What Do Ontario’s Accessibility Laws Mean for Employers?

According to the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services, 1 in 7 Ontarians has a disability. 

Removing barriers, whether they be physical, architectural, technological or informational is essential to ensure all community members can participate effectively in all aspects of society.

This year on January 1st, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act was updated to mandate that:

• Any organization that produces materials for educational and training institutions must be able to provide accessible or conversion-ready formats of supplementary educational or training resources.
• All educational and training institutions’ libraries must provide accessible or conversion-ready formats of digital or multimedia resources and materials.

These updates mean that Ontario-based organizations must make their learning resources accessible. For example, those that use online video must have closed captioning for deaf or hard-of-hearing viewers and video description for blind or low-vision users.

Ontario’s accessibility standards apply to all sectors, including customer service, information and communication, transportation, employment, design of public spaces and more. This means that no matter the field in which you work, there are sure to be implications for your workplace’s daily accessibility operations.

For further information about what you can and must legally do to support people with disabilities, visit the Accessibility in Ontario website here.