Preparing for the Upcoming AODA Web Compliance Deadlines

By now, entities in Ontario, Canada, should be well acquainted with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). The Act applies to every entity in the public and private sectors of the Province of Ontario. It aims to remove barriers to access for Ontarians with disabilities with respect to “goods, services, facilities, accommodation, employment, buildings, structures and premises on or before January 1, 2025.” This also includes access to public websites and web content published after January 1, 2012.

To comply with the AODA, entities must meet the standards set by the act by specific deadlines based on the size of the institution and the sector it operates within. This is the upcoming AODA compliance deadline for 2021:

UPDATED DEADLINE: June 30, 2021 – filing an AODA compliance report.

The government of Ontario has extended the deadline to file an accessibility report from December 31, 2020, to June 30, 2021.

As a general requirement of AODA compliance, public, private, and non-profit entities must complete an accessibility compliance report every three years following the first compliance report in 2014. The compliance report requirement applies to private businesses and non-profits with 20 or more employees and public sector administrations. The report itself is a self-assessment that should confirm that the entity complies with the current accessibility requirements and standards under the AODA.

The deadline extension allows businesses to carefully evaluate how their business fulfills AODA requirements and implement changes to their administration’s policies, programs, spaces, and services where needed.

To complete the report, employers must fill out a compliance report form. You can find the form, as well as information on how to fill it out, on the Ontario.ca website.

Preparing for the Deadlines

With the upcoming deadlines, entities must conduct a full audit of their accessibility to assess their current status of compliance. This will help them review any significant changes within the administration since the last report that may have affected compliance, as well as ensure that they have the appropriate policies, standards, and procedures in place to file a compliance report. With web accessibility, having an auditing tool that assesses and documents website progress in accordance with the WCAG will be valuable for proving compliance.

Looking for a web accessibility solution that will help you comply with the AODA? CivicPlus® is a web accessibility, governance, and quality assurance leader. Learn more about CivicPlus web accessibility auditing and reporting tool with a free website scan and consultation.