AODA website audit for Ontario businesses
Ontario businesses and non-profits with 20 or more employees must file an accessibility compliance report by 31 December 2026. If you have 50 or more employees, your public website must also meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA. We check your site by hand and tell you exactly what to fix, so that you can answer the report honestly.
Who has to do what
| Employees in Ontario | Compliance report | Website |
|---|---|---|
| 1–19 employees | No compliance report to file. | No website standard under the regulation, but other AODA duties (for example customer service and training) still apply. |
| 20–49 employees | Compliance report every three years. Next deadline: 31 December 2026. | No WCAG requirement for the website under the regulation. |
| 50 or more employees | Compliance report every three years. Next deadline: 31 December 2026. | Public websites and web content must meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA (since 1 January 2021), except live captions (1.2.4) and audio description for pre-recorded video (1.2.5). |
Count full-time, part-time and seasonal employees and contract workers in Ontario. Do not count employees outside Ontario, volunteers or independent contractors. Ontario explains this on the first official page listed at the end of this article.
The 2026 compliance report is not a formality
The report is a self-assessment that you submit through the Accessibility Compliance Reporting Portal. In it you confirm that you meet the accessibility requirements that apply to your organization; for organizations with 50 or more employees, that includes the website requirement. A senior officer signs it as the certifier, confirming that it is complete and accurate.
Submitting false information is an offence under the AODA. On conviction, a corporation can be fined up to $100,000 for each day the offence continues, and directors and officers up to $50,000 a day. So ticking “yes” for the website without checking it is a real risk.
Ontario employment lawyers warn that the portal gets congested close to the deadline. Leave time for the audit and for your developer’s fixes before December.
Fines and enforcement, honestly
Administrative penalties for corporations start at $500 for a minor first contravention and reach $15,000 for a major one; in serious, repeated cases they can be charged per day. The court fines above, up to $100,000 a day, apply to offences.
In practice, enforcement has been light. The maximum daily fine has never been used, and tribunal decisions have reduced some penalties for not filing a report to $500. In 2023 the ministry told CBC that since 2017 it had issued only 45 orders, and that 98.8% of its audits were resolved without enforcement.
We say it plainly because we do not sell fear. The real reasons to fix your site are the customers who cannot use it today, and a compliance report you can sign with a clear conscience.
Federally regulated? The Accessible Canada Act
Banks, telecom, broadcasting, airlines and other federally regulated organizations follow the Accessible Canada Act instead. They must publish accessibility plans, yearly progress reports and a feedback process. Penalties range from $250 to $250,000, depending on how serious the violation is.
What we check, and what it costs
A manual audit against WCAG 2.0 Level AA, the standard the AODA uses. Every criterion is checked by hand: keyboard only, a screen reader (NVDA), 200% zoom, contrast, headings, form labels and focus. Automated tools are only the first step. We also flag WCAG 2.1 issues as recommendations, because newer standards are the direction of travel. Method: W3C WCAG-EM.
| Audit | Price | Scope and timeline |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | €590 ≈ CAD 940 | Up to 5 key page types. 2–3 working days. |
| Standard | €1,190 ≈ CAD 1,900 | Up to 10 key page types. 3–5 working days. |
| E-commerce | from €1,690 ≈ CAD 2,700 | An online shop: the whole path up to the payment step. 4–6 working days. |
Included at no extra cost: AODA notes, one page that links the audit results to the website part of your 2026 compliance report.
We invoice in euros by bank transfer. Canadian dollar amounts are approximate, at the European Central Bank rate of 2 October 2026.
Order an AODA auditAll audits and prices
Need a new website instead of fixing the old one?
Sometimes rebuilding is cheaper than repairing. We build websites that meet WCAG 2.0 AA from day one, at the same prices for every country:
| Website | Price | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Business landing page | €690 ≈ CAD 1,100 | One page that sells one service or product. 1–1.5 weeks. |
| Start | €2,900 ≈ CAD 4,600 | A small 5–7 page website with an admin panel for page texts and photos. About 2 weeks. |
| Corporate | €12,900 ≈ CAD 20,600 | A full company website with a catalogue, news and a press centre. 3–5 weeks. |
- Built to WCAG 2.0 Level AA, the standard the AODA uses, and to WCAG 2.1 AA from the first line, so it does not need fixing after launch.
- Fast: our demo site for a fictional company scores 97–100 in Google Lighthouse on desktop.
- No WordPress plugins: pages are served as ready files, which leaves far fewer ways to break in.
- No third-party trackers by default, so your visitors’ privacy is built in.
- You own the code and every account: domain, hosting and analytics.
- If you ordered an audit from us, its full cost is deducted from a Start, Corporate or Platform website ordered within 60 days.
Websites in English. We help with the copy: we write it or edit yours. We do not build French-language websites. Exact price after the brief; amounts in Canadian dollars are approximate.
All website packages and prices
What we do not do
- This is not legal advice, and we do not file the compliance report for you.
- We audit English-language websites only. We do not audit French-language content, so we do not take websites aimed at Quebec.
- We do not assess compliance with US law (ADA). If you also sell to the United States, ask a US lawyer.
- We do not issue conformity certificates and do not install overlay widgets: they do not make a site compliant.
Questions and answers
We have fewer than 50 employees. Do we need this?
Under the regulation, the WCAG 2.0 AA website requirement applies to organizations with 50 or more employees in Ontario. With 20 to 49 employees you still file the 2026 compliance report, but without the website requirement. Many smaller businesses order an audit anyway, because customers with disabilities cannot buy from a site they cannot use.
Which WCAG version does the AODA require?
WCAG 2.0 Level AA, except live captions (1.2.4) and audio description for pre-recorded video (1.2.5). We test against WCAG 2.0 AA and also flag WCAG 2.1 issues as recommendations.
How long does an audit take, and what do you need from us?
2 to 6 working days, depending on the package. We need your website address and agreement on which key page types to test. If some pages are behind a login, you create a test account for us and can delete it afterwards.
Who does the testing?
A person on our team, by hand: keyboard only, the NVDA screen reader, 200% zoom, contrast and form checks. Automated tools are only used as a first step, because they find only part of the problems.
Do you fix the problems?
The audit gives you a report and a remediation plan; your developer makes the changes. We can add a step-by-step remediation guide with code examples (€390) and a re-check after the fixes (€190). If the site is old, we can also build a new, accessible one.
Will the audit make us AODA compliant? Do you issue a certificate?
There is no official AODA certificate for websites. The audit tells you exactly where you stand and what to fix. Once the fixes are made and re-checked, you can answer the website part of your compliance report honestly.
Can you file our compliance report for us?
No. The report is submitted by your organization and signed by your own certifier. Our free AODA notes link the audit results to the website part of the report, so it is easier to complete.
How do we pay?
We send an invoice in euros, and you pay by bank transfer. Full terms are in our Terms for business clients, linked at the bottom of every page.
Check it yourself
Everything above comes from these sources. Please check them, or ask an Ontario lawyer, before you decide.
- Ontario: accessibility rules for businesses and non-profits (who must do what, the 31 December 2026 deadline)
- Ontario: completing your accessibility compliance report (the reporting portal)
- O. Reg. 191/11, Integrated Accessibility Standards (website requirements, administrative penalties)
- Accessible Canada Act (federally regulated organizations)
- Accessible Canada Regulations, SOR/2021-241 (plans, progress reports, penalties)
- W3C: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0
- CBC Toronto (2023): weak AODA enforcement, 45 orders since 2017, the $100,000 daily fine never used
This page is general information, not legal advice. Facts checked on 4 October 2026.