guide
ACA on Sanity: complete compliance checklist
Implementing ACA compliance on Sanity means addressing the platform's specific failure modes (schema design without required alt text, portable text renderers losing semantics) while applying Accessible Canada Act success criteria across content, code, and editorial workflow.
ACA in 60 seconds
The Accessible Canada Act (ACA, 2019) requires federally regulated entities — federal government, banks, telecom, broadcasting, transportation — to identify, remove and prevent accessibility barriers, with the explicit goal of "a Canada without barriers by 2040" and detailed regulations layered on top including the ICT regulations referencing EN 301 549.
Sanity accessibility — what you are starting with
Sanity's headless model means accessibility is delivered downstream. The Studio is reasonably accessible; the failure mode is schema design and front-end rendering.
ACA setup checklist for Sanity
1. Require alt text in image schema: Validation rules at schema level.
2. Audit Portable Text renderer: Map block types to semantic HTML.
Common ACA failures on Sanity
• Schema design without required alt text
• Portable Text renderers losing semantics
Putting it together
Combine ACA's Level AA requirements with Sanity's native tooling. Bake accessibility into your component library and editorial workflow; instrument axe-core in CI for regression.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Cited answers. Sourced. Updated as standards and case law change.
Is Sanity ACA-compliant out of the box?
Sanity Studio targets WCAG 2.1 AA. Consuming-app accessibility is the larger consideration.
What is the easiest path to ACA compliance on Sanity?
Start with the platform's most-accessible default theme (where applicable), audit each installed plugin/extension/module, train content authors on alt text and heading hierarchy, and instrument axe-core in your CI pipeline.
Is Sanity Studio accessible?
Sanity Studio targets WCAG 2.1 AA. Consuming-app accessibility is the larger consideration.
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