CanadaBroadcasting and Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2009-430, accessible websites, web-only customer service functions, disability-specific information and call centers of Canadian carriers, as conditions of providing service
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding private bodies.
- Enforcement body
- The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
As of .
What it requires
- If you are a Canadian carrier, or a reseller whose arrangement with a carrier carries the condition, make the information on your telecommunications services and products on your website accessible to persons with disabilities to the point of providing a reasonable accommodation, choosing how to achieve it; the Commission gives as examples textual content that meets the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and a text-only version, easily accessed from the home page, that complies with them, and an audit with an action plan for timely improvements; this has applied since (paras. 65 to 67 and 70).
- Make accessible any customer service function available solely over your website, and where a customer service function on your website is inaccessible, do not charge or otherwise disadvantage a person with a disability who uses another channel of customer service to reach it (para. 68).
- Promote information on all of your disability-specific services and products in the accessible manners of your choice, and if your website has a special needs or disability section, place an easy-to-find link to it on the home page (paras. 56 and 57).
- Make your general call center accessible to the point of providing a reasonable accommodation by training customer service representatives in handling inquiries from persons with disabilities and making your Interactive Voice Response system accessible, or by transferring calls to a disability call center under appropriate protocols (para. 69).
- Include in your contracts and other agreements or arrangements with resellers a condition that the resellers comply with these requirements (para. 70).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of .
If you get it wrong
Penalty structure
Section 72.001 of the Telecommunications Act makes every contravention of a decision the Commission made pursuant to that Act a violation, with a penalty not exceeding $10,000,000 and, for a subsequent contravention, $15,000,000, or for an individual $25,000 and $50,000. The amount shown is the maximum for a subsequent violation by a person other than an individual.
- Rule
- Per violation only
- As of
- Currency
- CAD
- Per violation unit
- Violation
- Per violation amount
- 15,000,000
What it reaches
Instrument type
a regulation made under an act
Applicability criteria
- As of
- Combinator
- Any of
- Criteria
- a Canadian carrier, on which the Commission imposed the requirements as a condition of providing service under section 24 of the Telecommunications Act
- a reseller whose contract or other agreement or arrangement with a Canadian carrier includes the condition that it comply with the requirements
What this law does
In Broadcasting and Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2009-430, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, pursuant to section 24 of the Telecommunications Act, requires Canadian carriers, as a condition of providing service, to implement its customer service accessibility requirements and to include in their contracts with resellers a condition that resellers comply with them.
It requires the service providers to make the information on telecommunications services and products on their websites accessible to the point of providing a reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities, with the service providers determining how to achieve this, by .
Among the examples of reasonable accommodation the Commission gives are a website whose textual content meets the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and a text-only version of the website, easily accessed from the home page, that complies with them.
Where customer service functions on a website are inaccessible, persons with disabilities must not incur a charge or otherwise be disadvantaged if they use another channel of customer service, and the service providers must make accessible any customer service function available only on their websites by .
The service providers must promote information on all of their disability-specific services and products in the accessible manners of their choice, and incorporate an easy-to-find home page link to the special needs or disability sections of their websites, if their websites include such sections, by .
They must make their general call centers accessible by training customer service representatives in handling inquiries from persons with disabilities by and by making Interactive Voice Response systems accessible by . For Class 1 and direct-to-home broadcasting distribution undertakings, the Commission said it would consider imposing these requirements as conditions of license at their license renewals.
Section 72.001 of the Telecommunications Act makes every contravention of a decision the Commission made pursuant to that Act a violation, with maximum penalties of $25,000 for an individual's first contravention and $50,000 for a subsequent one, and of $10,000,000 and $15,000,000 for any other person.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app ships a consumer interface or provides telecom services.