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Accessibility testing · Nova Scotia

Accessibility Testing Services in Halifax, Nova Scotia

Audits for Nova Scotia sites against the WCAG level that actually binds you there.

The short answer for Halifax

Halifax is one of the larger municipalities in Nova Scotia, roughly 440,000 people at the 2021 census. What decides your website's duty here is not that number, though. It is the province. Nova Scotia has had an accessibility act since 2017 and still has no web standard under it. The framework covers six areas, information and communication among them, and the regulations are in development.

So the municipality is in the same position you are, waiting on a standard that has not been made. And the federal layer sits over both of you. The Accessible Canada Act carries CAN/ASC-EN 301 549, which holds WCAG 2.1 AA, with deadlines on December 5, 2027 and 2028. It reaches federally regulated organizations wherever they sit, so a bank or a broadcaster in Halifax answers to it whatever Nova Scotia does.

So here is what we do about it. We work your Halifax site against all 55 WCAG 2.2 A and AA rules by hand, then a professional blind screen-reader user runs your real journeys while we record where they stop. WCAG 2.2 covers everything 2.0 and 2.1 ask for and more, so one audit answers whichever of those applies to you. Every finding arrives with its screenshot and the fix that closes it.

Which law lands on you in Halifax

Accessible Canada Act (ACA)

Standard
CAN/ASC-EN 301 549 → WCAG 2.1 AA
Where it stands
Dec 5, 2027 / Dec 5, 2028
Who it binds
Public and private sectors
Reaches sellers based abroad
Not by itself
What non-compliance costs
Penalties up to CA$250,000 per violation
Via CAN/ASC-EN 301 549
2.1 AA
Max penalty (CAD)
$250k
Federal web deadline
Dec 2027
Private employees covered
100+
The Accessible Canada Act dates, 4 of them
  1. Jul 11, 2019ACA in force
  2. 2022 to 2024First accessibility plans and feedback processes fall due, a year after each group's fixed day
  3. Dec 5, 2027Federal public sector web pages: CAN/ASC-EN 301 549:2024
  4. Dec 5, 2028Mobile apps and documents, plus private entities with 100+ employees

Read the full Accessible Canada Act page

Inside an audit for a site in Halifax

Start with the honest part. The audit is the same in Halifax as it is anywhere, because WCAG does not change at a border. What changes is which law is watching and what it costs to fail, and the section above settles that.

The work itself runs in three passes. A machine finds the failures a machine can prove. A human works every one of the 55 A and AA rules by hand. Then a professional blind screen-reader user opens your real journeys and tries to finish them, the way your customers would. Every finding arrives with its screenshot and the fix that closes it, drawn from our free library of 432 guides.

None of the reference sits behind a form, either. Every number below counts pages you can go and read right now, free, whether you ever buy an audit or not.

A and AA rules we check
55
Techniques and failures
432
ACT test rules
90
ARIA roles documented
94
Terms in the glossary
131
Checklists to work from
9

The honest limit

And an audit is evidence, not a legal opinion. We tell you what fails, who it stops, and what closes it. Whether that satisfies a regulator or a court in Halifax is a question for your lawyer, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise.

Straight answers for Halifax

My site is in Halifax. Does that change what you test?

No. WCAG is the same standard everywhere, so the testing is identical wherever you are. What changes is which law is watching and what failing it costs, and that is what the law section on this page settles.

What law am I actually answering to in Halifax?

Accessible Canada Act is the one that reach Halifax first, and each has its own page here covering what it asks for, who it lands on, and how it gets enforced. Sell into more than one market and more than one of them can reach you at the same time.

Should I be publishing an accessibility statement here?

At least one of the laws that reaches Halifax names an accessibility statement, so plan on publishing one. Our free generator writes it from what the audit found, so the page says what actually works today rather than what you hope works.

What am I paying, and what turnaround do I get?

A Rapid Audit is $499 for 10 pages, with the report in 5 business days. A Standard Audit is $1,499 for 25 pages in 10 business days. Once your team has fixed things, the re-audit is half price within 3 months.

Who does the human half of the testing?

Yes, on every audit. A professional blind screen-reader user opens your real journeys and tries to finish them, and we write down where they stop. That is the pass no scanner can run.

Find out where your site stands in Halifax

Run the free scan. Read the sample report. Order the audit when you want the humans on it, and what lands is a report your developers, your lawyer or a regulator in Halifax can act on.

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