Appendix: Legislation for BC & MB

AccessibleBC

Government documents:

• Accessible British Columbia Act is a short and readable legislation piece, it covers both provincial mandates as well as “prescribed organization and an organization in a prescribed class of organizations” – which covers library systems.
• Accessible Canada Act (link to summary)
• Frequently asked questions about the Accessible B.C. Regulation for organizations

Other resources:

• BC Accessibility Hub – The Accessible Organizations Project is a project funded by the Government of British Columbia and led by Disability Alliance BC. The purpose of the project is to support over 750 Prescribed Organizations meet the requirements of the Accessible BC Act.
• Diversity & Inclusion Resource Centre for the BC Public Service
• Accessibility in the BC Public Service
• Timeline for implementation (PDF)

The Accessibility for Manitobans Act

Relevant section:

• The Accessibility Standard for Information and Communication (PDF)– provides more specific direction on how to meet customers’ needs, including when they are students or library users, given that Manitoba organizations must already meet the Accessibility Standard for Customer Service and its requirement to communicate in a way that meets customers’ needs. The standard directs organizations to create and maintain accessible websites and web applications. Like the Province of Ontario, and many jurisdictions around the world, the standard directs Manitobans to follow globally accepted Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG.

Need to know from above document (realistically all content on your website is related to your services, and you do have direct control over the web content on your site!):

• 7. I don’t have the skills to update my website or web applications to WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Do I still need to comply with the standard? – If you do not update your web content or web applications after the date the standard applies to you, and they are not required to access your goods or services, you would not need to update your web content or web applications. Under the standard, there are also exceptions where an organization’s web content or web applications do not need to meet or exceed WCAG 2.1 Level AA requirements. If any of the following applies, you do not have to meet or exceed WCAG 2.1 Level AA
  requirements:
  • It is not technically feasible.
  • The technology required to publish is not readily available.
  • It would result in undue hardship to the organization.
  • The organization does not have direct control over the web content or web application.
  • The web content or web application relates to product labels or other product information.

Good to know regarding web content remediation from above document:

• 17. How will the Manitoba government monitor and ensure compliance with this standard? – Once the standard is in force, Manitoba’s Accessibility Compliance Secretariat will conduct audits of policies and other documents related to accessible information andcommunication… the aim will be to provide organizations with constructive feedback and, if applicable, a concrete plan to achieve compliance.