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:
- Develop an accessible website
- Test your current website for accessibility
- Provide you with accessibility tools and resources
- Provide ongoing website maintenance to meet accessibility, or
- Train your staff to maintain your website up to the WCAG 2.0 standards