AODA Conformance

Clearpoint Health Network is made up of multiple independent surgery centres and healthcare facilities throughout Canada. We, along with our provincial healthcare partners, are committed to making healthcare accessible to all Canadians. In 2005, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) was enacted to set out a process for developing and enforcing accessibility standards. In addition, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) developed an internationally accepted standard for web accessibility called Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Our website was designed to adhere to AODA and WCAG standards.

How Does AODA Relate to WCAG?

WCAG compliance is broken into three levels: level A (the minimum requirements), AA, and AAA. The AODA requires all private and non-profit organizations with at least 50 employees and all public-sector organizations to make their websites accessible by meeting the WCAG criteria for both level A and AA. Our site was specifically built to conform to both levels of these requirements.

What Does AODA Conformance Dictate?

While websites must meet a variety of criteria to be considered AODA compliant, here is a brief subset of the ways our website provides accessibility:

• Non-text elements, such as images, have text alternatives (alt text)
• Content is self-explanatory; it does not depend on the ability to perceive sensory information such as colours or sounds
• Any audio that plays for more than three seconds can be paused or stopped, or the volume can be adjusted
• Links in the navigation and text are self-explanatory
• Text can be enlarged
• Website functions work using a keyboard
• Time limits on functions can be controlled or extended
• The site does not use rapidly flashing features or elements

Visit EssentialAccessibility.com to install free assistive technology.