What is the Information and Communications Standards?
October 24, 2018 Greg Thomson
Ontario businesses must follow the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (IASR) to prevent and remove barriers for people with disabilities. The IASR is a grouping of five standards under the AODA. In this article, we will explain the first standards of the IASR, the Information and Communications Standards.
What is the Information and Communications Standards?
The Information and Communications Standards of the AODA list rules for organizations to create, provide, and receive information and communications that people with disabilities can access. The standards give all people an equal chance to learn and be active in their communities.
Accessible Formats and communication supports
Organizations must provide or arrange accessible formats and communication supports when providing information to people with disabilities, upon request.
Accessible formats, sometimes called alternate formats, are ways of presenting printed, written, or visual material so that people with print disabilities can access it. For instance, accessible formats include:
- Braille
- Large print
- Accessible digital files, such as:
- Html
- Microsoft Word
- Audio
- Text transcripts of visual or audio information
For example, a clinic handing out pamphlets about its programs must have the same information available in different formats, such as digital text. People with print disabilities can read digital text in many ways, including:
- With [...]