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Knowledge base
Common inquiries regarding AODA standards and our shielding methodologies.
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) is a law that sets out a process for developing and enforcing accessibility standards. It applies to all levels of government, nonprofits, and private sector businesses in Ontario that have one or more employees.
A typical comprehensive audit takes 7 to 14 business days depending on the architectural complexity of your digital ecosystem. Large-scale enterprise applications may require additional time for thorough structural assessment and remediation mapping.
Without a professional audit against WCAG 2.0 Level AA standards, most sites fail compliance. We provide a preliminary scan in 24 hours to identify high-level barriers, followed by a deeper manual inspection of your interactive elements.
Our shielding reports serve as an industry-standard validation of your compliance efforts and can be used in official accessibility filings. While we provide technical certification, we recommend consulting with legal counsel for regulatory submission finalization.
No. Automated tools (like axe or WAVE) typically catch only 30% to 50% of accessibility issues. True AODA compliance requires manual testing by an expert to ensure that complex elements—like keyboard navigation, screen reader flow, and interactive forms—actually work for a human user.
In Ontario, any private or non-profit organization with 1 or more employees must make their public websites accessible. If you have 50 or more employees, the requirements are stricter (WCAG 2.0 Level AA), and you are required to file accessibility compliance reports with the government.
Not at all. Accessibility is about functional code and inclusive design, not "boring" design. We focus on high-contrast colors, clear typography, and logical layouts that actually improve the user experience for everyone, often leading to better SEO and higher conversion rates.
Think of it more like SEO or security. While a "One-Time Audit and Fix" brings you up to code today, any new content, blog posts, or software updates can introduce new barriers. We recommend our Shield Maintenance plan to ensure your site remains compliant as your business grows.
Under the AODA, the government can impose significant fines for non-compliance. For corporations, these fines can reach up to $100,000 per day. Beyond legal risks, an inaccessible site ignores nearly 29% of the Ontario population, meaning you are likely leaving a significant amount of revenue on the table.
Google’s algorithms prioritize many of the same things accessibility does: clear heading structures, descriptive alt text for images, and fast, mobile-friendly navigation. By making your site accessible, you are essentially making it much easier for search engines to crawl and index your content.
"Quick-fix" plugins or overlays often fail to stop lawsuits and can actually make the experience worse for screen reader users. AODA Shield provides "native" remediation—meaning we fix the actual source code of your website. This is the only way to ensure true, long-term compliance and a superior user experience.