AODA Website Compliance in Ontario: What Small Businesses Actually Need to Do

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) requires certain Ontario businesses to make their websites accessible — and unlike most of what gets written about it, this isn't optional or vague. Here's what it actually means in plain language.

Who this actually applies to

The requirement to meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA accessibility standards applies to Ontario organizations with 20 or more employees (private sector and non-profits), plus all public sector organizations regardless of size. Smaller businesses under that threshold aren't currently bound by the same formal requirement, but accessibility is still worth building in — it's good practice, and thresholds have moved before.

What non-compliance actually risks

For organizations the law does apply to, penalties are real — up to $100,000 per day for corporations that fail to comply, enforced through Ontario's accessibility compliance reporting process. That's a meaningfully higher stake than most small business legal-compliance topics, which is exactly why it's worth an honest look rather than assuming it doesn't apply to you.

What compliance actually looks like on a website

• Text that works with screen readers — proper heading structure, alt text on images
• Enough color contrast that text is readable, not just stylish
• A site that's fully navigable by keyboard, not just a mouse
• Forms and interactive elements labeled so assistive technology can actually use them

If your business is near or over the 20-employee threshold, this is worth confirming directly rather than guessing — and it's the kind of thing that should be built into a site from the start, not bolted on after the fact.