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Accessible Websites and Web Content

(1) The Government of Ontario and the Legislative Assembly shall make their internet and intranet websites and web content conform with the World Wide Web Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, at Level AA, and shall do so in accordance with the schedule set out in this section.  O. Reg. 191/11, s. 14 (1).

(2) Designated public sector organizations and large organizations shall make their internet websites and web content conform with the World Wide Web Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, initially at Level A and increasing to Level AA, and shall do so in accordance with the schedule set out in this section.  O. Reg. 191/11, s. 14 (2).

(3) The Government of Ontario and the Legislative Assembly, for both their internet and intranet sites, shall meet the requirements in this section in accordance with the following schedule:

1. By January 1, 2012, new internet and intranet websites and web content on those sites must conform with WCAG 2.0 Level AA, other than, i. success criteria 1.2.4 Captions (Live), and ii. success criteria 1.2.5 Audio Descriptions (Pre-recorded).

2. By January 1, 2016, all internet websites and web content must conform with WCAG 2.0 Level AA, other than, i. success criteria 1.2.4 Captions (Live), and ii. success criteria 1.2.5 Audio Descriptions (Pre-recorded).

3. By January 1, 2020, all internet and intranet websites and web content must conform with WCAG 2.0 Level AA.  O. Reg. 191/11, s. 14 (3).

(4) Designated public sector organizations and large organizations for their internet websites shall meet the requirements of this section in accordance with the following schedule:

1. By January 1, 2014, new internet websites and web content on those sites must conform with WCAG 2.0 Level A.

2. By January 1, 2021, all internet websites and web content must conform with WCAG 2.0 Level AA, other than, i. success criteria 1.2.4 Captions (Live), and ii. success criteria 1.2.5 Audio Descriptions (Pre-recorded).  O. Reg. 191/11, s. 14 (4).

(5) Except where meeting the requirement is not practicable, this section applies,

(a) to websites and web content, including web-based applications, that an organization controls directly or through a contractual relationship that allows for modification of the product; and

(b) to web content published on a website after January 1, 2012.  O. Reg. 191/11, s. 14 (5).

(6) In determining whether meeting the requirements of this section is not practicable, organizations referenced in subsections (1) and (2) may consider, among other things,

(a) the availability of commercial software or tools or both; and

(b) significant impact on an implementation timeline that is planned or initiated before January 1, 2012.  O. Reg. 191/11, s. 14 (6).

(7) In this section,

“extranet website” means a controlled extension of the intranet, or internal network of an organization to outside users over the Internet; (“site Web extranet”)

“internet website” means a collection of related web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that are addressed relative to a common Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) and is accessible to the public; (“site Web Internet”)

“intranet website” means an organization’s internal website that is used to privately and securely share any part of the organization’s information or operational systems within the organization and includes extranet websites; (“site Web intranet”)

“new internet website” means either a website with a new domain name or a website with an existing domain name undergoing a significant refresh; (“nouveau site Web Internet”)

“new intranet website” means either an intranet website with a new domain name or an intranet website with an existing domain name undergoing a significant refresh; (“nouveau site Web intranet”)

“Web Content Accessibility Guidelines” means the World Wide Web Consortium Recommendation, dated December 2008, entitled “Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0”; (“Règles pour l’accessibilité des contenus Web’’)

“web page” means a non-embedded resource obtained from a single Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and any other resources that are used in the rendering or intended to be rendered together with it by a user agent.  (“page Web”)  O. Reg. 191/11, s. 14 (7).