The Ultimate AODA Compliance Checklist for Ontario Websites

Ontario Websites AODA Compliance Checklist

Imagine you show up at a concert for your favourite artist and the sound system is not working. Or you attend an art exhibit at your local gallery and none of the lights are turned on. That’s what the browsing experience is like for individuals trying to navigate the web with a common disability.

According to the provincial Ministry of Community and Social Services, one in seven individuals in Ontario have some sort of disability and this number is expected to increase dramatically as the population begins to age.

What is AODA and Why Does it Matter?

AODA stands for the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act which applies to non-profit organizations, private sector businesses and any qualifying websites within the province of Ontario, Canada with more than 50 employees along with public sector organizations. The act states that newly launched public websites or significantly renovated websites posted after January 1, 2012, must be AODA compliant to Level A (https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/05a11).

The goal of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) is to try and remove barriers for these individuals, including many of the common issues they encounter online. In fact, AODA policies require that businesses in Ontario abide by a number of website standards. Non-compliance can result in fines of up to $50,000 per day for Directors and Officers and fines of up to $100,000 per day for the corporation.

Ensuring Your Website is Accessible

Website content should be available to everyone and should never exclude people who might require assistive technologies or an enhanced structured layout to aid with those with visual impairments.

Although the AODA standards cover a wide range of accessibility issues, we are focused on web accessibility features only. The Integrated Accessibility Standards (IAS) deals with employment, transportation and communication compliance for public or private sector organizations with 50 or more employees. The IAS ensures that any new website design and content conforms to the second level of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 by January 1, 2021. Although WCAG 2.0 is the current standard that is required, you may choose to go beyond and focus on WCAG 2.1 standards.

At this time, anything posted on your website prior to 2012 is not required to meet these guidelines nor is an internal website. However, it is a good idea to make any changes to all content, to be consistent and in case you are required to change it in the future. Fortunately, website design techniques and technologies are flexible enough to incorporate most of these changes with minimal frustration.

We are including a high-level checklist of the various Web Content Accessibility Guidelines that your company website must have in order to meet AODA website compliance.

Web Content Accessibility Checklist

Accessible Text Alternatives

Your website should include text alternatives (alt tags) for non-text elements such as images and videos. Text alternatives also commonly called alt tags, make it possible for information to be easily processed in a variety of ways. For example, someone who cannot see an image can experience it through alternative text read aloud through synthesized speech. Or a person that cannot hear can read the captioning of a video or audio file to understand what the message is. These text descriptions can also help people understand the meaning of an information chart, animation, etc. and why you’ve included it on the page. Having text alternatives for non-text elements on your website also allows for search capabilities for these components.

Time-based Media

If your website has video content without audio, an audio file that describes the video can be included. This will allow those with visual impairments the ability to understand what is being conveyed. Note, if an audio file is provided as an alternative, it is not necessary to provide a text equivalent. Similarly, an audio only clip such as audio from a press conference or a speech should include a transcript to allow people to read the content. These alternatives are a great way to ensure that anyone can access the information on your site in a manner that suits their level of accessibility.

Adaptive Web Design

The design of your website should be adaptable for all assistive technologies. It is important that formatting is not embedded in a way that cannot be accessed by these aids. When looking at the layout of a website, there are certain elements that give you cues to the function of the element. For example, headers that use the same colour and font show you the various sections. This information needs to be set up in a way that can be determined by software and presented in various formats. For example, an auditory cue like a chime or different voice could indicate a new section.

Distinguishable Content

When deciding on the aesthetics of your website design, it’s important that you pay attention to how elements like font types, colour, and text sizes impact your content. Is the font easy to read and understand? Is the text in an image large enough to distinguish? If you have a background image, is there enough contrast between it and the foreground to allow the user to easily understand the message you are trying to convey? Likewise, if you have an audio file, is the background sound overpowering the main content? You also need to take special note of elements like link controls. You will want to make sure these are highly visible so that they naturally stand out from static text.