CSA Preface
Standards development within the Information Technology sector is harmonized with international standards development. Through the CSA Technical Committee on Information Technology (TCIT), Canadians serve as the SCC Mirror Committee (SMC) on ISO/IEC Joint Technical Committee 1 on Information Technology (ISO/IEC JTC1) for the Standards Council of Canada (SCC), the ISO member body for Canada and sponsor of the Canadian National Committee of the IEC. Also, as a member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Canada participates in the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee (ITU-T).
This Standard has been formally approved, without modification, by the Technical Committee and has been developed in compliance with Standards Council of Canada requirements for National Standards of Canada. It has been published as a National Standard of Canada by CSA Group.
Scope
This document takes a holistic approach to the accessibility of information and communications technology (ICT) by combining guidance on implementing the accessibility of ICT systems (ICT accessibility) both at organizational and system development levels.
This document gives guidelines for building and maintaining ICT systems (including products and services) that are accessible to diverse users (including users with disabilities and older people).
This document is applicable to all types of organizations. This document applies to the breadth of ICT systems and the results of convergent and emerging technologies within an organization including, but not limited to: information systems; intranet systems; websites; mobile and wearable applications; social media; and Internet of Things (IoT) systems.
It gives requirements and recommendations for organizations:
a) ensuring accessibility is considered in their policies or strategy by creating an organizational ICT accessibility policy;
b) embedding the consideration of accessibility decisions through the entire process of developing procuring, installing, operating and maintaining ICT systems, and documenting these choices;
c) justifying decisions on accessibility;
d) communicating the ICT system’s accessibility decisions to its users at launch, through creating and publishing its accessibility statement.