Infographic Important Canada acts to review to meet digital accessibility compliance requirements
Learn more about important applicability, deadlines and requirements for Canada's various digital accessibility laws
Canadian Digital Accessibility Laws
Helping your business meet Canada web accessibility requirements and achieve sustainable programs is our focus. Discover what your organization needs to meet different digital accessibility compliance requirements in Canada.
What are Canadian web accessibility laws?
Canadian digital accessibility laws cover multiple legislative acts across various territories and provinces. Each specific act has deadlines and requirements in order to remain compliant. Discover what you need to know to help your organization meet different digital accessibility compliance requirements in Canada.
There are multiple web accessibility laws in Canada focused on providing all individuals an equal opportunity to have their needs accommodated in certain areas: employment, built environment, information and communication technologies, procurement of goods & services, design and delivery of programs and services, and transportation. There are a few key factors for organizations to consider for digital accessibility laws in Canada: Is your organization in the public or private sector? Is your organization in a federally regulated sector? Does your organization conduct business in a certain location and with a certain number of employees?
Important Canadian Digital Accessibility Laws
AODA
Learn more about the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and how to maintain compliance, improve accessibility, and enhance user experience with Deque’s comprehensive accessibility solutions.
Learn MoreACA
Learn about the Accessible Canada Act (ACA) and how it aims to ensure digital accessibility for all. See how Deque supports your accessibility program to meet complex compliance requirements.
Learn MoreAMA
Learn how to meet compliance for the Accessible Manitobans Act (AMA) and enhance digital accessibility in Manitoba. Deque’s comprehensive solutions help you improve user experience for all site visitors.
Learn MoreHow to meet Canada web accessibility compliance requirements and deadlines
The Canadian Government and Provincial Governments are explicit in the goal of integrating web and digital accessibility policy considerations into the day-to-day processes and operations of public and private organizations. If your organization is subject to any of the various Canada web and digital accessibility requirements, here are some steps you can take to help ensure your compliance:
- Speak to your organization’s legal counsel to make sure you understand the scope of the requirements and any deadlines you need to be aware of.
- Map out how your organization is currently meeting requirements to provide different materials in an accessible format and note which of those materials are web-based or presented in a digital format.
- Discuss future web properties your team is working on and how you plan to ensure those properties are accessible.
- Provide digital accessibility training for your teams that generate web content and digital materials and seek consulting help.
Enabling the right individuals and teams at your organization to initiate, execute and improve on accessibility measures relevant to these acts can be complex. The proactive approach to digital accessibility has proven to be more cost-effective. It’s crucial for organizations to be prepared in their planning and implementation of effective accessibility programs to avoid costly, reactive fixes to accessibility defects and increased risks of significant penalties and fines for missing deadlines and not meeting compliance requirements.
Start investigating tools and other ways to support and facilitate your teams to build accessible content.
Important Canada Web Accessibility Applicability and Deadlines
| Law Parameters/Law | Accessible Canada Act (ACA) | Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) | Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA) | Accessible British Columbia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| # of Canadian-based employees | 10 or more employees | 1+ employee(s) in province, additional requirements for 20-49 and 50+ | 1 or more employee(s) in province | Currently N/A |
| Type of Business | Government entities, armed forces, police, parliaments, and government regulated businesses | All government entities, businesses, and nonprofits | All government entities, businesses, and nonprofits | Currently only government entities, expected to expand into private/nonprofit sector |
| Deadlines and Reporting Requirements | Accessibility Plan due June 1, 2023 – for government regulated and private sector organizations with 100+ employees | Compliance reports due every 3 years | Compliance for government regulated organizations by May 1, 2023, public sector by May 1, 2024 and private sector by May 1, 2025 | Accessibility plan updates required every 3 years |
Helpful Resources
Blog What your organization needs to prepare for Canada digital accessibility laws
Check out this blog to develop a better understanding of digital accessibility requirements in Canada
Blog Not a Checklist: Building Accessibility Compliance into Your Business Processes
98% of the top million website have accessibility issues! Check out this blog to learn how you can remove accessibility barriers
Benefits of Compliance with Canada Web Accessibility Laws
Serving a wider audience
Accessible content will widen you available target audience opening new revenue opportunities
Decreased legal risk
Organizations who actively pursue accessibility excellence are better positioned to address claims and avoid costly violations
Increased search presence
Providing transcripts for audio visual files are discoverable by search engines
Better overall user experience
Studies show that optimizations made in UI/UX for accessibility also benefit people without disabilities
How Deque Can Help
As the global leader in digital accessibility with over 20 years of experience helping organizations with meeting compliance requirements, improving internal operations, and reporting on accessibility programs, Deque is your trusted partner in digital accessibility.
Whether you’re responding to an immediate need, or building the foundation for a sustainable and long term digital accessibility practice, we provide the most comprehensive and complete suite of tools, services and training available. Our accessibility library has been downloaded 1 Billion+ times. Our accessibility testing extensions have been downloaded 875,000+ times, and we’ve completed 6,000+ projects.
Audit
Most accessibility projects begin and end with an audit – they assess the current state of your digital accessibility resulting in a comprehensive report.
Learn More about accessibility auditsRemediation
Getting help from our team of experts will ensure your accessibility fixes will meet your compliance requirements as quickly and effectively as possible.
Learn More about accessibility remediationaxe Testing Tools
The axe DevTools, axe Auditor and axe Monitor products enable accessibility experts and development to test and maintain accessibility end-to-end.
Learn More about the axe Tools SuiteAre you ready to meet Canada’s web accessibility requirements, embrace digital equality and create accessible digital experiences?
Deque helps guide you through the process in choosing the right tools for your organization.
Frequently Asked Questions
All Canada web accessibility laws cover websites, mobile applications, and digital content and adopt WCAG 2.0 AA. The Accessible Canada Act (Bill C-81) affects Canada’s federal public sector, Crown Corporations, and all federally regulated organizations.
Canada does have ADA laws that make business owners responsible for ensuring the continued accessibility of their properties by individuals with disabilities.
Certain provinces and territories in Canada such as Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia have their own digital accessibility laws that impact organizations differently based on applicability pertaining to location, size, sector and industry, among others. It’s important to determine which laws and requirements may apply to your organization.
There are various deadlines for organizations to meet compliance for Canada’s different digital accessibility laws. Learning about the different legislation and what deadlines might apply to your organization helps you better prepare for what’s required.