Slide2-5 AODA Activities and Benefits
Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. Involve me and I can understand.
Xunzi (Xun Kuang), a Confucian philosopher who lived in the third century B.C.E.
Accessibility is the practice of making information, activities, and/or environments sensible, meaningful, and usable for as many people as possible.
Government Audits
The Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility (MSAA) conducts two types of audits every year to oversee compliance with the AODA:are used to facilitate accessibility compliance reporting among organizations.
are used to ensure that organizations that indicated compliance in their report are, in fact, meeting requirements. Verification audits are conducted every year to obtain and verify evidence of compliance. These audits may vary in scope, some targeting a few requirements in one standard while others are more comprehensive, targeting numerous requirements across multiple standards. More comprehensive audits take longer to complete, resulting in some fluctuation in the number of audits completed from year to year.
Compliance Activities
Completing Your Accessibility Compliance ReportBusinesses and non-profits with 20 or more employees and public sector organizations must complete an accessibility compliance report every three years.
Filing your report is a legal obligation under the AODA.
If you do not complete your accessibility compliance report, you could face enforcement measures which can include financial penalties.
A small organization, with fewer than 20 employees, is exempt from the requirement to file accessibility reports, but not from the regulations.
For the Government of Ontario and the Legislative Assembly, reports must be filed annually.
For designated public sector organizations the report must be filed every two years.
For large organizations the report must be filed every three years.
For small organizations having between 20 to 50 employees the report must be filed every three years.
Audit Requirements
Business accessibility refers to the ease with which the organization's products, services, and facilities can be used by the company's employees and customers.Have an established accessibility policies strategy.
Have a multi-year accessibility plan, and update it every five years for designated public sector and large organisations only.
Provide training for all staff on the AODA Standards, the areas of the Ontario Human Rights Code that refer to people with disabilities, and on how to provide goods, services or facilities to a person with a disability.
Have a process for receiving and responding to feedback about how they provide accessibility to people with disabilities. This feedback process must be accessible to people with disabilities by providing or arranging for accessible formats or communication supports upon request.
If found noncompliant the director shall determine whether the severity of the impact of the contravention is of a minor, moderate or major nature.
In cases where the impact of the contravention is determined to be major the director may set the penalty to a maximum of $100,000, in the case of a corporation and $50,000, in the case of an individual or unincorporated organization.
In cases where the impact of the contravention is determined to be major the director may set the penalty to a maximum of $100,000, in the case of a corporation and $50,000, in the case of an individual or unincorporated organization.
AODA Benefits
Digital accessibility is an integrated component of business operations, and it deals with the design of technological products and services so that people with various disabilities can partake in the use of the products and services.Minimize Legal Risk
Many countries have laws requiring digital accessibility, and the issue is of increased legal concern.
Many countries have laws requiring digital accessibility, and the issue is of increased legal concern.
Extend Market Reach.
The global market of people with disabilities is over 1 billion people with a spending power of more than $6 trillion. Accessibility often improves the online experience for all users. Wider Audience Reach means higher sales figures and greater profitability.
The global market of people with disabilities is over 1 billion people with a spending power of more than $6 trillion. Accessibility often improves the online experience for all users. Wider Audience Reach means higher sales figures and greater profitability.
Innovation drives creativity.
Accessibility features in products and services often solve unanticipated problems. Improved Digital accessibility User Experience means ease of use, text clarity, and better navigation/practices that benefit users of all abilities.
Accessibility features in products and services often solve unanticipated problems. Improved Digital accessibility User Experience means ease of use, text clarity, and better navigation/practices that benefit users of all abilities.
Enhances Your Brand.
Diversity and inclusion efforts so important to business success are accelerated with a clear, well-integrated accessibility commitment. An accessible business is likely to be viewed more favorably and thus improving Brand Image with customers, friends, family, colleagues and social media.
Diversity and inclusion efforts so important to business success are accelerated with a clear, well-integrated accessibility commitment. An accessible business is likely to be viewed more favorably and thus improving Brand Image with customers, friends, family, colleagues and social media.
Accessibility standards improve visibility.
Search engines like Google are dedicated to providing the best search results to their users. Search engine crawlers take into account the user experience of your website and rank it accordingly.
Search engines like Google are dedicated to providing the best search results to their users. Search engine crawlers take into account the user experience of your website and rank it accordingly.