Is your site accessible?
The short answer:
Probably not.
Digital Accessibility (AODA)
Compliance
December 31, 2023:
All businesses with over 20 employees need to confirm their ongoing compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) by December 31, 2023, along with submitting a compliance report with the Ontario Government. The maximum penalties under the AODA include:
- A corporation/organization that is guilty can be fined up to $100,000 per day
- Directors and officers of a corporation/organization that is guilty can be fined up to $50,000 per day
Accessibility Solutions
Most websites require some assessment and adjustment to be digitally accessible and will be subject to potential fines if they aren’t compliant. That’s why Scratch offers Accessibility Solutions to identify (Audit), fix (Remediation), and support (Maintenance) your online presence and other media when it comes to accessibility compliance.
Accessibility Solutions
Accessibility Audit
Manual and automated website testing and review (WCAG 2.1 AA compliance) that identifies where organizations are NOT digitally compliant.
Includes:
- Automated scan using AI-powered digital accessibility tools
- Manual audit of key web pages and templates
- Review and assessment by AODA- and WCAG 2.1-certified accessibility experts
- Detailed report on findings
Way more than web… Digital accessibility is about more than your online presence, it includes all of your digital (and print) assets. Scratch recommends a full accessibility audit across every digital touchpoint, including media files, PDFs, Powerpoint, Excel, as well as your social channels.
Accessibility Solutions
Accessibility Remediation
Remediation provides an AODA compliance strategy with practical, actionable recommendations, a proposed timeline built around the Accessibility Audit findings, and an itemized quote based on the recommendations. Scratch also handles the implementation of fixes, as well as providing guidance around how to submit the AODA compliance report to the Ontario government by the December 31, 2023 deadline.
Includes:
- Accessibility compliance strategy
- Remediation timeline
- Itemized quote
- Implementation plan
There are no quick fixes or band-aids to achieve accessibility compliance. Technology overlays, widgets, and other add-ons can be helpful and provide window dressing pointing to your accessibility efforts, but they don’t result in compliance. Foundational, baked-in, accessibility best practices around WCAG 2.1 AA principles (perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust) are what accessibility audits look for and measure against.
Accessibility Solutions
Accessibility Maintenance
Accessibility compliance isn’t a one-time fix. Scratch recommends ongoing monitoring, regular health reports and accessibility reassessment every six (6) months, and the Government of Ontario requires AODA compliance reporting every three years. Includes:
- Regular website monitoring
- Monthly accessibility health reports
- Accessibility experts available for consultation
- On-site accessibility AI widget
The Scratch Accessibility Compliance Process
Remediation
- Accessibility compliance strategy
- Remediation timeline
- Itemized quote
- Implementation plan
Result: A compliance plan
Maintenance
- Regular website monitoring
- Monthly accessibility health reports
- Accessibility experts available for consultation
- On-site accessibility AI widget
Result: Ongoing, worry-free compliance
Let us help you reach your digital accessibility goals!
We have also formed a testing panel of end users to validate our findings and tactics.
Who We Are
Digital accessibility is all about ensuring your brand, your products, your services, and your messaging is inclusive and, yes, accessible for all interested audiences. To that end, achieving digital accessibility is about more than checking off boxes on an AODA/WCAG 2.1 list.
It requires a team of experts who understand digital branding, design, website development, SEO strategy and tactics, digital marketing, and accessibility standards and best practices.
With that in mind, this is who makes up Scratch’s Digital Accessibility Team:
A group of experts in…
- Accessibility (certified)
- Design
- Website development
- SEO
- Digital marketing
- Project Management
The Truth About Accessibility
Worthy of note:
It’s been estimated (back in 2017) that the total after-tax disposable income for the working-age population with disabilities in Canada is more than $55 billion.
In other words, while AODA compliance is regulated and required by the end of 2023, accessibility overall is simply good for business.
Accessible Canada Act
The Accessible Canada Act (ACA) will also be a factor moving forward. The purpose of the ACA is to make Canada barrier-free by January 1, 2040, and involves identifying, removing and preventing barriers in federal jurisdiction in the following priority areas:
- Employment
- The built environment (buildings and public spaces)
- Information and communication technologies
- Communication, other than information and communication technologies
- The procurement of goods, services and facilities
- The design and delivery of programs and services, and
- Transportation (airlines, as well as rail, road and marine transportation providers
that cross provincial or international borders)
Resources
