AODA (Ontario, Canada) compliance for WordPress sites
The AODA (Ontario, Canada) applies to Ontario businesses and non-profits with 50+ employees, plus all public-sector organizations, and building on WordPress does not exempt you. It has been WCAG 2.0 AA has been required for public websites since January 1, 2021, with mandatory accessibility compliance reports, and the technical benchmark is WCAG 2.0 AA (excluding live captions and audio description).
WordPress core is reasonably accessible; themes and page builders are where violations concentrate. Common failures: heading levels skipped for visual styling, slider/carousel plugins without keyboard support, contact-form plugins with unlabeled fields, and low-contrast button colors baked into the theme.
What enforcement actually looks like
Ontario can levy administrative penalties for missed compliance reports and violations, and directors can be personally fined.
Fixing accessibility on WordPress
Prefer accessibility-ready themes, audit after every plugin update, and fix templates rather than layering an overlay plugin on top. Overlays don't confer compliance and have drawn FTC action.
Why one-time fixes don't hold
WordPress sites change constantly, theme updates, plugins/apps, and content edits can reintroduce violations at any time. A site that conformed last quarter can fail today without anyone touching code deliberately. Continuous scanning with a timestamped log is both the practical safeguard and the evidence trail that matters in enforcement.
Compliance checklist
- Scan your WordPress homepage, a key content/product page, and your checkout or lead form
- Fix critical and serious violations in your theme/templates, not with an overlay widget
- Re-scan after every WordPress theme, plugin, or app update
- Keep the dated scan history as compliance evidence
- Publish an accessibility statement with a contact route
Frequently asked questions
- Does the AODA (Ontario, Canada) apply to WordPress sites?
- Yes. The law applies based on who you serve, not what you build with. It covers Ontario businesses and non-profits with 50+ employees, plus all public-sector organizations. WordPress gives you the building blocks, but conformance depends on your theme, plugins, and content.
- Is WordPress accessible out of the box?
- WordPress core is reasonably accessible; themes and page builders are where violations concentrate. Common failures: heading levels skipped for visual styling, slider/carousel plugins without keyboard support, contact-form plugins with unlabeled fields, and low-contrast button colors baked into the theme.
- What should I fix first on WordPress?
- Prefer accessibility-ready themes, audit after every plugin update, and fix templates rather than layering an overlay plugin on top. Overlays don't confer compliance and have drawn FTC action.