Accessible Canada Act website requirements apply to a narrower group than many accessibility laws, but they ask for more than a technical checklist. This guide explains who is covered, how the Act compares with Ontario’s AODA, and what your accessibility plan, feedback process and progress reports involve. It is general information, not legal advice.
What Are the Accessible Canada Act Website Requirements?
Quick answer: The Accessible Canada Act (ACA) does not set one technical standard for websites. It requires federal government bodies and federally regulated organizations to consult people with disabilities, publish accessibility plans, offer ways to give feedback and publish progress reports. Websites fall mainly under information and communication technologies.
According to Equalize Digital’s ACA website guide, the Act was adopted in 2019 to remove barriers for people with disabilities who use federal services. The stated goal is a barrier-free Canada by 2040. Here is the summary at a glance:
- Who: federal government organizations and federally regulated private organizations with 10 or more employees.
- What: consultation with people with disabilities, a published accessibility plan, a feedback process and progress reports.
- When: plan deadlines were December 31, 2022 for federal entities, June 1, 2023 for private organizations with 100 or more employees, and June 1, 2024 for those with 10 to 99 employees. All have passed.
- Penalties: Equalize Digital reports fines of up to $250,000 for non-compliance.
Who the Accessible Canada Act Applies To
Covered organizations
Equalize Digital, citing the Canadian Human Rights Commission, lists federal departments, federal agencies, Crown corporations, the Canadian Armed Forces, the RCMP and Parliament. Federally regulated private businesses and nonprofits with 10 or more employees are covered too.
Examples of those private organizations include banks, radio and television broadcasters, telecommunications companies, and federally regulated transportation such as airlines, airports, and cross-border ferry, bus, train and trucking companies.
Organizations that are not covered
The same source says the Act does not apply to businesses regulated by provinces or territories. Examples include schools, universities, hospitals, medical clinics, stores, restaurants, gyms and police forces other than the RCMP. Those organizations may still face other accessibility laws, so check your own situation.
ACA vs AODA: How They Differ
The ACA is a federal law. Ontario’s AODA is a provincial law. A bank headquartered in Toronto may be federally regulated, while a Toronto restaurant is provincially regulated, so the line is about who regulates you, not where you operate.
| Topic | Accessible Canada Act | Ontario’s AODA |
|---|---|---|
| Level of law | Federal, adopted in 2019 | Provincial (Ontario) |
| Who is covered | Federal government bodies and federally regulated private organizations with 10 or more employees | Ontario-regulated organizations; see our AODA guide for thresholds |
| Stores, restaurants, gyms | Not covered unless federally regulated | Check the AODA guide for how it applies |
| Core approach | Consult, publish plans, take feedback, report progress | See our AODA guide for the detailed duties |
| WCAG named in the law | Not specified, according to Equalize Digital | See our AODA guide for the technical standard |
For the AODA side of an AODA vs ACA review, read our AODA website compliance guide.
Accessibility Plans, Feedback and Progress Reports
Equalize Digital describes the ACA as proactive. Rather than waiting for complaints, organizations must find, remove and prevent barriers, and show their work publicly.
Consultation
Organizations must consult people with disabilities. For websites, that means your own testing or a consultant’s audit is not enough on its own. Include user testing with people who use assistive technology, in the spirit of “Nothing about us without us.”
The accessibility plan
At a minimum, the plan must include contact information, how you consulted people with disabilities, and your policies or processes for identifying and removing barriers. The government also recommends short and long term goals, training information and how accessibility fits your culture. The Government of Canada publishes a sample plan template to start from.
Feedback and progress reports
You must set up ways to receive and respond to accessibility feedback, then publish progress reports on how you are following your plan. Equalize Digital notes that covered organizations notify the Accessibility Commissioner of published documents through the Federal Accessibility Portal.
What It Means for Websites and Digital Services
In practice, Accessible Canada Act website requirements are about process and outcomes together. Your plan should name your website, apps, online forms and other digital services, and your feedback channel should be easy to find and use on those same pages.
The ACA does not define how accessibility is measured or require WCAG by name, according to Equalize Digital. The W3C’s Web Accessibility Laws and Policies list associates the Act with WCAG 2.0 AA. Equalize Digital suggests that meeting the current WCAG version at level AA is a sensible step, so most teams treat Canada WCAG alignment as their working benchmark.
