Ontario’s web-accessibility requirements have a defined scope. A useful website review should identify the applicable obligations and also test whether people can complete the important tasks.
Check whether the requirement applies
Ontario’s guidance covers designated public-sector organisations and businesses or non-profits with 50 or more employees, with conditions concerning website control and content dates. The published requirement references WCAG 2.0 Level AA with specified exceptions. Read the Ontario guidance for the full scope.
Test the enquiry or purchase journey
Review labels, error messages, keyboard access, focus visibility, text contrast and meaningful image alternatives. Include documents and video where relevant.
Use automated checks as one input
Automated tools identify some issues. A passing score does not establish complete accessibility or legal compliance. Add manual checks and appropriate user or specialist testing.
Document and maintain the work
Record the problem, change and verification. Revisit accessibility when navigation, forms, content or third-party tools change.
First determine which legal requirements apply
Ontario states that designated public-sector organizations and businesses or non-profits with 50 or more employees must make covered public websites and web content conform to WCAG 2.0 Level AA, subject to specified exceptions. Smaller organizations may have different obligations and are still encouraged to improve accessibility. Check the current regulation and obtain legal advice for your organization.
Audit the experience manually as well as automatically
Automated tools can identify some contrast, markup and labelling issues, but they cannot determine whether every control is understandable or usable. Test keyboard navigation, visible focus, forms, headings, links and common screen-reader flows.
Make content accessible as part of publishing
Use descriptive link text, logical headings, text alternatives for meaningful images, accessible documents and captions where required. Accessibility can deteriorate when new content is published without a repeatable process.
Document remediation and maintenance
Keep a list of issues, owners, severity and target dates. Train people who update the site so fixes do not disappear with the next redesign or content upload.
Ontario’s official accessibility guidance should be checked for current requirements before relying on any general article.
Create an accessibility issue register
Track page, problem, relevant WCAG criterion where known, severity, owner and remediation status. Separate automated findings from manually confirmed issues so the team does not treat every scanner warning as equally important.
Include third-party components
Review booking widgets, forms, chat tools, video players and embedded documents as part of the user journey. Third-party software can create barriers even when the website theme itself is accessible.
Retest after remediation
Fixes should be verified with keyboard use, screen-reader checks where appropriate and the same automated tools used in the initial audit. Keep evidence of the remediation process for internal governance.
Include accessibility in procurement
When choosing themes, forms, booking tools or other vendors, ask about accessibility before implementation. Remediating a third-party component after launch can be more difficult than selecting a stronger option upfront.
Train content editors
Accessible templates can still be broken by poor headings, missing alt text or inaccessible documents. Give editors a short publishing checklist and examples.