Belleville websites not compliant with accessibility requirements

As of January 1, 2021, the Accessibility of Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) requires municipalities in Ontario to make all public websites accessible as per the Information and Communications Standards apply to both internal and public-facing content and communications such as the City’s internet website(s):

Designated public sector organizations [municipalities] 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.

Section 14 of the Integrated Accessibility Standards under the Accessibility of Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)

Belleville’s Web Accessibility Policy (below) requires that all public-facing websites meet accessibility guidelines:

This policy applies to all acquired, procured and developed public-facing internet websites, web applications and web content controlled directly by the City of Belleville or through a contractual relationship that allows for modification of the web asset.

Belleville Web Accessibility Policy

In 2023, Belleville’s website (Belleville.ca) was found to not be in compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 level AA as required by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (IASR), Part II Information and Communications Standards:

In the City’s 2023 compliance report to the Ministry of Seniors and Accessibility (MSAA) the City stated that the website(s) do not fully comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 level AA. This triggered an email from the MSAA requesting that the City of Belleville submit a plan to make the website(s) fully compliant. This plan was submitted and approved on March 18, 2024 (please see plan attached), with October 1, 2024 being the date for 100% compliancy. There are several steps that must happen to reach this goal, and
then ongoing monitoring to ensure that the City remains compliant. The Web Accessibility Policy is a key step to reach this goal.

The City’s solution to this was to lock all PDFs away behind an email request form where the user could request an AODA compliant version of the PDF. This allowed the City to produce AODA compliant versions of PDFs on an as-needed basis (saving thousands of dollars!), allowing them to claim they were now fully compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines:

There are steep fines for municipalities that are not compliant. It also sets a web-based html-first approach for managing content on the website. This will save both staff time, department financial resources, and staff turn-over. Outsourcing the remediation of content is quite costly, especially if they are time sensitive. This approach will save the City thousands of dollars from outsourcing the remediation of content that is not requested to be compliant.

Opinion: I would argue that hiding documents behind an email sign up, away from search engines and users who would prefer to remain anonymous and not to be tracked by the City, made the contents of Belleville.ca less accessible, not more.

Belleville.ca and CivicWeb portal still have WCAG 2.0 AA conformance issues after plan to become 100% compliant implemented

An certified independent third party confirmed that there are still some WCAG 2.0 AA conformance issues remaining on both the public facing website and the portal after the City implemented its plan to become compliant that was accepted by the Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility.

Belleville’s CivicWeb portal (https://citybellevilleon.civicweb.net/) is where the City makes its council and committee meeting agendas, minutes and reports available to the public as required by law. The website appears to be PDF-first, rather than a web-based html website, which raises concerns of compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 level AA.

I reached out to the Accessibility Coordinator to ask if the CivicWeb portal was assessed to ensure compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 level AA, and one month to the day after I contacted the City, I received the following response from the Accessibility Coordinator:

Thank you for your email concerning the WCAG 2.0 level AA compliance of the City of Belleville’s CivicWeb Portal, a third party vendor. Maintaining compliance is an on-going process and the City is continuing to work towards this.

My follow-up questions went unanswered:

What next steps in the on-going process of maintaining compliance has the City set out to ensure the City of Belleville’s CivicWeb Portal is WCAG 2.0 level AA compliant?

1. Has the City used the Monsido tool or any other methods to assess the accessibility of the Portal?
2. Has the City contacted iCompass to inquire about the accessibility options and compliance level of their platform?
3. When is the vendor’s contract with the city up for renewal?
4. What is the estimated timeline for confirming compliance of the portal?

iCompass, the company that develops the CivicWeb software, did not respond to questions regarding the WCAG 2.0 level AA compliance of their municipal portal websites.