AODA Information & Communication Standards

AODA standards & legislation

The Information and Communication Standards section of the legislation deals with digital accessibility concerns. As of January 1, 2017, all organizations in Ontario, regardless of size (both private and public) are required, upon request, to provide documents in accessible formats for individuals with disabilities. Organizations must also take steps to notify the public of the availability of accessible format and communication supports.

An exception exists for organizations in federally regulated industries. These organizations are instead subject to federal accessibility laws and regulations rather than provincial laws (like AODA). The regulations may apply where an organization also provides provincially regulated services (for example: when a bank sells insurance or offers wealth management products). If you have questions about whether AODA would apply to your organization, consult a lawyer.

WCAG 2.0 & PDF/UA standards

The AODA legislation adopts the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 framework, (ISO/IEC 40500:2012). The WCAG guidelines were developed by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), a working group of the W3C. They cover a broad range of requirements from visual, audio output, cognitive challenges.

The PDF/UA format meets all the WCAG 2.0 requirements. Other file formats are often unable to meet WCAG requirements or are costly and time consuming to bring up to standard. The PDF/UA format is ideal for distribution, as it maintains the integrity of the data as it was designed by the author, is superior for printing and distributing electronically. For more information, see our article on acceptable AODA file formats.

For these reasons, we recommend PDF/UA as the best format for your all of documents that need to meet the WCAG requirements (and therefore be AODA compliant). Contact us if you have any questions.

 AODA exceptions

• Historical web content published before January 1, 2012: Web content published before 2012 is generally exempted under AODA. Older web content may become covered by AODA if the legislation is updated later. Content that was originally created prior to 2012 is not exempt if it is regularly updated and maintained.
• Web content controlled by a third party that is not subject to modification: This exeption covers content that is not controlled by the organization itself, either directly or indirectly.
• Live video: Organizations are not required to provide accessible captions for live video, but only at the time of the live broadcast. Captions must be provided if the video is maintained on the web site after the fact, in which case it would be treated as pre-recorded video.
• Descriptive audio: Like captions in live video, AODA regulations do not require video to include audio descriptions of visual details and action. Both live and pre-recorded video are currently exempt.
• Unconvertible information: Information that by its nature cannot be converted to an accessible format (such as detailed weather maps) is exempt. The organization may be required to provide an explanation of why the information is unconvertible (and a summary of the information itself)
• Situations where compliance is not practicable: This is a general exception for where meeting AODA requirements is “not practicable.” Organizations may consider the availability of commercial software and tools, as well as whether it would have a significant impact on an implementation timeline planned before 2012.

Disclaimer: This is not legal advice or a legal document. We are not a law firm. This document attempts to provide information about the existing legislation requirements, based on our own experiences gained working with our clients. To learn more about the legislation, it can be found online at http://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/110191.