Accessible Websites in Canada: An AODA and WCAG Checklist for Small Businesses

Accessible Websites in Canada: An AODA and WCAG Checklist for Small Businesses

An accessible website works for people using screen readers, keyboards, magnification or captions. It also tends to be faster and easier for everyone to use.

Last reviewed: November 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm your obligations with the Ontario government's AODA guidance or your adviser.

The rules in brief

In Ontario, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) includes website requirements for many organizations, based on the international WCAG 2.0 Level AA guidelines, with some exceptions. Requirements depend on your organization's size and type. Other provinces have their own accessibility laws at different stages. Even where it is not required, WCAG is the accepted benchmark.

The checklist

1. Text alternatives. Every meaningful image has descriptive alt text; decorative images have empty alt text.
2. Headings in order. One H1, then H2s and H3s in a logical outline.
3. Keyboard use. Every link, button, menu and form works with the keyboard alone, with a visible focus outline.
4. Colour contrast. Text has enough contrast with its background, and colour is never the only way information is shown.
5. Forms. Every field has a visible label, errors are explained in text, and required fields are marked clearly.
6. Links. Link text says where it goes; avoid "click here".
7. Media. Videos have captions; audio has transcripts.
8. Zoom and reflow. Pages work when zoomed and on small screens without sideways scrolling.
9. Language. The page declares its language, and French pages declare French.
10. Motion. Animations respect the reduced-motion setting and nothing flashes.

How to test

• Use the site with only a keyboard.
• Run a free automated checker; it catches a portion of issues, not all.
• Try a screen reader on your key pages.
• Ask a few real users to complete your main task, such as booking or contacting you.

Publish an accessibility statement

Say what standard you aim for, known limitations and how people can report a problem or get information another way.

How we help

We build sites with accessibility in mind from the start. See AI websites and our accessibility statement.