Short answer
This AODA website compliance checklist covers the 38 checks that catch most real-world failures on Ontario websites: structure, keyboard access, images, contrast, forms, a screen reader pass and the paperwork to prove it. Tick them off as you go. Your progress saves in your browser.
Most AODA checklists online are written by companies selling a scanner or a widget, so they stop at what a machine can test. This one doesn't. About half of these checks need a person with a keyboard, a screen reader and some patience, which is exactly why automated tools and overlays keep missing them.
A few ground rules before you start. Test templates, not every page: if your product page template passes, every product page built on it passes too. Test with the overlay or accessibility widget switched off if you have one, because you want to see your real site. And write down what you find as you go.
The AODA website compliance checklist
Beyond the website
Your compliance report asks about more than your website. Depending on your size, Ontario also expects a written accessibility policy (and a multi-year accessibility plan at 50+ employees), staff training on the AODA standards and the Human Rights Code with records kept, a way to receive and respond to accessibility feedback, and accessible formats on request. Check Ontario's accessibility rules for businesses and non-profits (opens in a new tab) for the full list, and talk to your HR or legal advisor about those parts.
What if you can't tick everything?
That's normal. In our recent project for an industrial e-commerce site, the most-visited category page started with 232 automated issues before a single manual check. Most sites fail several items on this list, usually contrast, keyboard access in menus and popups, form labels and icon-only buttons.
What matters is fixing them in the code, then re-testing. A widget that claims to patch them at page load is not a fix. Here's why.
Want us to run this checklist for you?
We run every one of these checks on every template, fix what fails in your actual HTML, CSS and JavaScript, then re-test each fix by hand. You get one fixed price and a written record you can keep on file for your report. Here's what that typically costs.
Want a real answer about your site?
Send us your web address. We will test it by hand and reply with one fixed quote for real, code-level fixes. No overlay, no subscription.
This article is general information for Ontario organizations, not legal advice. For advice on your specific obligations, speak with a lawyer.