Accessibility

Our commitment

The City of Castlegar believes everyone, including people with disabilities, should be able to use this website, read City documents, attend Council meetings, and access every service the City provides. Accessibility is not a feature we add at the end. It is part of how we design and maintain the site and our facilities.

This commitment is shaped by the Accessible British Columbia Act, the BC Human Rights Code, and the international Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Website accessibility

This site is built to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Specific features include:

• Keyboard navigation: every interactive element can be reached and used without a mouse.
• Screen reader support: semantic HTML, ARIA landmarks, and descriptive alt text on informational images.
• Colour contrast: body text and interactive controls meet AA contrast ratios.
• Resizable text: the site scales cleanly up to 200% zoom without losing functionality.
• Reduced motion: animations and scroll effects respect the operating-system prefers-reduced-motion setting.
• Skip links and visible focus: keyboard users can skip past navigation and always see where focus is.
• Form labels and error messages read correctly with assistive technology.

Documents and alternate formats

The City is working to ensure new documents are published with accessible PDF tagging, real text rather than scanned images, and clear headings. Some older PDFs in the archive are scanned originals and may not be fully screen-reader friendly.

If you need a City document in a different format, contact City Hall and we will work with you to find a format that works. Email info@castlegar.ca or call 250-365-7227 with the document title and what you need.

City Hall and public meetings

City Hall is at 460 Columbia Avenue. Council meets the first and third Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the Community Forum, #101 to 445 13th Avenue. Meetings are open to the public in person and broadcast on Zoom. Recordings are archived on the council meetings page.

If you plan to address Council and need an accommodation (interpreter, reserved accessible seating, materials in advance), contact Corporate Services ahead of time so arrangements can be made: 250-365-8953, nbrown@castlegar.ca.

Accessible parking and transit

The SPARC BC Accessible Parking Permit is recognized in Castlegar. For specific accessible parking locations at City facilities, contact the relevant facility or call City Hall.

BC Transit West Kootenay operates low-floor accessible buses in Castlegar and the handyDART door-to-door service for residents who cannot use conventional transit.

If you encounter a barrier

We want to hear about it. Whether the issue is on this website, in a document, at City Hall, or anywhere else the City interacts with you, please tell us. Every report gets logged, triaged, and acted on.

The fastest way: email info@castlegar.ca with a quick description of the barrier and where you ran into it. Or use the site feedback form.

What we are working on

Under the Accessible British Columbia Act, every BC public body is required to develop an Accessibility Plan and an Abilities Awareness Advisory Committee. Castlegar has established its Abilities Awareness Advisory Committee (see council committees) and is working on the public Accessibility Plan.

Ongoing accessibility work also includes re-issuing scanned legacy PDFs as accessible, tagged versions and continuing to review the website against WCAG 2.1 AA.