ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design) compliance means that the electronic information on your website should be accessible to those with disabilities.
Section 508 is often confused with ADA, but ADA differs as it is a civil law that mandates the inclusion of people, especially those with disabilities, in all areas of public life. It includes workplaces, transportation, schools, and other places open to the general public. Besides ADA requiring websites and content to be accessible, it also has broader guidelines that cover disabilities and environments.
ADA is important for your website as it improves your customer's experience with your business and ensures accessibility. Regarding accessibility, your website can fulfil the needs of individuals with visual, auditory, or other disabilities or limitations.
Adding accessibility to your website makes it easier for individuals to navigate and consume content on your website. For example, adjusting the contrast of the text and website background colors makes it easier for those who are color-blind.
Some of the reasons are mentioned below:
Socially responsible businesses are often supported by people who often support the employment of people with disabilities. These types of companies offer the same opportunities when hiring. Companies that are socially responsible businesses follow all ADA standards and offer accessibility without fail to make them ADA-compliant. These websites often have more customers as they have opened themselves up to more potential buyers.
IRS (Internal Revenue Service) now offers different tax write-offs for businesses that are becoming disability friendly. One of the tax write-offs is the disabled access credit, which offers up to $5000 for expenses incurred in improving accessibility for persons with disability.
ADA compliance is not only required but a smart and sound financial decision for businesses. By hiring someone with a disability, you can get up to the first $6000 on that person's first year's wages. And for businesses that are hiring people with disabilities, there's a tax credit offered called the work opportunity credit.
ADA compliance is mandatory for all websites by federal law, and if not compliant, it can be punishable by law, and you can be fined over $100,000 per violation. If your website is not ADA compliant, then your website can face litigation by the federal government, litigation by a private citizen, and investigations based on the complaint made to federal agencies.
There is a sudden increase in web accessibility lawsuits. Some of the websites are Target, Amazon, and even Beyonce. If you aren't compliant with the ADA website standards, you are neglecting the potential customers and opening yourself up to a lawsuit.
In addition to a lawsuit, you can face the issues below if your website is not ADA-compliant.
It is obvious that if you are improving the accessibility of your website, then you are also getting a chance to grab more potential customers for your business. The main goal for your website is to be ADA compliant, and to do that ADA compliance checklist is a must be known to you.
Pay attention to how you're writing and the text is presented to make your website user-friendly. Some of the points are mentioned below:
The second thing to pay attention to is the visual elements; the below points are to be considered:
Now last but not least is to check the navigation of your website. To check the same below points are to be considered:
ADA compliance is something that is applied to all businesses and web developers. So what are the requirements of ADA compliance? Some examples include:
Finally, all websites must be ADA-compliant and inclusive to everyone- even those who think it doesn't apply to you or your organization.
Well, in most cases, when ADA compliance is unmet, it's not intentional, but it doesn't matter because if your website isn't ADA compliant, you risk a hefty lawsuit. Even if you weren't aware of unintentionally skipping the guidelines provided by the U.S. department of justice, you could be paying thousands of dollars in lawsuits. Also, it will risk the loss of customers by not making it accessible to those who are disabled. You need to consider the policies of ADA compliance to avoid losing many potential customers for your business.
We will learn the main steps to consider while developing your website to meet ADA compliance standards. The first recommendation is to check the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). There, you will find a recommendation to go by WCAG 2.0. In WCAG 2.0 guidelines, there is 3 tiered grading system that is as follows:
Please meet Level A.A. compliance standards, but the best is to build (or rebuild) your website to be 100% compliant, so nobody is left out.
Now, to do that, here's a breakdown of what the core principles of WCAG 2.0 guidelines look like:
All users shall perceive all information on your website. This includes things like images, text, videos, etc. They are perceivable means offering alternatives to create accessibility. For example, if the user cannot see, they can listen to the text. If they can't hear, closed captioning should be available.
Every user on your website should be able to navigate easily. Users can utilize every feature, meaning whatever you offer on your website shall be accessible to all users. To do something like this, some codes must be in your HTML, for which you will need a current developer with ADA compliance standards.
Apart from viewing and navigating through your website, users must also understand what they're reading, listening to, etc. One way to implement the same is by providing instructions with the navigation menu, site tools, forms, or any other feature you offer on your website.
Treat every user the same by providing them with the full user experience. In this case, it focuses on providing the same experience to all the users, including the ones who are non-disabled users. This means that no matter how the content of your website is delivered, it should be universal without shortening descriptions, explanations, and directions.
In this article, we have learned about what is ADA compliance. And why is it important? What happens if you need to follow ADA compliance for your website? What are the guidelines or requirements for your website to comply with ADA? It is mandatory compliance for all businesses. Thus, we want to inform you to ensure that your website is ADA-compliant.
By following all the ADA compliance guidelines, you are opening doors to new potential customers for your business products. It will give a boost to your business.
What is ADA Compliance
Share