50 Employees? Your Website Is Probably Breaking the Law

💡 Key Topics: - What AODA actually covers on the web, and why it applies to all public websites and content if you have 50+ employees in Ontario - WCAG 2.0 Level AA as the current legal floor, and why 2.1 and 2.2 matter even if the law hasn't caught up - The compliance report trap: how self-reporting non-compliance gets you audited within weeks - How compliance officers really operate, and why they reward engaging a consultant with a real timeline - Why remediation and redesign are different, and how a full enterprise rebuild can take 12–16 months - The PDFs problem: the accessibility gap teams forget after redesigning the whole site - Employee thresholds explained (20–49 vs. 50+), including part-time and seasonal, and why contractors don't count - Why Ontario led in 2005 and how BC, Nova Scotia, and Manitoba are now catching up - How accessibility failures can escalate into Human Rights Code complaints - The "not practical" loophole that doesn't exist once you account for available tools and consultants - Why the real case for accessibility is ethical, not just legal—the people you cut out when information is missing 📖 Chapters: 0:06 — Why web gets overlooked in accessibility 0:44 — Why organizations fail: not caring vs. not understanding 1:03 — A web-first breakdown of AODA 1:48 — What AODA covers online, and the 50-employee threshold 03:19 — WCAG AA vs. AAA, and who meets the higher bar 03:57 — Ontario, the federal split, and other provinces catching up 06:13 — How monitoring and enforcement actually work 07:23 — Budget cuts, spot audits, and the reality of fines 09:28 — Why 30–60 days is fine for remediation, not redesign 11:18 — What makes compliance officers flexible (or prickly) 13:15 — Employee thresholds and the compliance report obligation 14:40 — Reporting non-compliance and getting auto-audited 17:16 — It's never too late to get started 17:50 — WCAG is evolving: letter of the law vs. spirit of the law 20:30 — Being proactive as a design mindset 21:54 — First steps: count your employees, then audit 23:38 — Start with an audit—compliance is only part of it 25:20 — When accessibility becomes a Human Rights Code issue 28:29 — One hard truth and one piece of encouragement 29:49 — The "not practical" loophole that isn't 30:08 — Where to reach David, and how Tennis can help 🔔 Subscribe for weekly episodes on design, web strategy, and building better digital businesses. #accessibility #AODA #WCAG #webaccessibility #a11y #webdesign #compliance #ontariobusiness #b2bdesign #webdevelopment #inclusivedesign #digitalstrategy #websitedesign #uxdesign #McMillan **Links** You can learn more about Tennis at our website. Be sure to follow us at LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, or Twitter