AODA Requirements

Making your website accessible for people with disabilities may be a mandatory requirement for your company if you do business in Ontario. While this may seem like another headache, accessible websites are in fact better optimized for search engines and allow you to approach 1.85 million disabled Ontarians.

As of January 1, 2012 all government websites in Ontario must comply with Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). AODA act is built upon Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 that are published by the W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative.

Website accessibility timelines for Ontario businesses

The table bellow shows the time lines for making websites accessible for Ontarians with disabilities.


The Government of Ontario and the Legislative Assembly
By January 1, 2012	New internet and intranet websites must conform with WCAG 2.0 Level AA other than Captions (Live), and Audio Descriptions (Pre-recorded).
By January 1, 2016	All internet websites and web content must conform with WCAG 2.0 Level AA, other than Captions (Live), and Audio Descriptions (Pre-recorded).
By January 1, 2020	All internet and intranet websites and web content must conform with WCAG 2.0 Level AA.

Designated public sector organizations and large organizations (more than 50 employees)
By January 1, 2014	New internet websites and web content on those sites must conform with WCAG 2.0, Level A.
By January 1, 2021	All internet websites and web content must conform with WCAG 2.0 Level AA, other than Captions (Live), and Audio Descriptions (Pre-recorded).

Small organizations
	No need to comply to WCAG 2.0 standards

* A new website is “either a website with a new domain name or a website with an existing domain name undergoing a significant refresh”.

How we can help

While accessible websites do not require a special web system, you will need services of an experienced web developer to build accessible website. If you plan to maintain your website internally some training will be required as well. We have an extensive knowledge and experience in developing accessible website and can help you: