The first review of the AODA’s Information and communications Standards became public in 2020. In this review, the AODA Information and Communications Standards Development Committee outlines improvements to make information and communications accessible for people with disabilities by 2025. The Committee recommends changes to the Information and Communications Standards, to identify, remove, and prevent accessibility barriers in information. In addition, the Committee recommends an alternative system for developing, updating, and enforcing AODA standards. This new system would affect the Information and Communications Standards, as well as other existing and future standards. This article will discuss the Committee’s recommendations for clear web accessibility requirements throughout the AODA Standards.
Web Accessibility Requirements Throughout the AODA Standards
Under the Information and Communications Standards, organizations must make their websites, including web-based apps, accessible. This requirement applies to large private sector organizations, as well as public sector organizations with:
Organizations must ensure the accessibility of any web content that they own. In addition, any content that they do not own, but have control over as a third party, must also be accessible.
Organizations must fulfill this AODA requirement 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.
In addition, other AODA Standards require all public-sector organizations and large private-sector organizations to post information on their websites. For example, these mandates include requirements for online postings of documents such as:
- Multi-year accessibility plans
- Details about accessible trails
- Policies for accessible customer service, service animals, and support persons
- Policies for temporary service disruptions
- AODA customer service training policies
- Accessible customer service feedback policies
All these online documents must also comply with WCAG. However, none of the requirements mandating these documents mention the need for them to comply with the guidelines. As a result, some organizations’ documents may not adhere to WCAG criteria. Therefore, the Committee recommends that the requirements mandating each document should clearly state that it must comply with WCAG.