ADA Compliance
On March 18th, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued an opinion on ADA Compliance related to websites. While it’s not the first time that ADA Compliance for websites has been discussed, we think this is the first time an official stance has been voiced about ADA Compliance for business websites. You can find and read the article by clicking on the button below.
Since the DOJ has officially taken the stance that business websites should meet specific accessibility standards, Bergey Creative Group believes that the number of lawsuits related to non-compliance will continue the rise.
What industries are most impacted?
The need to have an accessible website should be your top priority today. The main factor driving this need has been the increase in web accessibility lawsuits.
In what legal experts have called a litigation tsunami, it’s mostly small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that have been hit with thousands of lawsuits and demand letters relating to website accessibility over the past 2 years. This increase in cases has triggered an alarm for SMBs and even prompted the National Retail Federation to issue a warning to businesses urging them to start taking web accessibility seriously.
Every industry has to comply with web accessibility regulations, yet not all fields have been affected equally. Here are some industries that are at risk of being affected the most:
eCommerce Businesses
Food Industry
Healthcare Industry
Automotive Industry
Finance Industry
Education Industry
No One Is Safe!
Doesn’t Matter If You’re A :
Local Business Owner, Government Agency or Government Contractor
Digital, Social or Affiliate Marketer
Real Estate or Insurance Agent or Brokerage
Doctor, Dentist, Medical Clinic Or Chiropractor
E-commerce Store Owner, Website Designer or Website Development Agency
Restaurant, Pub, Coffee Shop, Photographer, Gym or Retail Store Owner
What is Web Accessibility?
Web accessibility is a set of design guidelines, rules, code standards, and behaviors. They are used to enable people with disabilities, which comprise 20% of the world’s population, to use websites effectively.
To achieve this, the W3C (The World Wide Web Consortium) has created the
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1), which guide developers on how to make websites accessible.
The WCAG focuses mainly on three areas of accessibility: blind people using screen-readers (JAWS, NVDA), people with motor impairments who use only keyboards, and a variety of other disabilities such as color blindness, epilepsy, and minor visual impairments that are mainly focused on the UI and design of the website (color contrasts, animations, fonts, etc.).
How Does it Apply to Websites?
A website should be prepared and agile enough to address all forms of disabilities. For example, does your website contain videos? If it does then you need to provide audio captions as well as transcripts for those with auditory or cognitive issues.
In order to comply with the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design, a clean and minimal layout must be considered for those with cognitive and learning disabilities. Larger buttons and customizable text is also needed to assist those with visual impairments.
It makes it easier for a wide audience to use your website when a user can change the spacing, size, color and font. It makes them more comfortable for regardless of what type of device they use to access it.
Is Your Website ADA Compliant? . . .
And Why It Is Important!
There is currently a rising wave of businesses being sued for failing to meet
ADA Compliance Guidelines, as well as
WCAG 2.0 and
Section 508 Guidelines, and it’s only a matter of time before it reaches your company!
Website owners are being targeted and sued for
a law they are UNAWARE OF.
It’s called the ‘ADA’ Act, which requires businesses to make accommodations for people with disabilities on
ALL WEBSITES AND ALL WEB CONTENT.
Why Choose Mediablend?
We’ve partnered with developers of the most widely used accesibility software and enhanced it with our management system to deliver a solution that constantly scans your website for compliance.
Make your site ADA compliant today!
You can ill out the form below if you’d prefer us to handle everything!
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