About one in five (22%) of the Canadian population aged 15 years and over suffer from one form of disability. Hence, the Government of Canada and its many provinces are working towards making Canada a more inclusive, barrier-free country. This has led to the development and enforcement of various Accessibility legislation which mandates website, mobile, and web app and all digital documents are accessible to both abled and disabled users by following the international standard, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA.

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Canada Web Accessibility Laws
By
Adam Akinyemi

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Introduction
As reported by Statistics Canada’s in 2017, about 22% of the Canadian
population aged 15 years and over (around 6.2 million people) suffer from
one form of disability.
● As a matter of fact, millions of Canadians have at least one disability.
● The most common disability types are related to mobility, flexibility, pain
and mental health. That is physical, sensory, cognitive, or mental health-
related.
● About 13% of youth aged 15 to 24 years have some type of disability
while disability ranged from 20% among Canadian adults aged 25 to 64
years and 38% of people aged 65 years and over suffer from one form
of disability.

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Canada Web Accessibility Laws
Canada now has numerous digital accessibility laws and policies as its Government
and many provinces are working towards making Canada a more inclusive, barrier-
free country.
● The Government of Canada has:
○ The Standard on Web Accessibility
○ The Accessible Canada Act (Bill C-81)
● Canadian provinces have laws for digital accessibility such as:
○ Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)
○ The Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA)
○ Nova Scotia Accessibility Act
○ British Columbia Accessibility Act (Bill M 219) [Proposed]

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By the Government of Canada
The Standard on Web Accessibility
The four standards are:
1. Standard on Web Accessibility - came into full effect on 31 July 2013
2. Standard on Optimizing Websites and Applications for Mobile Devices
3. Standard on Web Usability
4. Standard on Web Interoperability
Created in 2011 to replace Common Look and Feel 2.0 (CLF 2.0) Standards for the
Internet, Canada’s standard on web accessibility requires all departments, agencies,
branches and departmental corporations of the Government of Canada to render
their web to meet the five WCAG 2.0 Level AA conformance requirements.
The Government of Canada aims to achieve uniform application of standard
guidelines and best practices to ensure its websites and web applications are
accessible to all users through these standards.

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The Accessible Canada Act (Bill C-81)
The Accessible Canada Act became law after receiving Royal Assent on June 21,
2019. It is a Canada-wide accessibility act that directly falls on the Canadian
parliament, Canada’s federal public sector, Crown Corporations, Canadian Forces,
and all federally regulated organizations including those in the private sector.
● It ensures people with disabilities are not restricted from the procurement of
goods and services, built environment, delivering programs and services,
employment, transportation, and Information and Communication Technologies
(ICT), including digital content and the technologies used to access it.
● ACA requires organizations to follow the international standard, Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA
● Failure to comply could result in a fine of up to $250,000.

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By the Government of Canada
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)
● Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act became law in 2005.
● The legislation broke down its five standard accessibility categories into information
and communications; customer service; transportation; employment; and design of
public spaces.
● The Information and Communications Standards encompasses websites, mobile
applications, and digital content, and it mandates private or non-profit organizations
with more than 50 employees and all public sector organizations to render their
digital content in such a way that they are accessible to people with disabilities.
● It references the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA (other
than criteria 1.2.4 and 1.2.5) as a technical guideline.
● Failure of all public websites and web content posted after January 1, 2012, to comply
by January 1, 2021, could result in fines of up to $100,000 for corporations or
$50,000 for individuals or unincorporated organizations.

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The Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA)
● The Accessibility for Manitobans Act was enacted in 2013
● It is also targeted at restricting barriers to five accessibility standards, among
which is the Accessible Information and Communications Standard.
● The ICT standard mandates websites, mobile applications, and digital
content of public and private sector organizations in Manitoba to be
accessible to people with different forms of disabilities.
● It requires all public and private organizations in the province to follow the
international guidelines and best practices for web accessibility, World Wide
Web Consortium’s (W3C) WCAG in order to make their ICT accessible to all.

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Nova Scotia Accessibility Act
● The Nova Scotia’s Accessibility Act, also known as Bill 59 became law in
April 2017.
● Bill 59 restricts barriers to five accessibility standards, including one for
information and communication technologies.
● The legislation requires organizations and businesses to make their
websites and digital content to be inclusive enough to accommodate
individuals with disabilities.
● The Accessibility Act also requires organizations in the province to follow
the globally accepted standard for web accessibility, the Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 AA requirements.
● Failure to comply could result in a fine of up to $250,000.

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ACA, AODA AMA, and Bill 59 Compliance
● To be ACA, AODA, AMA and Bill 59 compliant, your website, apps, and web content
must be WCAG 2.0 AA compliant by being:
○ Perceivable – Content, information and interfaces must be presented in a way
that all users can easily perceive, including those with visual, or cognitive
impairments.
○ Operable – Users of all abilities must be able to navigate the user interface,
even with assistive technologies.
○ Understandable – All content and design within a website should be easily
readable and understandable by all users.
○ Robust – All content on a website should be able to keep pace with assistive
technologies and improved standards.
● In general, the Canada web accessibility laws focus on public sector bodies but
splashed to mandate private sector organizations to make their websites accessible.

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Conclusion
● Together, The Standard on Web Accessibility, ACA, AODA, AMA and Bill 59 all
serve as the major web accessibility laws in Canada and comprehensively
address accessibility issues across the provinces.
● The web accessibility laws achieve accessibility by preventing and removing
barriers that disabled people with respect to Information and Communications
Technology.
● All the legislations ensure government organizations and private businesses that
provide services to the public use the WCAG 2.0 checklist to provide digital
content that is perceivable, operable, and understandable, thereby greatly
improving access to individuals with disabilities in Canada and its provinces.
● Compliance with the laws creates a greater variety of accessible products while
enabling businesses to extend market reach to the disabled people, protect
their brand reputation and avoid financial implication in forms of legal fines.