Web accessibility is the practice of building websites that can be used by people with a range of disabilities - visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive. In Canada, it is both a legal consideration and a basic standard of building for all people.
The Legal Context in Canada
Ontario's Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) requires that websites for businesses and non-profits with 50 or more employees meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA standards. The federal Accessible Canada Act (ACA), in force since 2019, applies to federally regulated organisations and is driving broader adoption of accessibility standards nationally.
Even for businesses not currently covered by specific legislation, the direction is clear: accessibility requirements are expanding, not contracting. Proactively addressing accessibility reduces legal risk and ensures your site is usable by the roughly 22% of Canadians who have one or more disabilities.
Alt Text on Every Image
Screen readers - software used by people with visual impairments - read out alt text when they encounter an image. Without it, they either announce the filename (unhelpful) or announce "image" (no better).
In WordPress, you can add alt text to any image through the Media Library. When inserting an image into a page or post, the Image block in the block editor includes an Alt Text field in the right-hand settings panel.
Good alt text describes what the image shows and why it is there. A photo of a team at a community event might have alt text like: "dotCanada team members at the 2023 Edmonton Tech Summit." Decorative images that add no informational value should have an empty alt attribute (alt="") rather than a description, which tells screen readers to skip them entirely.
Keyboard Navigation
Many users with motor disabilities navigate websites using a keyboard rather than a mouse. Your site should be fully navigable using the Tab key, with every interactive element - links, buttons, form fields, dropdown menus - reachable and operable without a mouse.
To test this, put your cursor in your browser's address bar and press Tab repeatedly. You should be able to reach every clickable element on the page, and a visible focus indicator (usually a highlight or outline) should show you where you are. If focus indicators have been removed by your theme's CSS, restore them.
Colour Contrast
Text must have sufficient contrast against its background to be readable by people with low vision or colour blindness. WCAG 2.0 requires a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text.
Check your current colours using the WebAIM Contrast Checker (webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker). Enter your text colour and background colour hex codes, and it will tell you whether you pass. Common failure points include light grey text on white backgrounds and coloured text on similarly toned backgrounds.
Clear Heading Hierarchy
Headings (H1 through H6) are not just visual styling - they are structural navigation landmarks. Screen reader users frequently navigate a page by jumping between headings, getting an overview of the content before reading in detail.
Your page should have exactly one H1 (typically the page title), followed by H2s for main sections, H3s for subsections, and so on. Do not skip levels (jumping from H2 to H4) and do not use headings purely for visual size - use them to communicate structure. In the WordPress block editor, each heading block lets you set the level explicitly.
Skip Navigation Link
A skip navigation link allows keyboard users to jump directly to the main content of a page, bypassing the header and navigation menu that appears on every page. Without it, a keyboard user has to Tab through every navigation item on every page load before reaching the content they came for.
Most accessibility-ready WordPress themes include a skip link by default. If yours does not, it can be added through your theme's header template: a link at the very top of the page that points to the main content area's ID. It is typically hidden visually but revealed when focused via keyboard.
WordPress Themes Built with Accessibility in Mind
Twenty Twenty-Four, WordPress's default theme, is designed with accessibility as a core consideration - valid heading structure, keyboard navigation, appropriate contrast defaults, and skip link included.
Neve and Astra are both popular multipurpose themes with strong accessibility foundations. Both are actively maintained and regularly updated to address accessibility issues as they are identified.
When evaluating any theme, look for "Accessibility Ready" in the theme directory tags. Themes with this designation have been reviewed against a set of minimum accessibility criteria.
Tools to Check Your Site
WAVE (wave.webaim.org) - paste any URL and get a visual overlay showing accessibility errors, warnings, and structural elements. Excellent for a quick site-wide check.
Axe (browser extension for Chrome and Firefox) - runs an automated accessibility audit in the browser developer tools. More technical output but useful for developers.
Lighthouse (built into Chrome DevTools, F12 > Lighthouse tab) - includes an Accessibility score alongside Performance and SEO scores. Run it on individual pages to identify issues.
No automated tool catches everything - manual testing, including actually using a keyboard to navigate your site, is an essential complement. But these tools will quickly surface the most common and impactful problems.
Accessibility improvements benefit everyone. Captions help in noisy environments. High contrast text is easier to read in sunlight. Clear headings help people who skim. Starting with the basics described here puts your site well ahead of most small business websites in Canada.
