Canada is known for some of the best and most comprehensive web accessibility standards in the entire world. The AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act), instated in the year 2005 has the intention to make Ontario a barrier-free region by the end of 2025.
What is the AODA?
AODA is a disability act that regulates the accessibility standards in Ontario across all the sectors- government, public and private.
One of the most important aspects of this act it that all the video content such as movies, ads, series, documentaries, marketing videos and other videos must be captioned. You will not find a better company that Vanan Services to do this job accurately considering the team of experts.
AODA has an aim to eliminate all the barriers for people with disabilities by making things accessible to them in public as well as in private life. It also has special video requirements that are mandatory for making videos accessible for the disabled population.
AODA was passed for setting up an accessibility standard where no one with a disability is left from fully being part of all aspects of society. This ensures removing all sorts of barriers be it physical, architectural, informational, or technological.
AODA also has video requirements for making accessible videos for people with disabilities. The main aim of AODA is to include the disabled population in the process of creation of official accessibility standards so that their needs can be met and their voices will be heard.
AODA Video Requirements
As per the AODA video requirements, it is compulsory for all Ontario-based organizations to make accessible online videos only. To make a video fully accessible for people with disabilities, it must have closed captions for hard of hearing or deaf individuals along with the audio description or something similar for the low vision or blind users.
Web designers already follow the WCAG guidelines for offering audio description of all the visual content in videos. AODA doesn’t do the same, instead, the creators and the publishers have an option to go with implementing it as a best practice.
Alternatively, the visual elements can be made accessible in multiple different ways like by offering transcripts that carry both the audio as well as the visual elements.
All the non-visual audio content being created in the region must be supported by a transcript and the media player in use should be keyboard accessible. This means that the person can navigate through its controls using a keyboard only and without the need for a mouse.
Canadian Accessibility Standards
Canada is one of the top countries with the highest internet availability rates with close to 96% of the population having access to the internet. Around 34.56 million of the Canadian population surfs the internet at any point in time.
Regardless of your profession, if you are creating online content, it needs to be in compliance with Canada’s accessibility laws so that your content is reachable to everyone who visits your page.
What is website accessibility?
Website accessibility is including people with disabilities like impairments in sight, speech, hearing, or neurological conditions accessing the internet that should not make their normal interaction difficult.
When your website is designed considering access guidelines, it helps the temporarily disabled, elderly population, individuals with less connectivity, or people with situational limitations.
Why is accessibility so important?
Designers and developers, while creating a website spend a lot of time to ensure that what they create needs to be compatible with multiple browsers and devices. But considering the human element is also important here.
The website they create also needs to be compatible or accessible to everyone including disabled individuals. The internet will truly become an open environment when the websites are optimized for accessibility.
Which are the Canadian web accessibility laws?
There are many different regulations that cover accessibility for the population with disabilities. Accessibility services Canada applies to various sectors producing online content and also strictly applies to digital media.
Some of these laws are:
- Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)
- Accessible Canada Act (Bill C-81)
- Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA)
- Nova Scotia Accessibility Act
How to make your online content accessible?
Vanan Services is a brand that is offering services like closed captioning and audio description to make your online content accessible for people with disabilities. The videos can be made accessible by adding closed captions and similarly, the content in other forms like website content or blogs can be made easily accessed by adding audio descriptions.
If at all, you are in need to make your online content accessible, and looking for a perfect partner to do so, connect with Vanan Services.
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