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Accessibility for Websites and Digital Content

April 21, 2021

AODA Ontario

Understanding Digital Accessibility

As technology evolves, more people are using a diverse range of devices including smartphones, tablets, laptops and a wide range of assistive technology to access TRCA’s digital content. It’s not just good practice to ensure content is available and functions consistently on all devices, it’s also good design.

No two users are exactly alike. Physical and cognitive disabilities, as well as environmental factors, can inhibit people from fully engaging with digital services including websites, software and technology interfaces. It’s now more important than ever to ensure that everyone can access and participate with the digital content, programs and activities that TRCA produces so meeting accessibility standards is a top priority.

By conforming to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), we can ensure that our content is available to both people and machines.

What is AODA

As outlined by the Accessibility for Ontarian’s with Disabilities Act (AODA), beginning on January 1, 2021, all public websites and web content must meet the WCAG 2.0 Level AA standard.

Only one minor exception to the WGAG 2.0 AA standard is included under AODA, which excludes content producers from requiring live captions when streaming live video (pre-recorded video still requires captions).

While fines and enforcement of AODA is rare, the act does outline monetary penalties that allow the Province to enforce compliance where “contravention of the act is determined to be major”. The maximum penalties under the AODA include:

  • Corporations can be fined up to $100,000 per day.
  • Individuals and unincorporated organizations can be fined up to $50,000 per day.
  • Directors and officers of a corporation or organization can be fined up to $50,000 per day.

AODA Guidelines

According to Ontario’s accessibility laws, new and significantly refreshed websites and digital content must meet the following success criteria for each level:

Level A

Guideline 1.1: Provide text alternatives for non-text content

Guideline 1.2: Provide alternatives for time-based media

Guideline 1.3: Adaptable content

Guideline 1.4: Distinguishable content

Guideline 2.1: Keyboard accessible

Guideline 2.2: Provide users enough time to read and use content

Guideline 2.3: Don’t design content in a way that is known to cause seizures

Guideline 2.4: Navigable content

Guideline 3.1: Readable text content

Guideline 3.2: Predictable web pages

Guideline 3.3: Input assistance

Guideline 4.1: Compatible

Level AA

Guideline 1.4: Distinguishable content

Guideline 2.4: Navigable content

Guideline 3.1: Readable text content

Guideline 3.2: Predictable web pages

Guideline 3.3: Input assistance

This article will help you understand the WCAG success criteria: Understanding conformance with WCAG success criteria

Incorporate Accessibility into your Content Development Workflow

General Checklist

  1. Did you organize your web content with properly structured and descriptive headings?
    Web pages without proper HTML headings tags (e.g. H1, H2, H3, etc.) make it impossible for people using assistive technology to tell the difference between headings and regular body text.
  2. Did you add alternative text to images that convey information?
    Images that present information only through visuals are not accessible to people who are blind or have low vision.
  3. Are your links descriptive?
    Ambiguous link text can make people uncertain about what will happen if they click a link. This uncertainty can be made worse if there is no programmatically determined link context available for assistive technology to help clarify what the link may be about (additional information about the link that exists in the same sentence, same paragraph tag, list item, or table cell).
  4. Are your tables used for data rather than layout purposes?
    Tables are sometimes structured in a way that causes cells of data to be read out of order by a screen reader. Never use data table markup to create layout tables.
  5. Does every web page have a meaningful title?
    Without a descriptive title for each web page, users may find it difficult to find content and orient themselves quickly within a website. This has an effect on users with visual disabilities, cognitive disabilities, and anyone whose mode of operation relies on audio when navigating between web pages.
  6. Is there any information in the content that would be difficult to understand if the colours were in greyscale?
    Any information presented only through colour cues may not be seen by people who are blind, have partial sight, or are colour-blind. This includes information indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element. Text-based content requires a contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text or 3:1 for large text against the background colour.

Audio & Video Checklist

  1. Do your audio and video files have descriptive text transcripts?
    Media that presents information only through sound or visuals are not accessible to all people. In compliance with AODA legislation, all public facing, pre-recorded video and audio only content must include captions and/or a transcript.
  2. Do your videos have captions?
    Closed captions aren’t just for people with hearing disabilities. If English isn’t someone’s first language, for example, seeing written text with the spoken language can be very helpful to understand it and allow assistive technology such as screen readers or translators to parse the content.

Document Checklist

  1. Can the content be uploaded as a web page instead of a document?
    An inaccessible document uploaded to a website can pose a higher barrier due to the additional software required to open the file. Documents become hard to read, use, and understand if the document text and functionality cannot be accessed by assistive technology.
  2. Have you enabled accessibility features in your document prior to posting it online?
    Software like Adobe Acrobat and Document Centre have additional accessibility features that must be enabled and configured for each document.
  3. Have you visited the Accessible Digital Office Document Project (ADOD) for additional guidance related to the specific file type of your document?

If you have questions about Accessibility, please submit an ITRM Service Request and a team member will be happy to work with you to improve your content’s digital accessibility and meet the AODA requirements.