Perceived training needs of municipal stakeholders in Quebec (Canada) relating to universal design action plans

Abstract

Quebec (Canada) municipalities with ≥15 000 inhabitants are legally required to produce an annual action plan to reduce barriers encountered by person with disabilities. Actual tools for universal design are diverse and not harmonised between cities, leading to important training needs. We thus aimed to identify priority training needs among municipalities of all sizes. We use a two-phase sequential descriptive design starting with an online survey (Phase 1) anchored into dimensions of inclusive access followed by focus group discussions (Phase 2). Descriptive statistics and a semi-inductive content analysis for qualitative data were used. A total of n = 114 municipalities responded to Phase 1 including nearly half (37/78) of municipalities with a population ≥15 000 inhabitants. The top five priority needs were 1) Needs assessment, 2) General knowledge, 3) Practical and organisational knowledge, 4) Design/planning phase and 5) Know-how, attitudes, mentalities, culture of the municipalities. Participants (n = 10) to Phase 2 insisted on their needs for practical knowledge, including authentic, contextualised examples coming from other cities. No major differences in needs to prioritise emerged when contrasting larger and smaller size’s municipalities. Results highlighted a variety of training needs, including the importance of prioritising practical contextualised knowledge anchored in authentic experience.