The AODA has requirements for web accessibility, as well as requirements for the procurement of self-service kiosks. However, the third review of the AODA recommends that future AODA standards should align with existing standards in other parts of the country.
For instance, Accessibility Standards Canada (ASC) has adopted European standards for accessibility in information and communication technology (ICT). Future AODA standards may include some or all of these guidelines and requirements to make ICT products and services more accessible. In this article, we explore guidelines in the federal standards for accessible software.
Accessible Software
Criteria in the federal ICT standards for accessible webpages and documents also apply to software.
For example, software includes:
- Authoring tools, or software that allows people to create content
- Platform software, such as:
- Operating systems
- Web browsers
- Virtual machines
- User interface software, or systems that allow people to complete certain tasks
- Assistive technology software, such as:
- Screen readers
- Screen magnification
- Speech recognition
- Mobile applications
These criteria apply to software that people can use with assistive technology. On the other hand, software with functionality that is closed to assistive technology must comply with requirements for ICT with closed functionality.
In addition to criteria for web accessibility, the federal ICT standards have other requirements that only apply to software. Many of these criteria are specific to platform software, user interface software, or authoring tools. They require software to function with assistive technologies in specific ways. For example, one criterion requires software to have tables with headers, rows, and columns that are readable with assistive technology. Likewise, an authoring tool that includes templates must have at least one (1) template to create products that conform to the criteria for accessible webpages and documents. Similarly, an authoring tool with an accessibility checker must recommend how the user should repair elements that do not comply with these criteria.