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Many separate accessibility standards development processes exist in Canada. Ontario, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia all have laws that mandate creation of provincial accessibility standards. In addition, the Accessible Canada Act mandates accessibility standards that apply to organizations under federal jurisdiction. However, the government of Canada intends to coordinate federal and provincial accessibility laws. Moreover, the third review of the AODA recommends that the Ontario government should support this aim by aligning its accessibility law, the AODA, with the laws of other provinces and the country. If the governments work together to make these laws more similar, the AODA standards development process may change to align with laws in other places across the country. In this article, we will explore accessible information and communication standards in Ontario and Manitoba.

Accessible Information and Communication Standards in Ontario and Manitoba. Read full article.

Under the Information and Communications Standards of the AODA, organizations must make their websites and web-based apps accessible. Organizations must do so by making their websites compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Level AA. This international standard gives web developers guidelines on how to make their webpages accessible to computer users with disabilities. However, updates to the Information and Communications Standards could require organizations to comply with more recent versions of WCAG. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) released an improved version of these guidelines, version 2.1, in 2018. Moreover, the W3C will release WCAG version 2.2 in September 2022. This article outlines WCAG 2.1’s web accessibility guidelines for content that appears and disappears.

Web Accessibility Guidelines for Content that Appears and Disappears. Read full article.

The Third Review of the AODA recommends updates to the Information and Communications Standards, including updated web accessibility requirements. The standards currently require public-sector organizations, and large private-sector organizations, to make their web content accessible. Organizations must do so by complying with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0), level AA. However, updating AODA requirements for web accessibility would mean mandating organizations’ compliance with more recent versions of WCAG.

Updating AODA Requirements for Web Accessibility. Read full article.

Currently, no AODA standards require provincial or municipal elections in Ontario to be accessible. However, the Third Review of the AODA recommends the creation of standards mandating accessibility in politics and elections. In this article, we will outline the need for accessible information in political campaigns.

Accessible Information in Political Campaigns

Before voters can cast their ballots at polling stations, they must decide which candidate to vote for. This decision should be based on the contents of all candidates’ political campaigns, including:

Accessible Information in Political Campaigns. Read full article.

Currently, no AODA standards require houses and apartments to be accessible. However, the Third Review of the AODA recommends the creation of standards mandating accessibility in housing. In this article, we will outline the need for accessible information in housing.

Accessible Information in Housing

AODA housing standards should mandate that people with disabilities have access to the information they need to buy or rent housing. For instance, listings of houses to buy and apartments to rent should be available in accessible formats, such as:

Accessible Information in Housing. Read full article.