AODA and Canada's Web Accessibility Laws

1. Canada Web Accessibility Laws By Adam Akinyemi

2. Introduction As reported by Statistics Canada’s in 2017, about 22% of the Canadian population aged 15 years and over (around 6.2 million people) suffer from one form of disability. As a matter of fact, millions of Canadians have at least one disability. The most common disability types are related to mobility, flexibility, pain and mental health. That is physical, sensory, cognitive, or mental health-related. About 13% of youth aged 15 to 24 years have some type of disability while disability ranged from 20% among Canadian adults aged 25 to 64 years and 38% of people aged 65 years and over suffer from one form of disability.

3. Canada Web Accessibility Laws Canada now has numerous digital accessibility laws and policies as its Government and many provinces are working towards making Canada a more inclusive, barrier-free country. The Government of Canada has: The Standard on Web Accessibility The Accessible Canada Act (Bill C-81) Canadian provinces have laws for digital accessibility such as: Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) The Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA) Nova Scotia Accessibility Act British Columbia Accessibility Act (Bill M 219) [Proposed]

4. By the Government of Canada The Standard on Web Accessibility The four standards are: Standard on Web Accessibility - came into full effect on 31 July 2013 Standard on Optimizing Websites and Applications for Mobile Devices Standard on Web Usability Standard on Web Interoperability Created in 2011 to replace Common Look and Feel 2.0 (CLF 2.0) Standards for the Internet, Canada’s standard on web accessibility requires all departments, agencies, branches and departmental corporations of the Government of Canada to render their web to meet the five WCAG 2.0 Level AA conformance requirements. The Government of Canada aims to achieve uniform application of standard guidelines and best practices to ensure its websites and web applications are accessible to all users through these standards.

5. The Accessible Canada Act (Bill C-81) The Accessible Canada Act became law after receiving Royal Assent on June 21, 2019. It is a Canada-wide accessibility act that directly falls on the Canadian parliament, Canada’s federal public sector, Crown Corporations, Canadian Forces, and all federally regulated organizations including those in the private sector. It ensures people with disabilities are not restricted from the procurement of goods and services, built environment, delivering programs and services, employment, transportation, and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), including digital content and the technologies used to access it. ACA requires organizations to follow the international standard, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA Failure to comply could result in a fine of up to $250,000.

6. By the Government of Canada Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act became law in 2005. The legislation broke down its five standard accessibility categories into information and communications; customer service; transportation; employment; and design of public spaces. The Information and Communications Standards encompasses websites, mobile applications, and digital content, and it mandates private or non-profit organizations with more than 50 employees and all public sector organizations to render their digital content in such a way that they are accessible to people with disabilities. It references the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA (other than criteria 1.2.4 and 1.2.5) as a technical guideline. Failure of all public websites and web content posted after January 1, 2012, to comply by January 1, 2021, could result in fines of up to $100,000 for corporations or $50,000 for individuals or unincorporated organizations.

7. The Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA) The Accessibility for Manitobans Act was enacted in 2013 It is also targeted at restricting barriers to five accessibility standards, among which is the Accessible Information and Communications Standard. The ICT standard mandates websites, mobile applications, and digital content of public and private sector organizations in Manitoba to be accessible to people with different forms of disabilities. It requires all public and private organizations in the province to follow the international guidelines and best practices for web accessibility, World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) WCAG in order to make their ICT accessible to all.

8. Nova Scotia Accessibility Act The Nova Scotia’s Accessibility Act, also known as Bill 59 became law in April 2017. Bill 59 restricts barriers to five accessibility standards, including one for information and communication technologies. The legislation requires organizations and businesses to make their websites and digital content to be inclusive enough to accommodate individuals with disabilities. The Accessibility Act also requires organizations in the province to follow the globally accepted standard for web accessibility, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 AA requirements. Failure to comply could result in a fine of up to $250,000.

9. ACA, AODA AMA, and Bill 59 Compliance To be ACA, AODA, AMA and Bill 59 compliant, your website, apps, and web content must be WCAG 2.0 AA compliant by being: Perceivable – Content, information and interfaces must be presented in a way that all users can easily perceive, including those with visual, or cognitive impairments. Operable – Users of all abilities must be able to navigate the user interface, even with assistive technologies. Understandable – All content and design within a website should be easily readable and understandable by all users. Robust – All content on a website should be able to keep pace with assistive technologies and improved standards. In general, the Canada web accessibility laws focus on public sector bodies but splashed to mandate private sector organizations to make their websites accessible.

10. Conclusion Together, The Standard on Web Accessibility, ACA, AODA, AMA and Bill 59 all serve as the major web accessibility laws in Canada and comprehensively address accessibility issues across the provinces. The web accessibility laws achieve accessibility by preventing and removing barriers that disabled people with respect to Information and Communications Technology. All the legislations ensure government organizations and private businesses that provide services to the public use the WCAG 2.0 checklist to provide digital content that is perceivable, operable, and understandable, thereby greatly improving access to individuals with disabilities in Canada and its provinces. Compliance with the laws creates a greater variety of accessible products while enabling businesses to extend market reach to the disabled people, protect their brand reputation and avoid financial implication in forms of legal fines.