Promoting total inclusivity amongst persons with disabilities is a key hallmark of the Accessible BC Act for British Columbia residents.
The goal is to improve accessibility across public goods and services, ensuring improved quality of life for approximately 15% of the population that suffers from a partial or total disability via website and physical location upgrades that assist the visually, cognitively, hard of hearing, and mobility-impaired to live more fulfilling lives.
Please keep reading to learn more about the Accessible BC Act, including its historical context, primary goals, how it enforces accessibility standards, and how accessibility widgets like Accessibly can help you increase ADA and WCAG compliance.
Background of the Act
Enacted on June 17th, 2021, the Accessible BC Act aims to create a barrier-free British Columbia and proposed accessibility standard by ensuring that persons with disabilities have equal and full access to public goods and services in the region.
It follows on the heels of the 2010 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the 2019 passing of the Accessible Canada Act (Bill C-81), which established the legal framework to represent accessibility needs throughout the country.
Here are the critical provisions under the Act:
Accessibility Standards by Sector
The Act establishes ground rules for any accessibility plan by sector.
For example, public services and built environments have unique challenges and thus, different accessibility standards.
Additionally, public spaces may require new construction with strict accessibility requirements, e.g., unique emergency exit configurations and signage considerations. In contrast, workplace modifications for employees with disabilities need an entirely new set of upgrades, like assistive technologies for each employee’s workstation.
Accessibility Plans
With this provision, accessible organizations commit to creating an updated accessibility plan every three years. To achieve this, organizations are recommended to consult with the larger disabled community, as well as various accessibility committees, to ensure that any organization’s accessibility plan adheres to inclusive universal design standards.
Accessibility Audits and Reporting
The Act heavily emphasizes accessibility audits and reporting. For example, municipal buildings in the province can identify barriers by conducting an audit of all of their public spaces, ensuring that its accessibility plan calls for sufficient designated parking areas, accessible restrooms, and other facility upgrades.
Additionally, websites and online services can be audited using a combination of tools, including automated and manual testing tools that perform exhaustive scans to identify accessibility gaps.
Feedback and More Feedback
Expect robust public feedback mechanisms with the Act, where accessible organizations routinely solicit feedback from the public to identify barriers and develop and finalize their accessibility plans.
Ways feedback can be collected include but are not limited to online forums, website forms, social media channels and events.
This legislation is all about continuous improvement based on feedback.
Enforcement and Compliance
Not surprisingly, the Act also has an enforcement and compliance arm.
Under the framework, many businesses and public facilities could undergo random inspections, especially if many members of the public are filing complaints due to a lack of an accessibility plan.
Failing to adhere to accessibility requirements can result in steep consequences like imposing a monetary penalty of up to $250,000 and required participation in a continuance agreement. If accessible organizations lag even further, then do not be surprised if regulatory bodies start authorizing administrative penalties even more. As such, organizations have the right to request an appeal, which involves an administrative tribunal.
One highly publicized case of non-accessible organizations failing to meet proposed accessibility standards involves the Ontario Human Rights Commission v. Ontario (Ministry of Community and Social Services), 2001 SCC 28, in which the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against Ontario under the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP).
Benefit recipients under a competing program had a much easier time applying for benefits than those under the ODSP. The argument was made that there were too many barriers to entry with discriminatory provisions in violation of Section 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Another key case that helps explain the Act is Moore v. British Columbia.
In this case, the court ruled in favor of dyslexic student Jeffrey Moore, stating that the British Columbia education system did not provide him with adequate support for his daily activities. Ensuring equal and full participation for students with disabilities is a crucial component of the Act.
A third case, Council of Canadians with Disabilities v. VIA Rail Canada Inc., was brought before the Federal Court of Canada. The court ruled that VIA Rail discriminated against individuals with disabilities by failing to provide sufficient accessible services at its rail stations. Just as in education, the Act also extends its principles to public transportation.
Under the Accessible British Columbia Act, do not be surprised if regulatory bodies go after even the smallest businesses, like bars and restaurants, for not adequately removing physical barriers. For many physical locations, installing accessibility upgrades like wheelchair ramps, widening entryways, and providing accessible sitting areas are all fair game.
All of these cases clearly demonstrate the importance of accessibility in real-world applications.
In Moore v. British Columbia, the court took serious legal action by awarding Moore full compensation for his private school expenses. Although specific monetary damages were not immediately clear in the VIA Rail Canada Inc. case, VIA Rail faced significant costs to upgrade its trains to meet accessibility standards. Whether through direct monetary fines or orders to make costly infrastructure upgrades, all organizations under the Act must comply or potentially face similar situations.
A Word on The Act and Web Accessibility
In short, with roughly 15% of the world suffering from a partial disability, the Act seeks to promote accessibility by ensuring full and equal participation in all public goods and services by British Columbia-based small businesses, large corporations, and government agencies alike.
To work on an accessibility plan, the Act calls for accessible organizations and non-accessible organizations to adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), an internationally recognized set of guidelines requiring all web content to be fully accessible.
Several ways to do this include introducing alternative text for images, ensuring compatibility with assistive technologies like screen readers, and dozens of other navigation and improvement features, like larger cursors and highlighted links, that make it much easier for the visually impaired to understand and process information.
One of the best ways to increase web accessibility compliance is by investing in an accessibility overlay like Accessibly.
What is Accessibly?
Accessibly is an accessibility widget that allows website and mobile application owners to increase ADA and WCAG compliance, unlocking an inclusive experience for roughly 27% of the Canadian population that suffers from a disability.
These features include but are not limited to the ability to invert colors, introduce readable fonts, highlight links, hide images, and add alternative text for images. It even calls for larger texts, cursors, and additional reading lines to help the visually impaired and dyslexics better process information.
Here are some of our favorite Accessibly app features (not an all-inclusive list):
Full Integration
It can be easily integrated into any website using custom code. It also enjoys native integrations with four platforms: WooCommerce, Elementor, Shopify, and WordPress.
Increase WCAG Compliance
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) offer an excellent framework for addressing the needs of persons with disabilities through accessibility improvements on websites and mobile applications. It provides numerous benefits, such as a broader audience reach, SEO benefits, and improved user experience.
Some side features WCAG recommends are alternative text for images, compatibility with third-party screen readers, highlighted links, larger cursors, and dozens of other enhancements that make it easier for those with mobility, visual, cognitive, and hearing impairments to process information better.
Dozens of Features
The Accessibly app works as an overlay. All you need to do is insert a small snippet of code onto your website and instantly activate dozens of features persons with disabilities can use to customize their online navigation, such as larger cursors, readable fonts, and high-contrast color selection between text and background, including the ability to invert colors.
Free Trial
If you still need convincing that Accessibly will work for you, enjoy a 7-day trial with instant access to all features. Monthly pricing is also reasonable, starting at $20 a month.
The Accessibly widget is very lightweight and takes less than 5 minutes to install. It can be incorporated into any website using custom code or is natively integrated into four platforms: WooCommerce, Elementor, WordPress, and Shopify.
Take advantage of our free 7-day trial, which includes instant access to all features. Whenever you’re ready to commit, Accessibly offers affordable monthly subscription options starting at $20.
Get started on the road to ADA and WCAG compliance by downloading the Accessibly widget and promoting full inclusivity for persons with disabilities. Let’s promote accessibility today!
