(2) Designated public sector organizations and large organizations shall make their internet websites and web content conform with the World Wide Web Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, initially at Level A and increasing to Level AA, and shall do so in accordance with the schedule set out in this section.
(5) Except where meeting the requirement is not practicable, this section applies,
(6) In determining whether meeting the requirements of this section is not practicable, organizations referenced in subsections (1) and (2) may consider, among other things,
Developers of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 identify their goal as: “[making] content accessible to a wider range of people with disabilities, including blindness and low vision, deafness and hearing loss, learning disabilities, cognitive limitations, limited movement, speech disabilities, photosensitivity and combinations of these. Following these guidelines will also often make your web content more usable to users in general.”
The web accessibility guidelines have three levels of success criteria: Level A, Level AA and Level AAA. Level A represents the minimum requirements for accessibility, with Level AAA being the highest level of requirements.
For more information, please visit the WCAG 2.0 website. For information on the developers of WCAG 2.0, please visit the WCAG 2.0 Working Group website.
Institutions should consult with web developers and others responsible for the university’s websites to ensure their knowledge of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 is current.
Resources such as “Understanding WCAG 2.0” and “How People with Disabilities Use the Web” (links below) might be useful in such discussions. Consider running the website through an online Accessibility Checker, which will help to identify specific areas that do not comply with the guidelines.
Designated public sector organizations and large organizations for their internet websites shall meet the requirements of this section in accordance with the following schedule:
In Section 1 (2), the IASR states that, “the requirements in the standards set out in this Regulation are not a replacement or a substitution for the requirements established under the Human Rights Code nor do the standards limit any obligations owed to persons with disabilities under any other legislation.”