Website accessibility basics for Ontario businesses
An accessible website works for more customers, performs better in search, and may be required by law. Start with these fundamentals.
Accessibility means making sure people with disabilities — including people who are blind or have low vision, are deaf or hard of hearing, or have mobility or cognitive disabilities — can use your website. It also makes sites easier for everyone: think of someone using a phone in bright sunlight, or with one hand.
What the law says in Ontario
Under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), public sector organisations and private or non-profit organisations with 50 or more employees in Ontario must make their public websites meet the WCAG 2.0 Level AA standard, with a few exceptions. Smaller businesses may not be required to, but following the same standard is still good practice. Requirements change over time, so check the latest guidance from the Government of Ontario for your situation.
The fundamentals
Text alternatives for images
Every meaningful image needs alt text describing it, so screen reader users know what it shows. Purely decorative images should have empty alt text so they're skipped.
Enough colour contrast
Light grey text on a white background is hard for many people to read. WCAG AA asks for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. Free contrast checkers make this easy to test.
Keyboard navigation
Try using your site with only the Tab, Enter and arrow keys. Can you reach every link, button and form field? Can you see where you are on the page? If not, keyboard and assistive-technology users can't either.
Clear headings and structure
Use real headings (H1, H2, H3) in a logical order. Screen reader users often jump between headings to scan a page, just as sighted users skim.
Labelled form fields
Every form field needs a visible label, not just placeholder text that disappears when you start typing. Error messages should explain what went wrong and how to fix it.
Meaningful link text
"Click here" tells nobody anything out of context. "Download our price list (PDF)" does.
Captions and transcripts
Videos should have captions, and audio content should have a transcript.