Make Your Space More Accessibile
Accessiblity improvements don't have to cost your organization a fortune.
Audit your Space's Accessibility
The Radical Access Mapping Project (RAMP), a community-based initiative launched in Vancouver in 2009 has a free audit template that you can use to perform a complete accessibility audit of your space. Auditing your space is an easy way to identify opportunities to improve. Having completed an accessibility audit also looks great when you apply for grants to fund accessibility improvements in your space.
Make Changes in Response to Your Audit
Often there are low-cost changes that you can make, such as making your space scent-free, ensuring that fluorescent lighting isn't the only option, or publishing complete accessibility information on your website, that will make your space more accessible. Use the results of the accessibility audit as a guide, and do what you can as you are able to make your space even just a little more accessible.
Proactively Provide Accessibility Information
There are a few local organizations that do a particularly excellent job of proactively providing accessibility information. We invite you to visit the accessibility pages of their websites (linked below), and to use these as a model to build out the accessibilty information that you provide.
Make your Space More Sustainable
Making your space more energy efficient can improve comfort, and lower your electric bill.
Identify Heat Loss with a Thermal Camera
Borrow a thermal leak detection camera from the Greater Victoria Public Library or Victoria Tool Library. Identify hot and cold spots in your space, showing air leaks or where insulation may be missing. Use this to expose heat loss and address it (which is usually quite inexpensive) to improve energy efficiency and save money!
Consult with a Business Energy Advisor
Request a free on-site consultation with a Business Energy Advisor. They will identify energy-saving opportunities, provide you with a report of your current technologies and the new, energy-efficient replacement options, and give you advice about next steps and financial incentives that you may qualify for.
Install a Bike Rack
Make people who ride bikes feel welcome in your space, reduce the need for vehicle parking, and help improve traffic and emissions in our region. Be sure that you install your rack so that bikes can be parked on either side of it (not against a wall) to maximize bike storage capacity.
You can also request that the City of Victoria install bike racks on public property near your space.
The Arts & Community Infrastructure Foundation is a registered charity located on the traditional territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən people, now known as the Songhees and Xʷsepsəm (Esquimalt) Nations.
Those of us who are uninvited settlers on these lands respectfully seek opportunities to unlearn oppressive, colonial practices that we have benefited from, and to follow the lead of the Indigenous stewards of these lands in returning to a sustainable way of life. We are committed to supporting Indigenous self-determination, supporting the decolonization of our society and institutions, and questioning existing power structures.