Are you compliant with accessibility law?

Accessibility graphic created by Megan Landry.

By: Diane Dufour

On November 29, 2010, the Federal Court of Canada rendered a landmark ruling on website accessibility for persons with disabilities. As businesses we are, by law, mandated to be compliant with the WCAG 2.0 or AODA compliancy.

If you are planning a new website or posting new information on‐line like a PDF, it must be WCAG 2.0 compliant across Canada and follow the AODA guidelines in Ontario.

If I had magic solution to give you, I would. Bottom line, by January 2014 designated public sector organizations and businesses with 50+ employees in Ontario must be compliant with accessible websites or PDFs. Starting in 2021, all organizations in Ontario will be required to offer their online content in an accessible format. All new content and websites at the federal level are already required to be compliant.

If you are planning a new website or posting new information on‐line like a PDF, it must be WCAG 2.0 compliant across Canada and follow the AODA guidelines in Ontario. There are different levels of compatibility — triple, double or single “A”. It is your responsibility to know what level you need to reach, how it affects you and what you need to do to be compliant with the law. Accurate can assist you in determining your company’s legal obligations within these acts.

Does Your Website Pass Accessibility Compliance?

Want to run a quick test and see if your site would pass the WC3’s WCAG 2.0 standards? This BDC website analysis link can give you an assessment very quickly, plus many additional analytics about the quality of your website. Along with accessibility, this tool scores your site on such things as user experience, site popularity and technology application. The depth of the detail of the analysis is quite impressive and very accurate.

The tool is quite basic and self‐explanatory to use but here is a step‐by‐step guide:

1. Go to the BDC website analysis tool
2. Click on the “Begin your free website assessment!” button
3. Type in your web address in the pop up window (include the www. after https://)
4. The tool will present your assessment in the same window
5. For the WC3 analysis scroll down to see these specific results
6. Go back to the top, click on the “download report as a PDF” to save a copy

Are your PDFs accessible?

Anything you POST, must be accessible — including PDFs. Below are five high level WCAG 2.0 conformance requirements for accessible PDFs that you should be aware of:

1. Conformance level: The document or pages must comply with level A, AA, or AAA depending on your organization’s legal definition by the courts as to the level of compliance you are mandated to follow. Most organization, including most levels of government, must conform to the A or AA standard.
2. Full pages: be cognizant of the fact that it is entire pages that must be accessible, not just portions.
3. Complete processes: All pages in a series of pages (such as a multiple page PDF) must be compliant.
4. Only‐supported ways: At least one online format is required to be compliant provided it is accessible and equivalent to the non‐compliant content. So you can post a non‐compliant PDF, as long as the same information is there in HTML.
5. Non‐interference: If technologies are present that block access to content, such as audio controls, and the use of the feature is unavoidable, the user must be offered a choice between the inaccessible page and an accessible page(s) with equivalent content.

Want to test your PDFs for Accessibility?

Perhaps you have PDFs on‐line currently that you’re unsure whether they are accessible or not. We use a widely‐accepted testing tool called PDF Accessibility Checker (PAC) to test for compliance. Acrobat alone will not give you a compliant PDF. Run a quick test and see if your site would pass the WC3 standards:

1. Download and install the PAC software on your PC
2. Upload your PDF
3. Run the checker and see your results

Anything less than a full compliant score means your PDF is not compliant.

In conclusion, accessibility is law. It can be complicated and time consuming to reach compliance. And you, or who you hire, need to really know what they’re doing. It is your responsibility to ensure that your best interests are being protected, and in specific … that you are compliant with the law in how it is applied to you or your organization.

Updated: April 5, 2019

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