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 webpages and documents.
Accessible Webpages and Documents
The AODA’s Information and Communications Standards currently require public-sector organizations, and large private-sector organizations, to conform to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0), level AA. For example, version 2.0 requires:
- Consistent layouts
- Content that users can perceive in different ways, including:
- Compatibility with various assistive technologies, including:
- Accessible ways for users to input information
- Ways to avoid online accessibility barriers, such as time limits or moving information
Moreover, version 2.0 also requires pre-recorded audio descriptions for videos, as well as live captions for audio and videos. On the other hand, the Information and Communications Standards do not require conformance with these two (2) WCAG criteria. However, the federal ICT standards include conformance with these two (2) criteria, and all other criteria under version 2.0 at level AA.
In addition, the federal ICT standards include conformance with guidelines at level AA in a more up-to-date edition of WCAG, version 2.1. For example, WCAG version 2.1 includes guidelines for:
- Display in portrait or landscape orientation
- Online forms
- Designing text users can reformat
- Non-text colour contrast
- Content that appears and disappears
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Pointer gestures
- Status messages
Accessible Documents
Furthermore, criteria in the federal ICT standards for accessible webpages also apply to documents.
For example, documents include files that people can download from the Internet and open with another program, such as a:
- Media player
- Editor or reader, like Microsoft Word or an Adobe program
For instance, types of documents include:
- Emails
- Spreadsheets
- Presentations
- Pictures
- Books
- Letters
- Videos
Moreover, some documents may consist of one (1) file. On the other hand, a document may consist of two (2) or more files, such as a video with a caption file that opens when a person plays the video.
Finally, documents must be accessible even if they include protective features, such as:
- Passwords
- Encryption
- Digital signatures
- Watermarks
The AODA may one day change to align with guidelines in the federal standards for accessible information and communication technology (ICT), including requirements for accessible webpages and documents. Therefore, organizations should be proactive and ensure that their webpages and documents conform to WCAG version 2.1.