Project updates

Public website accessibility remediation project

Public websites at the University of Waterloo are required to be accessible by December 31, 2024. Under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Information and Communications Standard, the University of Waterloo has a legal obligation to make its digital content on the web and social media accessible. The AODA refers to an international set of online accessibility standards called the Web Consortium Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The University is currently required to meet WCAG 2.0, level AA standards.    

 

Objectives of this work

  • Establish a sustainable, ongoing website accessibility governance structure. 
  • Strengthen our processes for the creation and management of new websites and social media channels so that all meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA requirements. 
  • Remediate public websites that do not conform to WCAG 2.0 Level AA requirements. 

Work plan

The project team will support the implementation of a web accessibility checker tool (SiteImprove (SI)) to assist with identifying and monitoring web content for digital accessibility throughout 2024. 

Timeline

  1. 2024
    1. Dec
      1. Public websites at the University of Waterloo are required to be accessible.

    2. Jan
      1. SiteImprove Go Live - available to web leads upon request.

  2. 2023
    1. Sep
      1. Digital Accessibility website officially launched with training resources to support website accessibility.

    2. Aug
      1. Web Accessibility Checker (SiteImprove) tool purchased for accessibility remediation work.

    3. Apr
      1. Public Website Accessibility Remediation project started.