AODA Website Compliance Requirements for Ontario

by Riley Claire Senior Software Test Engineer

Specific web accessibility requirements are established by Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) so that organizations in Ontario can tactfully implement it. The core focus of AODA compliance is to ensure equal access to all Ontario’s citizens including the disabled community. The Ontario government has made stringent laws that state that all those organizations (profit and not-for-profit) that come under the AODA should abide by it. If need be required, professional training programs are designed to impart all the knowledge about AODA in a structured manner. In this article, you will learn about Ontario’s AODA website compliance requirements.

What is the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)?

The AODA came into effect in 2005 to ensure that all Ontarians, including disabled citizens, have equal access to facilities, resources, services and products, including those available online. This act aims to make the Ontario region fully accessible by 2025.

The specific organizations/individuals that need to comply with the AODA:

All non-profit organizations, businesses or public sector organizations with 50 or more employees should make their public websites accessible. The portal Ontario.ca can be referred to ascertain how the employees can be counted.            

All new websites or refreshed sites must abide by AODA compliance in Ontario. A new web address is provided to a new website, whereas the same web address is kept with a significantly refreshed website. Substantial changes that may impact the overall feel and look, navigation or content may be reflected.

The following are the requirements for AODA website compliance:

1. Accessibility needs to be improved through WCAG: Organizations should take into consideration the following accessibility requirements so that they can comply with AODA:

·       The website’s non-text elements, such as images, need to have alternative text

·       The meaning of the content must not depend on being able to perceive object size, sounds, colors etc.

·       Individuals must be able to control, stop or pause the volume of any audio that plays for more than three seconds

·       Links and web pages should have self-explanatory titles

·       Resizing text as and when possible

·       A keyboard should be used for working out website functions

·       If certain functions have a short time limit, then individuals must be able to extend or control the time limit

·       The website must contain nothing that flashes rapidly.

If the above-mentioned areas need to be addressed, the AODA requires that the public- facing websites meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level A and Level AA criteria. If the website needs to comply with AODA compliance Ontario standards, then the web content must conform to WCAG success criteria.

WCAG 2.1 is the newer version that includes all the WCAG 2.0 requirements with additional standards for website accessibility. Though AODA compliance requirements can be met by WCAG 2.0, but if the organizations still want to implement the latest version to protect their accessibility efforts, then they can opt for the latest version of WCAG.           

2. AODA compliance training: For organizations to be AODA compliant, organizations must put in strategic efforts to improve accessibility. Upon that, organizations should also provide training to their contractors, volunteers, directors and staff to ensure that these individuals also know how to comply with AODA.

Section 7 of the law outlines AODA compliance training. This training should be imparted to the necessary teams and a diligent record of all the training should be kept systematically. If the accessibility policies of the organizations change, then the training needs to be updated. The Ontario Human Rights Code should also be included in the training and how it protects disabled people from discrimination should also be stated.

Accessibility fundamentals such as content writing, links and buttons, color and images should be addressed in the accessibility training.

Conclusion: If you are looking forward to getting accessibility testing services for your specific project, get connected with a world-renowned software testing services company that will provide you with tactical testing solution that align with your project-specific requirements. 

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Created on Feb 9th 2023 00:29. Viewed 227 times.

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