Publication requirements

General requirements

Organizations must prepare, publish, and regularly update their accessibility plan. They must also prepare and publish a description of their feedback process and progress reports on the implementation of their accessibility plans.

These documents must be written in simple, clear, and concise language. This means:

• keep sentences short and direct
• avoid using technical words or industry jargon
• be consistent in the words and phrases used to describe things

Federal government organizations must follow the Treasury Board of Canada’s Guidelines on Making Communications Products and Activities Accessible.

Publishing your documents

You must publish your accessibility plans, feedback process and progress reports on the main digital platform that your organization uses to communicate with the public. For most organizations, this means posting these documents on their website.

On your digital platform, these documents must be:

• easy to find and accessible, either;
  • directly on the home screen or home page of the digital platform, or
  • by a hyperlink from the home screen or home page of the digital platform.
• in a format that meets Level AA conformance set out in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG); this means the most recent version that is available in both English and French of WCAG, published by the World Wide Web Consortium. This is currently WCAG 2.1.

If your organization does not have a digital platform that the public can access, you must display a printed copy of these documents in the reception area or entrance of each of your places of business, and in a location that is clearly visible and accessible to the public.

Organizations should consult people with disabilities for feedback on how easy or difficult it is to find and access these documents. If necessary, you should change where you post these documents based on that feedback.

Publication options for organizations that fall under two regulatory authorities

Some organizations may fall under additional regulations under the Act, developed by either the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission or the Canadian Transportation Agency. This means that they may be required to report to both the Accessibility Commissioner and either Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission or the Canadian Transport Agency.

For organizations that fall under two regulatory authorities, there are two options for submitting accessibility plans:

• The first option: provide a single accessibility plan that meets the requirements of both sets of regulations and notify both authorities at the same time.
• The second option: provide separate accessibility plans for each authority and notify each authority upon publication.

Such organizations are not required to prepare two separate accessibility plans. The content required for the Accessibility Commissioner and for the other applicable regulator can be included in a single accessibility plan that meets the requirements for both.

Organizations that fall under two regulatory authorities must notify the Accessibility Commissioner when they publish their plans and one of the following two, depending on which organization is the regulatory authority:

• Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission; or
• Canadian Transportation Agency.

For more information

To learn if your organization falls under two regulatory authories, please consult Voluntary self-assessment tools for accessibility plans.

Canadian Transport Agency Regulations

If you have questions about the Canadian Transport Agency's guidance about these regulations, you can email OTC.CETA-CEAT.CTA@otc-cta.gc.ca.

If you have compliance-related questions, you can email OTC.conformite-compliance.CTA@otc-cta.gc.ca.

Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission Regulations

If you have questions about the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's guidance about these regulations, you can email engagement@crtc.gc.ca.