The Nova Scotia Accessibility Act is a significant piece of legislation aimed at creating inclusive environments for individuals with disabilities in the province. It mandates accessibility improvements across the public sphere, covering everything from bus depots to digital workspaces.
One key focus of the Nova Scotia Accessibility Act is web accessibility. Under its mandates, businesses and organizations must upgrade their digital properties with accessibility features like screen reader compatibility, highlighted cursors, and alternative text for images, ensuring that individuals with disabilities can access information according to their preferences.
Keep reading to learn more about the Nova Scotia Accessibility Act, including its definition, accessibility advisory board, the role of the Accessibility Directorate, requirements for businesses, and ways to increase compliance with helpful tools like Accessibly, one of the leading accessibility widgets on the web.
Requirements of the NSAA
Here are the Nova Scotia Accessibility Act’s and Nova Scotia’s Accessibility Directorate’s main requirements for businesses, along with their respective deadlines, milestones, and penalties for non-compliance:
Physical Accessibility
Nova Scotia’s Accessibility Directorate requires brick-and-mortar businesses to meet accessibility standards and create an accessibility plan by ensuring accessible entryways, allowing the mobility impaired (e.g., wheelchair users) to pass through safely.
Other enhancements may include restroom grab bars, larger-than-average stalls, and marked adjustable parking spaces close to store entrances. It’s all in the name of creating a more accessible Nova Scotia!
Digital Accessibility
Like physical accessibility, digital accessibility emphasizes upgrading websites and mobile applications with improvements like keyboard navigation, properly formatted semantic HTML, larger cursors, and compatibility with third-party assistive technologies like screen readers.
One of the quickest ways to increase compliance with ADA, WCAG, and NSAA guidelines is by downloading an accessibility widget like Accessibly, which instantly upgrades your site with dozens of disabled person-friendly features such as more readable fonts, high-contrast text and background colors, highlighted links, larger cursors, captioning, and much more.
Communications Accessibility
Another area the Nova Scotia Accessibility Act focuses on is communications accessibility. Depending on the application, this area preserves a need for alternative formats like Braille and audio for the visually impaired, and tools like listening devices and sign language interpreters.
Employment, Training, and Policies
The Nova Scotia Accessibility Act also has strict rules regarding employment practices. Under its mandates, hiring practices must be fully accessible, ensuring that individuals with disabilities receive reasonable accommodations in physical spaces, accessible formats for learning about new job opportunities, and similar initiatives. It also extends to accessibility training for Nova Scotia businesses, emphasizing the proper use of assistive technologies.
Deadlines, Milestones, and Penalties for Non-Compliance
As with critical accessibility legislation, entities like the Nova Scotia’s Accessibility Directorate and the Nova Scotia Department of Justice issue specific milestones, deadlines, and penalties for non-compliance toward eligible entities.
Deadlines and Milestones
The Nova Scotia Accessibility Act (NSAA) has several provisions related to deadlines and milestones for a more accessible Nova Scotia. For example, any accessibility upgrades to public transportation, communication, and other areas of the public sphere all have set deadlines required by the Act.
This also applies to finalizing accessibility plans and meeting compliance deadlines, depending on the service area.
To meet accessibility standards , let’s not forget monitoring and reporting, including but not limited to annual reporting and complaint audits. For example, larger Nova Scotia-based public sector organizations typically have tighter deadlines than small businesses in the region thanks to the increased complexity of managing infrastructure or phased implementation of different accessibility projects.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
Expect severe penalties for not having an accessibility plan in compliance with the Nova Scotia Accessibility Act (NSAA).
Penalties could mean monetary fines or compliance orders requiring entities to correct accessibility problems by a deadline.
Additionally, non-compliance or failing to meet accessibility standards could prevent public-sector companies and private organizations from securing government contracts and funding. Accessibility must be at the forefront of people’s minds and executed correctly to obtain lucrative contracts.
For example, suppose a Nova Scotia municipality refuses to upgrade bus shelters with digital signage or an equivalent accessibility standard. In that case, it can be served administrative fees and accessibility compliance orders by entities like the Nova Scotia Department of Justice’s Accessibility Directorate, the province’s Accessibility Advisory Board, and the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.
In short, we highly recommend that you take the NSAA seriously and ensure that your website, mobile application, or physical location is fully equipped to accommodate individuals with disabilities.
Accessibly’s Role in Ensuring Compliance
With over 96% of the world’s top one million web pages being inaccessible, now is the perfect time to explore accessibility widgets like Accessibly and meet accessibility standards under the Nova Scotia’s Accessibility Act.
The Accessibly Accessibility app instantly equips virtually any website with accessibility-friendly features such as readable fonts, helpful tooltips, text-to-speech, color adjustments, and even enlarged cursors and text for the visually impaired.
All website owners need to do is download the widget, apply a simple snippet of custom code (or work via native integration on select platforms), and instantly enable visitors to customize website layouts to make them easier to read and understand.
Although Accessibly can be installed on any website using custom code, it can also be used with some of the web’s most popular web builders, including but not limited to Drupal, Webflow, Umbraco, Tilda, SpaceCraft, HubSpot, and many more. In an era where many platforms do not have their accessibility add-ons, Accessibly is a welcome addition.
If you’re still deciding whether to use Accessibly, first-timers can enjoy a free 7-day trial with instant access to all features.
If you’re ready to commit to a monthly subscription, pricing starts at $20 (Shopify) and $25+ for all other platforms.
What are you waiting for? Download the Accessibly widget and increase ADA and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) compliance before the Accessibility Directorate today!
Benefits of Implementing Accessibility Standards
Here are three of our favorite benefits of implementing accessibility standards in your organization and creating a more accessible Nova Scotia:
Enhanced User Experience
Naturally, implementing accessibility standards results in an improved user experience. For example, add-ons like alternative text for images and compatibility with assistive technologies like screen readers allow the visually impaired to process information better.
Features even extend to people with dyslexia with helpful upgrades like dyslexia-friendly fonts, which rely on distinctive letter shapes and larger spacing to improve readability.
Legal and Financial Benefits
There is no shortage of benefits to implementing accessibility standards regarding legal and financial benefits.
Adhering to the Nova Scotia Accessibility Act (NSAA) can help reduce the likelihood of being sued by a non-profit or advocacy group for non-compliance. In the United States, the two equivalents are the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines).
Improved Brand Reputation and Inclusivity
Attention to accessibility upgrades for your brick-and-mortar location or website lets the world and the Accessibility Directorate know you promote inclusivity, naturally improving brand perception. The greater your brand perception, the higher the potential for revenue, site traffic, and other key performance indicators that keep your business running.
In short, the NSAA is vital accessibility legislation meant to promote inclusivity for all Nova Scotia residents with disabilities. Whether they have visual, auditory, or cognitive issues, allowing them to enjoy full and equal participation in all public goods and services for a more accessible Nova Scotia.
