Human Rights & Equity OfficeQueen’s is committed to building an inclusive community with accessible spaces and services, and has implemented an Accessibility Framework to address accessibility compliance on campus. Making our websites accessible is a key part of ensuring everyone has access to university services and information.
The Accessibility Hub and Information Technology Services (ITS) have partnered to provide a new Web-Accessibility Compliance Auditing service to help you identify ways to improve the accessibility of your website and ensure that it is compliant with the provincial accessibility requirements outlined in Section 14 of the Accessibility for Ontarians with a Disability Act (AODA).
You may already be aware of these requirements, and because Queen's is designated as a public sector organization, the content on its public-facing websites must comply with these regulations. According to the AODA, Section 14:
- By January 1, 2014, new internet websites and web content on those sites must conform with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level A.
- By January 1, 2021, all internet websites and web content must conform with WCAG 2.0 Level AA, other than, success criteria 1.2.4 Captions (Live), and success criteria 1.2.5 Audio Descriptions (Pre-recorded).
In an effort to support website owners in ensuring that they are meeting the needs of all users, ITS negotiated a subscription for Siteimprove web governance software. Siteimprove provides flexible reporting for accessibility compliance at Levels A, AA and AAA of WCAG 2.0. It can also be used for general quality assurance, by identifying broken links and misspellings.
Individuals who manage a publicly accessible website at Queen’s will be given unlimited access to the software to perform their own audits and review reports and recommendations. The service is offered free of charge, for the duration of the current subscription.
Training and Support
ITS provides software training and support for Siteimprove, as well as assistance with specific technical issues, including WebPublish and accessibility resources in WebPublish.
For more information on Siteimprove Training and Support, please visit the ITS Web Accessibility Service Page.
Additional help and information related to Website Accessibility can be found on the Accessibility Hub, including links to resources and how-to guides. For general questions about accessibility and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0), you can also connecting with the Accessibility Hub.