Belleville Web Accessibility Policy

In 2023, Belleville.ca was not in compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 level AA 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.

However, 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.

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.

I have reached out to the Accessibility Coordinator to confirm that the CivicWeb portal is also in compliance with accessibility requirements and will update this page when I hear back.