The WCAG 2.1 specification is a common baseline, and our guide to WCAG 2.2 updates for website owners covers the newer criteria. If you also serve customers in the EU, the European Accessibility Act website guide explains that regime separately.
Some examples of where to look first:
- Banks: login, account and application forms, plus error messages.
- Airlines and transport: booking flows, seat selection and itinerary changes.
- Telecommunications: account portals, plan comparison pages and support chat.
- Broadcasters: video and audio players and program guides.
A tool like Accessify, an AI-powered accessibility widget that installs in about 2 minutes on Shopify, WordPress and other platforms, can automate remediation of many common issues. It does not replace manual testing, fixes in code or consultation with people with disabilities, especially on complex sites.
How Accessify and Other Widget Vendors Compare
Widgets can support the technical side of ACA and AODA work, but none of them can publish your plan or consult your users for you. Verify every vendor claim on its public pages, and check the vendor’s site for current pricing.
| Vendor | Approach and fair strength | ACA and AODA support |
|---|---|---|
| Accessify | AI-powered widget with automated remediation, 2-minute install, plans from $19/month (per Accessify’s own pages) | Focus on ADA, WCAG 2.2 and EAA; [INSERT: confirm any ACA or AODA-specific features] |
| UserWay | [INSERT: one verified strength from UserWay’s public page] | [INSERT: verify ACA and AODA support] |
| accessiBe | [INSERT: one verified strength from accessiBe’s public page] | [INSERT: verify ACA and AODA support] |
| AudioEye | [INSERT: one verified strength from AudioEye’s public page] | [INSERT: verify ACA and AODA support] |
A widget suits small to mid-sized sites that want fast, automated fixes. For large federally regulated organizations, a manual audit, user testing with people with disabilities, a managed service or an enterprise platform may be the better primary route, with a widget as a supporting layer.
Readiness Checklist and Next Steps
Use this list to test your Accessible Canada Act website requirements readiness:
- Confirm whether you are a federal body or a federally regulated organization with 10 or more employees.
- Check that your accessibility plan is published and includes contact details, consultation details and your barrier process.
- Confirm a working feedback channel on your website and a named person who responds.
- Publish progress reports and notify the Accessibility Commissioner through the portal.
- Audit key pages against WCAG AA and add user testing with people who use assistive technology.
- Fix issues in code where needed and record them for the next report.
Short action list:
- This week: confirm coverage and locate your current plan.
- This month: run an automated scan, then a manual review of top user journeys.
- This quarter: complete user testing, update the plan and schedule your next progress report.
- Ongoing: ask a Canadian lawyer who specializes in accessibility law about your specific obligations.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Accessible Canada Act?
The Accessible Canada Act is a federal law adopted in 2019 to remove barriers for people with disabilities who access federal services and resources. According to Equalize Digital, the government aims for a barrier-free Canada by 2040. It covers areas including communication and information and communication technologies, which include websites.
Does the ACA apply to my small business?
Only if you are federally regulated or part of the federal government. According to Equalize Digital, the Act covers federally regulated private organizations with 10 or more employees, such as banks, broadcasters, telecommunications companies and cross-border transport. Stores, restaurants, gyms and other provincially regulated businesses are not covered, though other laws may apply.
Does the ACA require WCAG?
Not by name. Equalize Digital notes that the Act does not define how accessibility is measured or state that websites must conform to WCAG. It also notes that meeting the current WCAG version at level AA is a sensible step, so most teams use it as their working benchmark.
How large are the fines for non-compliance?
Equalize Digital reports that organizations failing to comply can receive fines of up to $250,000. Penalty details can change and depend on circumstances, so check the official text of the Act or ask a Canadian lawyer who specializes in accessibility law before relying on any figure.
Can an accessibility widget make us compliant?
No widget alone guarantees compliance. An automated tool can help fix many common issues, but the Act also expects consultation with people with disabilities, a published plan, feedback processes and progress reports. Complex sites still need manual testing and code-level fixes alongside any widget.
What should we do first?
Confirm whether your organization is covered, then check that your accessibility plan is published and your feedback process works. Next, audit your website against WCAG AA, include testing with people with disabilities, and note the barriers you find and fix so they can feed your next progress report.
Want a faster start on the technical fixes? Explore how Accessify can automate remediation, then pair it with manual testing and your accessibility plan.
