In 2005, the government enacted the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. This act laid the framework for the development of province-wide mandatory standards on accessibility in all areas of daily life. Its goal is to make Ontario accessible for people with disabilities by 2025.
Ontario now has accessibility standards in five areas:
• Customer service
• Employment
• Information and communications
• Transportation
• Design of public spaces
In 2013, the Ontario Trails Council undertook a website redesign to improve services and information. As a sector industry association, we wanted to ensure the information on our website is available to all Ontarians, including people with disabilities.
Through the experience we learnt an accessible website is simply good design that improved how our site works for everyone. Since 85% of the visitors to the Ontario Trails Council website are referred to our member’s websites for more local and distinct information about a trail, we wanted to share our experience of creating an accessible website and encourage our members to consider accessibility for their website and other communication tools as a best practice.
That is why the Ontario Trails Council developed the "Ontario Trails Organizations Guide for Accessible Web Design" through an EnAbling Change Project with the Government of Ontario.
The Guide is free to anyone interested in designing more accessible and inclusive websites. Covering accessible website design, it offers ideas on how to design your website – what factors to consider, what questions to ask, and where to find more information. We also include some useful links for anyone interested in learning more about accessibility for trails.
To download the PDF of the Ontario Trails Organizations Guide for Accessible Web Design click here
To download the PDF of the Accessible Events Guide 2016 English click here
To download the PDF of the Accessible Events Guide 2016 French click here
To download a copy of our facilitated day, March 25th 2015, with Simcoe County, click here
More about the AODA
Did you know all private and non-profit organizations with 20+ employees must file an accessibility compliance report by December 31, 2014.
Your requirements will vary depending on the size of your organization.
Use the following link to learn what you need to do comply
Schedule a Webinar
The Ontario Trails Council is pleased to work with you on accessiblity, and accessible web design.
Why not learn more by joining a webinar on the topic?
Call us.
