It is the right of every Canadian to take part in events and be a part of society as a whole. For this purpose, Canadian accessibility laws are considered to be a boon as it helps in creating barrier-free workplaces, communities, and services for all Canadian citizens. This includes those citizens who have some kind of disability. National accessibility legislation was formed by the Canadian government to fulfill the rights of disabled people, which they rightfully deserve. In this article, you will get to know why Canadian accessibility standards are significant for Canadian businesses.
Canada accessibility standards are crucial for Canadian businesses because of two key reasons. The first reason is the Canadian government has made it mandatory for all government and other businesses based out of Canada to strictly comply with the Canadian disabilities act (Rules governing equal access to Canadian disabled citizens) or a hefty fine will be imposed.
The second reason is that there is a small chunk of the population in Canada that belongs to the disabled community. These disabled people have every right to get equal access to participate and obtain relevant online information provided by government agencies and other businesses based out of Canada.
The following are four key points that justify the strategic significance of Canada’s accessibility standards:
1. The Accessible Canada Regulations (ACR): It was bought into effect in December 2021. It is described as the first set of regulations that comes under the ACA (Accessible Canada Act). There are specific rules laid down by ACR that must be followed by federally regulated entities when feedback processes are set up, accessibility plans are published and progress reports are developed.
2. First Nations Band Councils: While the ACA was being developed, a commitment has been made by the Government of Canada that the First nations band councils would not be applied by ACA. This was to be done until further engagement with indigenous persons.
While the ongoing engagement work, the First nations band councils have been exempted by the Canadian government from the ACR for a time frame of five years, until 2026. More time is provided to indigenous organizations through this exemption so that their member communities could properly understand the accessibility barriers faced by disabled people.
3. Progress needs to be measured accordingly: The progress of ACA implementation needs to be measured accordingly for a barrier-free Canada. The accessibility data is collected and analyzed by Statistics Canada and other federal partners under the Accessibility Data and Measurement strategy. This strategy depicts works in four areas as follows:
- Knowledge and data mobilization
- Data sources need to be expanded and integrated
- Common approaches to measurement need to be promoted
- Data gaps and knowledge needs to be identified and indicators need to be developed.
4. National Accessability week: National AccessAbility week was first launched by the Canadian government in 2017. But, when ACA came into effect in 2019, National AccessAbility week was initiated to be conducted yearly. Many events and activities are planned by persons with disabilities, accessibility and disability stakeholders, as well as territorial and provincial partners during National AccessAbility week. A few important contributions are mentioned below:
- The efforts of workplaces, communities, and individuals that are working actively to remove barriers to inclusion and accessibility
- The valuable contributions of disabled Canadian citizens.
- The prevention of new barriers and removal of existing accessibility barriers will create a more inclusive society that provides greater opportunities and access for disabled persons. In this manner, the communities will thrive and the economies will scale up for the Canadian region.
Conclusion: If you are looking forward to implementing accessibility testing for your specific project, then do get connected with a well-reputed software testing services company that will provide you with tactical testing solutions that are in line with your project-specific requirements.
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