organization’s existing process for receiving feedback on other topics
  • confirm whether your organization already has the capacity to receive, capture and acknowledge feedback by any means you use to communicate with the public
  • you may be able to adapt some of this process to feedback about barriers or the implementation of your accessibility plan
• consider whether your feedback process description explains how you will receive and acknowledge feedback through any means of communication your organization may use:
  • for example, if you allow people to submit feedback through email forms or comment boxes on your website, explain how you will acknowledge receipt

Organizations may want to consider creating service standards for how – and how quickly – people can expect you to acknowledge their feedback. It could also include setting a budget for your feedback process.

Setting a budget may help you ensure that your feedback process remains accessible, consistent, and manageable. Budget planning for this process could help you:

• identify and allocate resources to improve how you receive and act on common or recurring feedback
• adapt or revise your feedback process in response to suggestions from employees, clients, or other persons who deal with your organization
• remain consistent in upholding any service standards you set for how quickly you will acknowledge feedback and what that acknowledgement will involve

Designating a person to receive feedback

The regulations require that you designate a person responsible for receiving feedback on your organization’s behalf. You must provide that person’s position title under the “General” heading of your organization’s accessibility plans and progress reports.

You could consider designating a person who is involved in preparing and implementing your accessibility plan, or who works closely with those who do. The person you designate may be responsible for activities that include:

• organizing feedback submissions and any notes about them
• analyzing feedback contents
• forwarding feedback to the relevant divisions and persons within your organisation for their consideration
• preserving electronic or print copies of feedback, including feedback you receive by telephone or by other means your organization uses to communicate with the public
• using feedback to help identify, prevent and remove barriers in a timely manner

Means of receiving feedback: overview

Your organization’s feedback process must allow people to submit feedback by certain methods of communication. You should take into account how people will submit it, and what you must do in response, including how you collect it. You should also plan for how you will allow people to submit feedback anonymously.

Your process for receiving feedback sets the terms for how people can submit that feedback. A clear description of this will reassure contributors that they are submitting feedback to the right person and place. It can also help your organization keep track of all of the feedback and other input you may receive.

Your process must establish how people can submit feedback to you by:

• mail
• telephone
• email
• any other means that your organization uses to communicate with the public

Receiving feedback by mail

Some people may send you feedback by mail or courier.

You must provide the mailing address of your publicly accessible business(es) to which people can deliver such feedback. This mailing address must appear under the “General” heading of your accessibility plans and progress reports. Your feedback process description should include this address, and provide any additional details that people may need to mail you feedback.

Procedure:

• your procedures will determine how you retain relevant details (such as the date of receipt or information about the contributor) about mail feedback
• these may include your procedures for retaining envelopes, packaging, or other accompanying materials
• they also may include procedures for how employees handle mail feedback that is not a written document (such as a video or photographs)

If you have established procedures for how employees will handle mail feedback, you could include details about these procedures in the description as well.

Receiving feedback by telephone

Some people may send you feedback via the telephone number you provide.

Procedure:

• your procedures will determine how you retain accurate copies of such feedback, especially when it involves a conversation rather than the contributor leaving a message
• ensure employees receive training in how to create a transcript, if necessary, either electronically or manually
• employees should also allow the contributor to confirm that the employee has captured their feedback accurately

People who are deaf or are hard of hearing can provide feedback in American Sign Language (ASL), Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ) or Indigenous Sign Language (ISL) via telephone using a Video Relay Service (VRS). These services are available to all Canadians at no cost. Read more about how the VRS works.

You must provide the telephone number that people can use to submit feedback. This telephone number must appear under the “General” heading of your accessibility plans and progress reports. Your feedback process description should include this number, and provide any additional details that people may need to submit feedback by telephone.

For example, you could:

• explain whether someone is responsible for answering calls to that number, or whether calls will go straight to a message recording service
• provide the hours of availability for anyone responsible for answering
• tell potential contributors whether they will have to navigate an options menu when they call, and if so, what options they could choose

If you have established procedures for how employees will handle telephone feedback, you could include details about these procedures in the description as well.

Receiving feedback by email

Some people may send you feedback by email.

You must provide an email address through which people can submit such feedback. This email address must appear under the “General” heading of your accessibility plans and progress reports. Your feedback process description should include this email address, and provide any additional details that people may need to submit feedback by email.

For example, you could:

• explain whether there are limits on the size and type of files that people can attach to feedback they submit
• describe how people can send feedback through an email form on your main digital platform, if you provide such a form

Procedure:

• your procedures will determine how you receive and store copies of such feedback
• these may include your procedures for how employees handle email feedback that includes video, audio, or graphic attachments
• they also may include your procedures for retaining relevant contributor information, including through each email’s unique header

If you have established procedures for how employees will handle email feedback, you could include details about these procedures in the description as well.

Receiving feedback by other means an organization uses to communicate with the public

Your organization may communicate with the public by means other than mail, telephone, or email. If so, your feedback process must account for how your organization will receive and deal with feedback someone submits by those means.

Provided your organization uses them to communicate with the public, such means may include:

• an in-person service desk that the public uses to interact with your organization
• a web portal or other digital platform that belongs to your organization
• an active social media account on a third-party digital platform like Twitter or Facebook

Regardless of what other means you use to communicate with the public, here are some general principles to keep in mind:

• your feedback process description should set out how people can submit feedback through these other means
• this description could include the URLs of any digital platforms and social media accounts that you use for communicating with the public
• you could provide any additional details that someone might need to submit feedback through these other means, for example:
  • if there is an in-person service desk, list its hours of operation
  • if there is a social media account, set out how contributors can provide feedback publicly or through private messages
  • if there is a digital platform, and especially a third-party digital platform, remind contributors about any registration or security requirements
• if your organization communicates through a digital platform or social media account, we recommend you make sure you have someone monitoring that platform and keeping track of submissions

Procedure:

• your procedures will depend on what other means your organization uses in this way
• these may include how and when employees monitor or engage in these other means, and how you acknowledge feedback you receive through them

If you have established procedures for how employees will handle such feedback, you could include details about these procedures in the description as well.

Receiving anonymous feedback

Your feedback process description must explain that people can provide feedback anonymously. Your feedback process description should explain how contributors can provide feedback without having to disclose their identity.

Anonymous feedback can be beneficial for your organization, your employees, and the public. It can allow certain contributors to provide honest feedback without fear of possible repercussions for doing so. These contributors might include:

• employees, including those with disabilities, who have concerns about privacy
• individuals belonging to equity-seeking groups who are more likely to experience certain kinds of barriers
  • read the guidance annex on cultural and intersectional considerations
• persons with disabilities who are concerned that stigma may be attached to disability or requests for accessibility measures

Your organization does not need to acknowledge the receipt of anonymous feedback, but both identified and anonymous feedback are equally valid and important.

Your progress report may describe how you took any type of feedback into consideration, identified or anonymous. You must also retain electronic or print copies of anonymous feedback for at least 7 years.