What is the ACA?
The Accessibility Canada Act (ACA) is a federal law in Canada that requires various industries to comply with accessibility rules. The ACA came into force on 11 July 2019.
It took years of effort from disability activists and other advocacy groups to get the ACA passed. Authorities in Canada conducted months of surveys to determine what legislation would have the best impact on Canadian society. Many people see the ACA as a major milestone in the government’s “Accessible by 2040” program, a country-wide effort to make all facilities in Canada open to disabled people over the next 2 decades.
“With this legislation now in place, we can begin a journey that will lead us to a society that treats all people with the dignity they deserve,” Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility Minister Carla Qualtrough said in a statement after the bill was passed.
Who Has to Comply with ACA?
Unlike other similar legislation like the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), the ACA is a federal-level law, applying to nearly all geographic areas of Canada.
In terms of industries and businesses, the ACA affects only areas that fall under federal jurisdiction. That includes 3 types of entities:
- Governmental organizations, including federal government departments and agencies, the Canadian Armed Forces, the police, and the parliament.
- Sectors that are federally regulated, including industries such as banking, interprovincial transportation, and telecommunications.
- State-owned enterprises, known as Crown corporations. These are companies that are nationally owned but still enjoy mostly private management and administration.
The ACA states unequivocally that the new law applies to “technological” platforms as well as any medium based on “information or communications.” That means that websites connected to any of the above industries are also affected by the ACA.
What Happens if I Don’t Comply with ACA?
To make sure that businesses follow the ACA, it includes serious consequences for non-compliance and created new structures and positions to oversee compliance. The
ACA is enforced by:
The Canadian Accessibility Standards Development Organization (CASDO), led by a board of directors comprised of a majority of people with disabilities, will develop accessibility standards in collaboration with the disability community and industry
- The Canadian Accessibility Standards Development Organization (CASDO), led by a board of directors comprised of a majority of people with disabilities, will develop accessibility standards in collaboration with the disability community and industry
- A Chief Accessibility Officer will advise the Minister of Accessibility and monitor systemic and emerging accessibility issues.
- An Accessibility Commissioner will inspect websites for compliance and apply fines and penalties for non-compliance. The Accessibility Commissioner is also a member of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, a powerful entity in Canada with substantial legal enforcement powers.
If you violate the ACA, you could be fined up to $250,000 for each infraction, depending on whether your violation is “minor,” “serious,” or “very serious.”
However, the exact process of investigating and charging violations hasn’t yet been established. Existing regulators and complaints bodies, such as the Canadian Transportation Agency, the Canadian Radio-television, and Telecommunications Commission, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board, are all required to set up a mechanism for referring accessibility-related complaints.
What do I have to do to comply with the ACA?
The ACA contains barely any specific regulations for accessibility standards. The only rules listed are very generic, like “removing barriers” to people with disabilities. That’s because the ACA was planned to allow the CASDO to develop the next phase of standards and regulations, but for the moment, there are very few guidelines on accessibility requirements.
Despite this, the law requires companies to regularly submit reports on their organization’s accessibility standards. These include:
Accessibility Plans. These are reports published “in consultation with people with disabilities” describing company strategies for improving accessibility and meeting their legal duties. Companies have to publicly publish these plans and let the Government of Canada know when and where they are published, and update them every three years.
Progress Reports. These are documents detailing the company’s implementation of its Accessibility Plan. A timeframe for these reports still hasn’t been set. It is likely that the deadlines will not be codified until after accessibility standards for the ACA are drafted.
Despite the lack of defined accessibility standards, there are already other Canadian accessibility laws, like the AODA, which are based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0), so it’s likely that the ACA’s standards will follow their lead.
What is the AODA and why does it matter?
AODA stands for the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. It was ratified in 2005 by provincial authorities to fix standards for accessibility to services in Ontario.
In 2001, after years of lobbying by advocacy groups, the provincial government passed the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, which required workplaces and websites to remove barriers to participation by individuals with disabilities. It was a big step forward, but it was still very limited because it only applied to government ministries. It also didn’t have any enforcement guidelines, penalties, or compliance requirements, so it was clear that the law needed to be updated almost as soon as it was ratified.
AODA is the follow-up to the Ontarians with Disabilities Act. It improved existing accessibility policy, laying out clear rules, deadlines, enforcement systems, and penalties, and an infrastructure that could keep accessibility policy up to date. Among other things, AODA codified standards for web accessibility.
What does AODA require?
Like most web accessibility legislation, the accessibility standards of AODA are based on the WCAG 2.0 guidelines from W3C. But it has some exceptions for content that can’t be made accessible:
- Some online maps and complex diagrams. In those cases, website owners need to provide an accessible version upon request, but that version might be lower quality.
- Software or programming tools that aren’t compatible with accessibility mechanisms and were used to make certain site features.
- Web content posted before 2012. If that content is updated, then AODA rules will apply.
AODA has 2-time frames for web-accessible content:
- All websites have to reach WCAG 2.0 Level A compliance by January 1st, 2014
- Websites have to reach WCAG 2.0 Level AA (other than criteria 1.2.4 (live captions) and 1.2.5 (pre-recorded audio descriptions), by January 2st, 2021
Does AODA affect me?
If your business is registered in Ontario, then yes, AODA applies to you. Part II of AODA states very clearly that its rules apply to all governmental and private websites, whether they are run by individuals and corporations.
AODA also set up the Accessibility Standards Advisory Council to advise the Ontario government about future accessibility policy. The council can recommend reforms and updates to the accessibility requirements laid out in AODA, so it’s important for Ontario business owners and website managers to stay up to date with changes to the accessibility standards.
What if my website doesn’t comply?
AODA’s accessibility requirements have teeth, so it’s not a good idea to ignore them. Failure to comply can result in fines of $50,000 per day or part day for individuals, and fines of up to $100,000 per day or part day for corporations.
AODA violations are classified into 3 types of infraction:
- Minor violations. This is when your website doesn’t have some specific accessibility features, like texts that aren’t compatible with screen readers.
- Moderate violations. When your website disregards accessibility standards, showing a lack of “organizational preparedness” to make the site accessible by missing more than one or two accessibility requirements.
- Major violations. This is when your website includes non-accessible elements that could pose a safety or health risk to people with disabilities, like running animations that could trigger a seizure in users with photosensitive epilepsy.
There’s room for interpretation within each of these violations, so it’s more likely that a business will be fined for a minor violation if this is their first offense, even if that offense could fall into the “moderate” category.
Are there other accessibility laws in Canada that I Need to know about?
Although AODA is Ontario’s main accessibility legislation, it doesn’t replace existing laws that could affect accessibility policy. Ontario already has human rights legislation which forbids discrimination against people with disabilities, the Ontario Human Rights Code. AODA could be seen as an addition to this law, so someone who violates AODA could also be reviewed by the Ontario Human Rights Commission.