However, attendees at Onley’s public meetings state that the standards’ website requirements are out of date. The standards will require public-sector organizations, and large private-sector organizations, to make their web content accessible by January 2021. Organizations must do so by complying with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0), level AA. However, version 2.0 of these guidelines was created in 2008. As a result, this version of the guidelines does not help make modern technology, such as phone apps, accessible.

Read more at
https://aoda.ca/updating-the-information-and-communications-standards/

While specifics about projects, costs and a time frame were not shared at the meeting, the four commissioners present seemed to latch onto the priorities outlined, specifically accessibility.

Read more at
https://aoda.ca/trails-accessibility-and-maintenance-get-top-billing-in-hamilton-countys-proposed-parks-master-plan/

Toronto Star Runs A Guest Column by AODA Alliance Chair on the Legacy for Canadians with Disabilities Left by the Late Senator David Smith

Read more at
https://aoda.ca/aoda-alliances-toronto-star-guest-column-honours-the-memory-of-the-late-senator-david-smith-an-important-hero-in-the-campaign-for-accessibility-for-people-with-disabilities-and-other-news/

David Lepofsky, chair of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance, joins the QP Briefing podcast this week to discuss accessibility issues in the province.

Read more at
https://aoda.ca/the-qp-briefing-podcast-welcoming-david-lepofsky/

Last Friday, February 28, 2020, at a media event to which the AODA Alliance was not invited, the Ford Government made an announcement, set out below, unveiling how it says it is leading Ontario by example to achieve accessibility for 2.6 million Ontarians with disabilities-
people who face far too many barriers on a daily basis when they try to get a job, ride public transit, shop, or use public services. Yet a closer look shows that the example by which the Ford Government says it is leading is a very poor one. It lacks key ingredients that Ontarians with disabilities need.

Read more at
https://aoda.ca/the-ford-government-claims-to-be-leading-ontario-by-its-example-on-achieving-accessibility-for-2-6-million-ontarians-with-disabilities-but-a-closer-look-shows-that-it-is-leading-by-a-poor-example/

In the third review of the AODA, the Honourable David Onley recommends needed improvements to the Act. One of these improvements is the need to help Ontarians become more mindful of accessibility. During public meetings Onley held while preparing his review, attendees stated that the AODA alone cannot make Ontario accessible. Instead, people and organizations must understand that accommodating people with disabilities is an every-day part of serving the public.

Read more at
https://aoda.ca/awareness-of-every-day-accessibility-in-ontario/

Patrick Kunkel’s family struggling to find affordable, accessible housing in Toronto

Read more at
https://aoda.ca/after-a-stroke-at-27-hes-ready-to-get-out-of-hospital-amid-a-housing-crunch-he-cant-leave/