AODA website accessibility

AODA website accessibility rules, in short: if your organization is in the private or non-profit sector and has 50 or more employees in Ontario, your public website and web content are expected to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 at Level AA, with a few exceptions. Public sector organizations have similar obligations. Smaller businesses are not required to meet WCAG under this specific rule, but they still have some accessibility duties, and an accessible site is simply a better site for everyone.

This article explains the rules in plain English, based on the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and its Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation. I am a marketer and web developer, not a lawyer. Rules change and details matter, so for legal certainty about your organization, check with a lawyer or the Government of Ontario's official guidance.

Who the AODA website rules apply to

The website requirement sits in the Information and Communications Standards of the regulation. In practice:

The deadlines have already passed. For large organizations, new websites had to meet WCAG 2.0 Level A from 2014, and all public websites and web content posted after 2012 had to meet Level AA from January 1, 2021. The commonly cited exceptions are live captions and pre-recorded audio descriptions.

Organizations covered by the AODA also have reporting duties, such as filing accessibility compliance reports on a set schedule, depending on their size. The Act allows for penalties for non-compliance. Again, your lawyer or the official AODA resources are the place to confirm what applies to you.

What smaller Ontario businesses should still do

If you have fewer than 50 employees, the WCAG requirement does not apply to your website under this rule. That does not mean accessibility is irrelevant:

• Other AODA duties apply to most organizations, such as providing information in an accessible format or with communication supports when someone asks for it.
• Customers with disabilities are customers. Older clients, people with low vision, people using a keyboard instead of a mouse.
• Accessible sites are easier for everyone, including people on a phone in bright sunlight.
• You may grow past 50 employees, and building it right now is cheaper than retrofitting.

Beyond Ontario

The AODA is an Ontario law. Federally regulated organizations, such as banks, telecoms and interprovincial transport companies, fall under the Accessible Canada Act. Other provinces, including Manitoba, Nova Scotia and British Columbia, have their own accessibility legislation with standards being developed or phased in. If you operate in several provinces, ask your lawyer which rules apply where.

What WCAG 2.0 AA means in practice

WCAG is long and technical, but most of it comes down to a handful of principles. Here are the items that most often fail on small business sites:

1. Text alternatives. Meaningful images need alt text that describes them; decorative images should be marked as such.
2. Colour contrast. Light grey text on white, or white text on a pale photo, is hard to read for many people.
3. Keyboard access. Every menu, button and form must work without a mouse, with a visible focus outline.
4. Form labels and errors. Each field needs a label that screen readers can announce, and error messages should say what went wrong.
5. Headings in order. One main heading, then logical sub-headings, so people using screen readers can navigate.
6. Link text that makes sense. "Read more" ten times on a page is meaningless out of context.
7. Resizable text. Pages should work when text is enlarged, without content getting cut off.
8. Video and audio. Captions for pre-recorded video with speech; transcripts where useful.
9. No flashing content and no auto-moving carousels that cannot be paused.
10. Language set in the code, so assistive technology reads English and French correctly.

Newer versions, WCAG 2.1 and 2.2, add criteria mainly for mobile use and cognitive accessibility. Building to WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 AA generally covers 2.0 AA as well, so many developers aim for the newer version.

Overlays are not a shortcut

You may see tools that promise compliance by adding a widget or toolbar to your site. Many accessibility specialists and disability advocates are sceptical of these overlays: they rarely fix underlying problems like missing labels or poor structure, and they can interfere with the assistive technology people already use. Fixing the site itself is the more reliable path.

A practical plan

1. Test your current site. Free tools like WAVE or Lighthouse catch many issues; a keyboard-only walk-through catches more. Ideally, ask a person who uses a screen reader.
2. Fix templates first. One fix in the header, menu or form template fixes every page using it.
3. Fix content next. Alt text, link wording, heading order, contrast in images with text.
4. Publish an accessibility statement that explains your commitment and how people can ask for information in another format. My own site has an accessibility statement as an example.
5. Build accessibility into new work. Every new page and campaign landing page should be checked before launch.

If the current site fails on structure everywhere, rebuilding is often cheaper than retrofitting. I build new sites with accessibility in the plan from the start, as described on website accessibility, and a business website with me starts at $3,000 in Canadian dollars.

Do not forget documents and third-party tools

Accessibility does not stop at web pages. PDFs such as menus, price lists and application forms are often scanned images that screen readers cannot read at all. Embedded booking widgets, maps and chat tools come from other companies and may have their own problems. Where you can, publish important information as a normal web page rather than a PDF, and ask vendors of embedded tools what they do about accessibility before you sign up.

The business case, not just the legal one

An accessible site has clear headings, readable text, labelled forms and buttons that work everywhere. Those are the same things that help every visitor find what they need and contact you. So even if the AODA website rule does not apply to you, the work tends to pay back in better usability. If you want a second pair of eyes on your site, the first 30-minute consultation is free.