Welcome to the digital accessibility resource hub!
What is Digital Accessibility?
Digital accessibility means designing digital content, products, and services so they can be used by everyone, including people with disabilities.
It considers a wide range of access needs, such as vision, hearing, mobility, and cognitive differences, and supports assistive technologies like screen readers, keyboard navigation, captions, and voice control. When accessibility is built in, digital experiences are easier to use, clearer to understand, and more effective for all users.
What is Compliance?
Accessibility compliance means meeting legal and technical standards that ensure people with disabilities have equal access to digital information and services.
At the global level, digital accessibility is guided by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). WCAG is an international set of standards created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) that explains how to make digital content accessible. These guidelines are widely recognized as the foundation for digital accessibility best practices around the world.
In Canada, accessibility legislation and policies at the federal, provincial, and territorial levels are largely informed by WCAG. While each province sets its own requirements, most—including Ontario—reference WCAG as the technical standard organizations must follow.
In Ontario, this includes requirements under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), which mandates that public-facing websites and digital content meet specific WCAG criteria. Other provinces and jurisdictions use similar approaches, aligning their accessibility expectations with WCAG to ensure consistency and equity across digital services.
Compliance helps reduce legal and reputational risk, but more importantly, it ensures people can reliably access the information and services they need.
Glossary of Terms
A
- A11y: A common "numeronym" for Accessibility. The "11" represents the eleven letters between the 'A' and the 'y'.
- Accessibility: The practice of creating digital content, tools, and experiences that can be used by people with a wide range of abilities, including people with disabilities.
- Accessibility Checker: Software or tools that scan digital content to identify potential accessibility issues and areas that may need improvement.
- Accessibility Tags: Hidden structural markers added to digital documents (like PDFs) that define reading order, headings, lists, tables, and images so assistive technologies can interpret the content correctly.
- Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA): A collection of HTML attributes used to improve accessibility for interactive and dynamic web content, particularly for people using assistive technologies.
- Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA): Ontario legislation that sets requirements for making services, websites, and digital content accessible to people with disabilities.
- Alternative Formats: Different ways of presenting the same information, such as audio, large print, or braille, so that it can be accessed by more people.
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): A U.S. law that protects the rights of people with disabilities and includes requirements related to digital access and online services.
- Analytics: The practice of gathering and reviewing data to understand how people use digital content and to support informed decisions.
- Asset: Any digital or physical resource, such as documents, images, videos, or code, used as part of creating or delivering content.
- Assistive Technology: Devices or software that help people with disabilities access and interact with digital content, including screen readers and voice control tools.
B
- Backlinking: When other websites link to your website, helping improve visibility and credibility in search engines.
- Barriers: Anything that limits or prevents someone from accessing or using digital content or functionality.
- Breadcrumbs: A navigation feature that shows users where they are within a website’s structure and helps them move back through sections.
C
- Captions: Text displayed with video content that conveys spoken words and important sounds.
- Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC): A foundational accessibility certification offered by the International Association of Accessibility Professionals that demonstrates knowledge of accessibility principles, disability types, and inclusive design practices across digital and physical environments.
- Compliance: Meeting the requirements set by accessibility laws, policies, or standards, such as the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), and Americans with Disabilities Act ADA).
- Contrast Ratio: The visual difference between text and its background, which affects how easily content can be read.
- Cookies: Small files stored in a web browser that help websites remember preferences or track usage.
D
- Descriptive Link Text: Link text that clearly explains what will happen when the link is selected.
- Digital Accessibility: The practice of ensuring digital content and platforms can be accessed and used by people of all abilities.
- Digital Content: Any information shared through digital means, including text, images, videos, forms, and documents.
- Document: A digital file, such as a PDF or Word document, that contains structured information.
- Document Remediation: The process of fixing accessibility issues in digital documents so they can be used with assistive technologies.
- Domain: The main address used to locate a website on the internet.
F
- File: A digital container that stores information, such as a document, image, or video.
