Accessibility in British Columbia

According to Statistics Canada (2017), 22 per cent of the Canadian population have a disability or functional limitation that creates accessibility barriers. For B.C. the number varies from 17 - 20%.

 

Disabilities and the Web
The British Columbia Accessibility Act
Accessibility 2024

The British Columbia Accessibility Act

The Accessible British Columbia Act received Royal Assent on June 17, 2021.

The Accessible British Columbia Act is now law, and the first step is to form the Provincial Accessibility Committee to advise the minister of social development and poverty reduction on matters related to accessibility and support the development of accessibility standards.

Standards and regulations to be established.

 

 

Accessibility 2024

Web accessibility regulations are being implemented on a province by province basis. 

The government of British Columbia is taking steps towards its vision of Accessibility 2024 with the goal of “making B.C. the most progressive province in Canada for people with disabilities by 2024” – which includes a fully accessible Internet. The government itself has already committed to ensuring that its online content and apps adhere to WCAG 2.1 technical requirements. 

In B.C., web accessibility laws will focus primarily on government websites and organizations affiliated with the B.C. government at first, but eventually all websites in the private, public, and non-profit sectors will also be required to adhere to web accessibility laws. 

We may still be a few years away from the target date, but we believe that it’s never too early to assess our CPABC websites to ensure that we will meet WCAG 2.1 AA criteria by 2024.

 

The 12 Building Blocks of Accessibility 2024

The initiative's 10-year action plan was designed around 12 building blocks, including an accessible Internet.

Canada and Other Provinces

  • Canada’s Standard on Web Accessibility, which took effect August 1, 2011, mandates Government of Canada websites and web applications to meet WCAG 2.0 AA criteria.
     
  • The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities (AODA) is a law that sets out a process for developing and enforcing accessibility standards.
    • Beginning January 1, 2014: new public websites, significantly refreshed websites and any web content posted after January 1, 2012 must meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level A
       
    • Beginning January 1, 2021: all public websites and web content posted after January 1, 2012 must meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA other than criteria 1.2.4 (live captions) and 1.2.5 (pre-recorded audio descriptions)
       
    • Private or non-profit organizations with more than 50 employees and all public sector organizations must make their website and web content compliant with WCAG 2.0 Level AA by January 1, 2021 (due to COVID, this date was updated to June 2021). Failure to comply could result in fines up to $100,000 for each day of violation.
       
    • Ontario is also hoping to continue working towards making the province fully accessible by 2025.
       
  • The Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA). The Act was introduced in December 2013 to make Manitoba accessible for all people by 2023. The Act's standard for accessibility in customer service has already become a law. The standard for web accessibility, which is expected to follow the WCAG 2.1 requirements as per the federal law and other provinces, is under development.
     
  • The Act Respecting Accessibility in Nova Scotia aims to make Nova Scotia inclusive and barrier-free by 2030 and include six accessibility standards that are currently under development. Nova Scotia was the third province to enact an accessibility legislation.
    • The Government of Nova Scotia’s multi-year accessibility plan includes the development of a more inclusive website that meets WCAG 2.0 AA requirements. Since the government is working to lead by example, organizations should also prepare to meet similar web accessibility requirements.
       
  • Several advocates for people with disabilities are also putting pressure on other provinces to pass legislation laws based on accessibility.