Ontario AODA Compliance

AODA Compliance for Ontario Retailers

From e-commerce checkout to in-store kiosks — Ontario retailers must make every touchpoint accessible.

Fines for retailers that ignore AODA: $100,000/day for corporations after a compliance order

Ontario's retail sector faces AODA obligations across online stores, in-store digital kiosks, and customer service practices. E-commerce sites must meet WCAG 2.0 AA — product pages, checkout flows, and account management all need to be accessible to customers with disabilities.

What AODA requires from retailers

Under Ontario Reg. 191/11 and Reg. 429/07

Accessible e-commerce checkout

Product pages, cart, checkout, and payment forms must meet WCAG 2.0 AA — labelled inputs, keyboard navigation, sufficient colour contrast.

Product images and descriptions

All product images must have meaningful alt text. Videos (e.g. product demos) must have captions.

Customer service training

All customer-facing staff must complete Customer Service Standard training — both in-store and online customer service roles.

Accessibility statement

Your e-commerce site must include an accessibility statement with a contact method for customers to report barriers.

Annual reporting for larger retailers

Retailers with 50+ employees must file an accessibility compliance report with Ontario by January 1 each year.

Common WCAG violations for retailers

AODACheck catches all of these automatically

Product images missing alt text or with generic alt like "image1.jpg"

Checkout form fields without visible labels

Low contrast "Buy now" and "Add to cart" buttons

Filter and sort dropdowns not keyboard accessible

No accessibility statement on the website

How AODACheck covers every requirement

One platform. All five AODA tools.

Website Scanner

Scans your site against WCAG 2.0 AA. Catches every violation with severity ranking and an AI-generated fix.

Compliance Checklist

All 23 AODA requirements across 3 standards, mapped to the exact Ontario regulation section.

Staff Training Tracker

Logs who has been trained, flags new hires, and alerts when annual re-training is overdue.

Accessibility Statement

Generates and hosts your legally required statement at a permanent public URL.

Annual Report

Calculates your compliance score and produces a print-ready PDF for January 1 filing.

AODA questions for retailers

Does AODA apply to my online store?

Yes. If your business is based in Ontario or sells to Ontario customers and has Ontario employees, AODA applies to your website. The Information & Communications Standard requires your site to meet WCAG 2.0 AA.

What about product images?

Every product image must have descriptive alt text — not just a filename or "product image". Screen reader users rely on alt text to understand what a product looks like.

Do I need to worry about video content?

Yes. Product demo videos, brand videos, and any other video content must have closed captions and, ideally, audio descriptions.

How do I know if my checkout is accessible?

AODACheck's website scanner tests your pages against WCAG 2.0 AA, including form label checks, colour contrast, keyboard navigation, and more. Run a scan on your checkout page to see exactly what needs fixing.

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