The Legal Reality
If you manage a public-sector website in Ontario, AODA compliance isn't a nice-to-have: it's the law. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act requires all public sector organizations to meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA standards. By 2025, this extends to WCAG 2.1.
Yet many municipal websites still fall short. Not because of negligence, but because accessibility requirements can feel overwhelming, technical, and abstract. This guide breaks it down in plain language.
What AODA Actually Requires for Websites
Under the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (IASR), your website must be:
In practice, this means meeting 50+ specific success criteria in WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Let's focus on the 10 most common failures I encounter on municipal sites.
The 10 Most Common Accessibility Mistakes
1. Missing or Unhelpful Alt Text
The Problem: Images either have no alt text at all, or use meaningless descriptions like "image1.jpg" or "photo."
Why It Matters: Screen reader users hear "image" with no context, missing critical information that sighted users take for granted.
The Fix:
alt="")Example:
<!-- Bad -->
<img src="mayor-signing.jpg">
<img src="mayor-signing.jpg" alt="photo">
<!-- Good -->
<img src="mayor-signing.jpg" alt="Mayor Johnson signing the new transit agreement with regional partners">2. Insufficient Color Contrast
The Problem: Text blends into backgrounds, especially light gray text on white or low-contrast brand colors.
Why It Matters: Users with low vision, colour blindness, or even those viewing screens in bright sunlight cannot read low-contrast text.
The Fix:
Common Offenders:
3. Broken Heading Hierarchy
The Problem: Headings are chosen based on visual size rather than document structure. Pages skip from H1 to H4, or use multiple H1s.
Why It Matters: Screen reader users navigate by headings. A broken hierarchy is like a book with chapters in random order.
The Fix:
4. Keyboard Navigation Failures
The Problem: Dropdown menus, modal windows, and interactive elements only work with a mouse.
Why It Matters: Users who cannot use a mouse (motor disabilities, screen reader users) are completely locked out of functionality.
The Fix:
Quick Test: Unplug your mouse and try to complete a task on your site using only the keyboard.
5. Missing Form Labels
The Problem: Form fields use placeholders instead of labels, or have labels that aren't programmatically connected.
Why It Matters: Screen readers announce form fields by their labels. Without proper association, users don't know what information to enter.
The Fix:
<label> elementfor attribute to connect labels to inputsExample:
<!-- Bad -->
<input type="text" placeholder="Email address">
<!-- Good -->
<label for="email">Email address</label>
<input type="email" id="email" placeholder="[email protected]">6. Inaccessible PDFs
The Problem: Scanned documents, image-based PDFs, and untagged PDFs are uploaded without remediation.
Why It Matters: Screen readers cannot read image-based or poorly structured PDFs. This is one of the most common AODA complaints.
The Fix:
7. Auto-Playing Media
The Problem: Videos or audio start playing automatically when a page loads.
Why It Matters: This can interfere with screen readers, startle users, and cause issues for those with cognitive disabilities.
The Fix:
8. Missing Skip Links
The Problem: Every page requires tabbing through the entire navigation before reaching main content.
Why It Matters: Keyboard users must press Tab dozens of times on every page just to get to the content they came for.
The Fix:
9. Non-Descriptive Link Text
The Problem: Links say "click here," "read more," or "learn more" without context.
Why It Matters: Screen reader users often navigate by links alone. Hearing "click here" repeated 15 times provides no useful information.
The Fix:
Example:
<!-- Bad -->
To register, <a href="/register">click here</a>.
<!-- Good -->
<a href="/register">Register for the community cleanup event</a>.10. Time Limits Without Controls
The Problem: Session timeouts or form submissions have time limits with no warning or extension option.
Why It Matters: Users who need more time to read or input information (cognitive disabilities, screen reader users) may lose their work.
The Fix:
Free Accessibility Testing Tools
You don't need expensive software to start testing. These free tools will catch most common issues:
WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool)
Browser extension that overlays accessibility issues directly on your page. Great for quick visual checks.
axe DevTools
Browser extension with detailed WCAG violation reports. Industry standard for developers.
Colour Contrast Analyzer
tpgi.com/color-contrast-checker
Desktop application for checking contrast ratios between any two colours.
NVDA Screen Reader
Free screen reader for Windows. Essential for understanding how blind users experience your site.
Case Study: Before and After
The Challenge
A mid-sized Ontario municipality approached me after receiving multiple AODA complaints about their website. An accessibility audit revealed:
The Approach
Rather than a complete redesign, we implemented targeted fixes:
The Results
After 3 months:
Start Your Accessibility Journey
Achieving AODA compliance can feel daunting, but perfect is the enemy of good. Start with these three steps:
Every fix makes your site more usable for everyone: not just users with disabilities, but also mobile users, older adults, and anyone in a challenging environment.
Need help achieving AODA compliance on your municipal website? [Get in touch](/contact) for a comprehensive accessibility audit and remediation roadmap.