- Font: The visual style and appearance of text characters.
- Format: The way digital information is structured or saved, such as PDF, HTML, or image files.
H
- Heading Structure: The organized use of headings to show relationships between sections of content and support navigation.
- Hyperlink: A selectable piece of text or image that takes users to another location or resource.
- HyperText Markup Language (HTML): The foundational language used to build and structure web pages.
I
- International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP): The IAAP is a global professional organization that supports the advancement of digital accessibility through education, certification, and professional networking for accessibility practitioners.
J
- Job Access With Speech (JAWS): A screen reader for Windows that converts on-screen content into speech or braille output.
- Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG): A commonly used image file format that balances image quality with smaller file sizes.
K
- Keyboard Navigation: The ability to use digital content without a mouse by relying on keyboard commands.
L
- Legibility: How easy text is to visually recognize and distinguish.
- Long Description: Extended text that explains complex visual content, such as charts or diagrams.
M
- Multimedia: Content that combines audio, video, animation, or interactive elements.
- Menu: A navigation tool that helps users move between sections of a website.
N
- Windows Narrator: Built-in screen reader that reads aloud text on the screen and describes interface elements, helping people who are blind or have low vision navigate and use their computer.
- Navigation: The methods users use to move through digital content or websites.
- Non Visual Desktop Access (NVDA): A free, open-source screen reader used on Windows devices
O
- Open Source: Software or tools with publicly available code that can be reviewed, adapted, and improved, often supporting transparency, collaboration, and accessible innovation.
P
- Plain Language: Writing that is clear, direct, and easy to understand for a broad audience.
- Portable Document Format (PDF): A file type designed to preserve layout and appearance across devices.
- Portable Document Format - Universal Accessibility (PDF/UA): A technical standard that defines how PDFs should be structured to be accessible.
- Portable Network Graphics: An image file format that supports transparency and high-quality visuals without loss of detail.
R
- Readability: How easily written content can be understood.
- Reading Order: The logical sequence in which content is presented to screen readers and other assistive technologies, ensuring information is understood in the correct order.
S
- Screen Reader: Software that reads digital content aloud or outputs it in braille for users who cannot see the screen.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Techniques used to improve how easily content is found through search engines.
- Semantic HTML: Using HTML elements according to their intended meaning to improve clarity and accessibility.
- Skip Link: A hidden or visible link that allows users to bypass repeated navigation and jump to main content.
- Success Criteria: Specific, testable requirements used to determine whether content meets accessibility standards.
T
- TalkBack: A built-in screen reader available on Android devices.
- Text Alternatives (Alt Text): Text descriptions that communicate the purpose or meaning of images.
- Transcripts: Written versions of spoken audio content.
- Tab Order: The sequence in which interactive elements receive focus when navigating with a keyboard.
U
- Uniform Resource Locator (URL): The address used to locate a webpage or resource online.
- Universal Design: An approach to design that aims to make products and environments usable by as many people as possible.
- Universal Design for Learning: Designing learning experiences to be flexible and accessible for a wide range of learners from the outset.
- Usability: How easily users can complete tasks and achieve goals within a system.
- User Agent: Software that retrieves and presents digital content, such as browsers or assistive technologies.
- User Experience (UX): How a person feels when interacting with a digital product, including ease of use and satisfaction.
- User Experience (UX) Design: The design of digital experiences that prioritize ease of use, accessibility, and clarity, so people of all abilities can navigate, understand, and interact with content effectively.
V
- Visual Impairment: Vision conditions that affect how people see digital content.
- VoiceOver: Apple’s built-in screen reader for macOS and iOS devices.
W
- Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI): A group within the W3C that develops accessibility standards and educational resources.
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG): International guidelines that explain how to make digital content accessible.
- Website: A collection of related digital pages and content available under one web address.
- Webpage: A single page within a website.
- World Wide Web Consortium (W3C): An international organization that develops standards to support the long-term growth of the web.