Accessible Canada Act (ACA)

The Accessible Canada Act defines accessibility standards for the whole of Canada. It applies to the Federal public sector, Crown Corporations, and all federally regulated organizations, including:

  • railways, airplanes, and inter-provincial buses
  • banks, mining companies, railways, airlines, and trucking
  • television and radio

Here is a link to the text of the Bill and to the Wikipedia overview.

The Act was ratified in December 2013 but there are no formal web accessibility standards to follow yet. Many expect it to copy the AODA, so this would mean WCAG 2.0 level AA standards.

Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA)

Effective since 5th December 2013, the Accessibility for Manitobans Act mandates that accessibility barriers be removed. Example barriers include:

  • a physical or architectural barrier
  • an informational, technological, or communications barrier
  • an attitudinal barrier

The full text of the Act can be found at this link to the Manitoban Government.

There are no formal standards for website accessibility compliance in the AMA at the time of writing.

Nova Scotia Accessibility Act (Bill 59)

Similar to the AMA, the goal of the Nova Scotia Accessibility Act is to remove accessibility barriers. It was ratified on 18th September 2017.

Full text of the Act is available on the Nova Scotia Legislature website, and an overview is available on Wikipedia.

As with other Acts in Canada, there aren’t yet formal web accessibility standards to work towards.

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act came into effect in 2005. Its purpose is to create accessibility standards that the public sector, private sector, and non-profit organizations must comply with.

Section 14 of the Act mandates a minimum requirement of websites and web content meeting the WCAG 2.0 Level AA web accessibility standards.

We have more information on our AODA page.

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