There is an important date for anyone doing business in Ontario Canada and that date is January 1, 2021.
By this date, the Ontario Government is requiring all companies with employees in Ontario who have websites to ensure those websites comply with at least WCAG 2.0 if you are a company with employees over 50.
What we do not know is whether (for the purposes of AODA) the gov of Ontario will consider Realtors within a brokerage “employees” for these purposes (of course we at REW.com know they are independent contractors) so our recommendation is that all Ontarians should take a serious look at OADA and make appropriate changes to their website as sooner or later even those without 50 employees (pre-2025) will be required to make this change.
From what I have read, the fines for not being in compliance with this law (and it is a law) can be extremely severe (up to $100k per day) and so this is really something you don’t want to mess around with.
If you are in Ontario your next steps should be:
Go here: https://www.ontario.ca/page/how-make-websites-accessible to read up on what is required.
Download a tool to test your website: We recommend the WAV Evaluation Tool for Chrome (it’s free WAVE Evaluation Tool - Chrome Web Store
Talk to your webmaster (or us if we are your webmaster) on what needs to be done in order to comply with this new requirement. It is each website owners responsibility (not that of their host company or webmaster) to ensure they are complying with these guidelines.
Accessibility is important: Not just because it is the law, but because it provides equal access and opportunity to those people with disabilities. It’s a good thing to do (the right thing to do) and we’re here to help if you have any questions please post them below: