Accessibility policy

Latest revision

Date of last modification: November 10, 2022

Introduction

We believe all individuals have the right to access information on the Internet, regardless of their device. Please see this Accessibility Policy for more details.

Purpose

Designated public sector organizations and large organizations shall ensure their Internet websites and web content conforms with the World Wide Web Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, initially at Level A and increasing to Level AA. This document outlines Bowmanville Health Centre’s steps to achieve Level A/AA compliance.

Accountability

This policy pertains to www.bowmanvillehealthcentre.ca and support applications (not including third-party and externally linked websites) and their administrators.

Bowmanville Health Centre shall designate a responsible staff member to incorporate and enforce this Policy. This responsibility includes disseminating guidelines, standards, and compliance monitoring reports to the appropriate staff.

Appropriate staff includes, but is not limited to, Bowmanville Health Centre employees responsible for site administration or content development, any consultant or vendor accountable for the website and content, and tenants of Bowmanville Health Centre.

The Bowmanville Health Centre shall be responsible for ensuring its website complies. It is the responsibility of each employee and tenant to enforce this policy.

Description

Many organizations control their websites and web content directly or through contractual relationships, including web-based applications. They may develop a website and web content in-house or hire a consultant. In both cases, the organization has control of the functionality and the appearance of the website, as well as its content. Therefore, the organization has the responsibility and ability to incorporate accessibility.

The Accessibility for Ontarians Act (AODA) enactment protects Canadians / Ontarians with physical or mental disabilities from discrimination.

Inaccessible technology interferes with an individual’s ability to obtain and use information quickly. The passing of AODA eliminates barriers in information technology, makes new opportunities available for people with disabilities, and encourages the development of technologies that will help achieve these goals.

Bowmanville Health Centre has taken steps to provide a more accessible environment for its website, including both the User Interface (UI) and the content itself. These enhancements are an ongoing effort to refine and provide a full suite of tools that will meet the needs of our visitors. Currently, these tools include:

Robust metadata to assist with screen-reader technology
A fully responsive website providing an optimized small-screen user interface
A text re-sizing tool
A full-colour and high-contrast version of the website
Descriptive link and button names
Consistent page layouts
Controllers for timed media
Closed Captioning for video content

Bowmanville Health Centre continues to refine and adjust our accessibility toolset. Visit this page regularly to find out what tools have been added.