In short, it applies officially to public and private organizations with one or more employees in the Province of Ontario, unless that organization is Federally regulated. It serves as best practice for all organizations who strive to be fully accessible to persons with visual disabilities.
This Standard seeks to create systemic change throughout the organization by requiring accessibility to be a component of the culture as well as transforming information and communication. This is achieved by requiring accessibility to be addressed with:
Certain industries have specific requirements. Members of regulated professions are required to include accessibility as part of mandatory training for their members. Specific guidance is provided for organizations identified as Priority Areas, which include; providers of healthcare services, educational institutions, developers of information and communication resources, public libraries, legal/justice, financial, political parties and Elections Ontario. Refer to the proposed Standard for more information.
This remains under discussion, however preliminary indications are compliance within 3 years following the Standard becoming law. The two exceptions to this deadline are point of sale receipts and education libraries which are expected to have extended timelines.
Provided below is a copy of the complete Proposed AODA Information & Communications Standard dated April 2009. This Standard was obtained from the Government of Ontario's website. It is expected to be implemented into law in 2010.