Guidance on the Accessible Canada Regulations: Simple, clear and concise language

From: Employment and Social Development Canada

Overview

These guidance documents will help federally regulated entities understand the planning and reporting requirements set by the Accessible Canada Regulations. They also contain additional tips, best practices, and resources that may inspire entities to go farther in eliminating barriers to accessibility.

This guidance focuses on helping regulated entities write their accessibility plans, progress reports and descriptions of their feedback processes in simple, clear and concise language.

Additional guidance modules and resources include:

Important notice

The regulations set different deadlines by which different federally regulated entities must publish their first accessibility plans. These deadlines depend on the entities’ function and size. Entities should keep these deadlines in mind as they plan their consultations.

  • Government entities – including departments, agencies, Crown corporations, or government-related entities such as the Canadian Forces or Parliamentary entities – must publish their first accessibility plans by December 31, 2022
  • Large federally regulated private sector entities with an average of 100 or more employees must publish their first accessibility plans by June 1, 2023
  • Small federally regulated private sector entities with an average of between 10 and 99 employees must publish their first accessibility plans by June 1, 2024

Read sections 1, 2 and 3 of the Accessible Canada Regulations to learn which entities may be exempt from these requirements.

Who this guide is for

These guidance documents are intended for those to whom the Accessible Canada Act applies, including:

  • Government of Canada entities, including departments and agencies
  • Crown corporations
  • every portion of the federal public administration designated under subsection 7(3) of the ACA
  • the Canadian Forces
  • parliamentary entities
  • federally regulated private sector entities

In this guide

  • Introduction
    • Overview
    • Other language-related guidance
    • Disclaimers
  • Before you write
    • Simple, clear and concise language: misconceptions and realities
    • Know your readers
    • Plan your content
    • Organize your ideas
    • Design and visual presentation
  • Writing
    • Use everyday language rather than specialized language
    • Beware of abbreviations
    • Simplify your verbs
    • Contractions
    • Build sentences with care
    • Create paragraphs
    • Review the entire text

Alternate formats

Guidance on the Accessible Canada Regulations: Simple, clear and concise language [PDF - 575 KB]

Large print, braille, MP3 (audio), e-text and DAISY formats are available on demand by ordering online or calling 1 800 O-Canada (1-800-622-6232). If you use a teletypewriter (TTY), call 1-800-926-9105.

Details and history

Published: September 2022

For assistance

If you have questions or comments about these guidance modules, please contact the Accessible Canada Directorate at accessible.canada.directorate-direction.canada.accessible@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca

If you have questions or comments about the Accessible Canada Regulations, including about how they will be enforced, please contact the office of the Accessibility Commissioner. The Commissioner’s office is open Monday to Friday, 8:00AM to 8:00PM (Eastern Time). You can contact the Commissioner’s office by the following means:

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