On July 17, 2018, the Gouvernement du Québec released a new web accessibility standard, the Standard sur l'accessibilité des sites Web (SGQRI 008 2.0), replacing the 2011 standards: SGQRI 008-01, SGQRI 008-02, and SGQRI 008-03. This 2.0 version had one big addition: the inclusion of all public organisations listed in the Loi sur la gouvernance et la gestion des ressources informationnelles des organismes publics et des entreprises du gouvernement, which includes higher ed institutions listed in the Loi sur les établissements d’enseignement de niveau universitaire, which includes the Institution royale pour l’avancement des sciences, which is just another name for McGill University.
TL; DR: we now need to follow the SGQRI 008 standard.
The good thing for McGill is that mcgill.ca is very solid. Our website already met most of the requirements in 2018. Furthermore, the Gouvernement du Québec gave 24 months for websites published after July 2018, and 48 months for websites published before July 2018, to meet the standard.
According to my calculations, my horoscope, and my two cats: 2018 + 48 months = July 2022. (Feel free to check if my math is correct. I'm a Gemini and my cats aren't really good at mental arithmetic.)
TL; DR: we had 4 years to meet the SGQRI 008 standard.
Since the release of the new standard, we've been working on the website's backend, and we did a presentation to the community. But to make sure that our efforts are sustainable, and since July 2022 is only about 1/8 of a pandemic away, we feel like now is the right time for us to launch a new course that will help people better understand web a11y (accessibility) and the tools you can use to improve a website.
TL; DR: we will soon be launching a new course, WS 106 : Web Accessibility.
Please see our Training & events section for the dates and our Web Services training courses descriptions for the official course presentation.
