The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) is a provincial law in Ontario that aims to identify, remove and prevent barriers for people with disabilities. Since 2005, AODA applies to organizations in public, private, and non-profit sectors and to all types of employees, including full-time, part-time, seasonal and contract workers.
To make Ontario more accessible and ensure people with disabilities can participate more actively in their communities, the AODA establishes five standards that recognize five areas of daily life:
Barriers to Accessibility are everywhere, they can prevent a person with a disability from fully participating in society, examples are:
The AODA standards are part of the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (IASR). The IASR includes, in addition to requirements specific to each standard, the following general requirements:
By becoming compliant you contribute to society and show that you care for people with disabilities and ensure these customers can operate your site.
You may face government fines as by beginning of January 1, 2021, all public websites and web content posted after January 1, 2012 must comply with WCAG 2.0 Level AA other criteria such as live and pre-recorded audio descriptions.
We can help by creating or reviewing accessibility policies that describes what your organization is doing, or intends to do, to meet the requirements of the regulation. Our team provide subject matter expert and knowledge base helping you to comply efficiently with AODA regulations. We will review your application and website and provide detail reporting and actions toward the full WCAG compliance.
We can help by the design and development and managing the project. We can also help in testing your site and or applications against the provided guidelines.
Learn about your rights and responsibilities under the Code and the AODA and how they affect you at work, in services and in housing. This 5-part eLearning series (20 minutes) is for public, private and not-for-profit sectors and completes the training requirements for section 7 of the Integrated Accessibility Standards of the AODA.
Access the resources here.
For more information please visit the following resources:
Resources on issues of accessibility and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
Training For Accessible Ontario