TORONTO—Designers should be prepared to comply with Ontario's new customer service accessibility standards coming into effect the first day of 2012.

Businesses will have to comply to the new rules on Jan. 1; those with 20 or more employees must also file accessibility reports starting next year.

The new customer service rules state businesses must allow assistive devices (eg. wheelchairs) and service animals in the workspace, among other requirements. The Information and Communications Standard, which will include requirements for accessible websites and more, is being phased-in beginning in 2014.


Luckily for those who haven't already taken steps to get ready, RGD Ontario is well ahead of the changes, partnering with the provincial government to create resources guiding designers through the requirements. Information can be found at RGD's Access Ability: Graphic Design for a More Accessible World website here.

The site features information and links to tutorials such as using VoiceOver for Mac OSX; authoring accessible PDF documents; web accessibility and more. For example, PDF documents can be "tagged" to ensure it is machine-read in the proper order to someone with a disability. The AccessAbility guide is also available for download through the site, covering topics such as colour perception and typographic legibility. The guide also features case studies of accessible web and print projects.

At the recent RGD DesignThinkers conference in Toronto, Aaris Sherin, who was speaking about colour theory, noted a graphic system has been devised for those with colour blindness. "I wonder if people gravitate away from visual arts because of an impairment like colour blindness," she said.

The Ontario government has also partnered with the Design Exchange in Toronto to create a province-wide post-secondary design competition that "will allow Design Exchange to showcase the winning talent while promoting the importance of universal design and accessibility principles."

The competition is divided into six categories, including graphic design, open to all post-secondary students studying design. Competition information is posted online here.