The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a critical piece of legislation that ensures individuals with disabilities have equal access to public spaces, including digital environments like websites. Implementing ADA compliance on your website involves making it accessible to people with various disabilities, such as visual, auditory, or motor impairments. This can include features such as:
- Screen reader compatibility
- Alternative text for images
- Keyboard navigation
- Color contrasting
Understanding and implementing ADA compliance is not just a legal obligation, but a strategic advantage that can significantly contribute to your website’s success.
Why ADA Compliance Is Recommended for Your Website
Your company’s website is often the first point of contact for customers or potential customers. If your website was not developed with ADA accessibility in mind, people with disabilities may not be able access to your content. That’s where ADA compliance becomes not only a legal necessity, but a moral and business imperative.
Having an ADA-compliant website is important for several reasons, including:
- It helps avoid legal risks
- It expands your audience
- It enhances usability for everyone
- It boosts SEO
- It conveys ethical brand values and builds trust
It Helps Avoid Legal Risks
Non-compliance can result in lawsuits and fines. Over the past few years, there has been a surge in lawsuits related to inaccessible websites. Businesses of all sizes, from mom-and-pop shops to Fortune 500 companies, have faced legal action for not meeting ADA standards.
Making your website ADA complaint helps avoid potential costly lawsuits and fines. It also ensures that your business follows both federal and state accessibility laws. The cost of making your website ADA complaint is significantly less expensive than potential lawsuits which can cost you as much as $50,000 in fines and other penalties.
It Expands Your Audience
When your website is ADA compliant, it gives you access to a larger demographic by allowing individuals with disabilities to engage with your business, services, or content more easily. One in four adults in the U.S. lives with a disability – that equates to around 61 million adults. If your website isn’t accessible, you’re potentially excluding tens of millions of people from visiting your site who could bring business your way.
It Enhances Usability for Everyone
Implementing accessibility best practices across your website, such as readable fonts, clear navigation and keyboard compatibility, helps improve the overall user experience for all users, even those without a disability. In fact, many accessibility improvements also benefit people using mobile devices, low bandwidth, or even those multitasking. For example, captions not only benefit deaf users, but also people in noisy environments, making your site usable for all people.
It Boosts SEO
Search engines love accessible websites. Features such as proper heading structure, alt text on all images, and descriptive link text don’t just help users with disabilities, they also help search engines better understand your site. These practices could help boost your site’s organic search performance, leading to better rankings and more traffic. Once this additional traffic reaches your website, having a navigation that is clear and easy for everyone will generally improve your conversions.
It Conveys Ethical Brand Values & Builds Trust
Committing to inclusivity isn’t just good ethics, it’s also good branding. Consumers are increasingly aligning with companies that prioritize accessibility, diversity, and social responsibility. Committing to ADA accessibility on your website will enhance your brand image and build goodwill with customers, stakeholders, and the public. It will also set you apart from your competitors by demonstrating that your business prioritizes social responsibility.
Who is Required to Have an ADA Compliant Website?
While Webolutions recommends that all businesses have an ADA-compliant website, under U.S. law, ADA compliance for websites is generally required for the following:
- Government Entities: Federal, state, and local sites.
- Businesses Serving the Public: Retail, restaurants, hotels, theaters, and other “public accommodations.”
- Nonprofits: Especially those serving the public or receiving government funding.
- Educational Institutions: Schools and colleges, especially those with federal funding.
- Employers: Sites used for recruiting or job applications.
- E-Commerce: Online businesses with public-facing services.
- Healthcare Providers: Hospitals and clinics offering online services.
If your website serves the public in any way, especially in commerce, education, or healthcare, it is safest and often legally necessary to make it ADA compliant.
What Does an ADA-Compliant Website Look Like?
An ADA-compliant website must adhere to the criteria listed below. To help guide your efforts, we recommend using the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as a framework for compliance.
Perceivable (Information Is Presented Clearly)
This is accomplished by using:
- Alt text for images: Every meaningful image should have descriptive alternative text.
- Video captions: Provide accurate captions for all video content.
- Audio transcripts: Include transcripts for audio files like podcasts.
- Color contrast: Text should have sufficient contrast against background colors (WCAG recommends at least 4.5:1).
- Text resizing: Ensure text can be resized up to 200% without loss of functionality or content.
Operable (All Functionality Must Be Usable by Keyboard)
This is accomplished by using:
- Keyboard navigation: Ensure users can navigate and use all features with only a keyboard (no mouse).
- Skip to content links: Provide a way for keyboard users to bypass repetitive navigation.
- Focus indicators: Clearly show which element is currently selected (e.g., a button or link).
- No flashing content: Avoid content that flashes more than 3 times per second to reduce seizure risk.
Understandable (Content Must Be Easy to Read and Predictable)
This is accomplished by using:
- Clear language: Use plain, straightforward language whenever possible.
- Consistent navigation: Keep menus and controls in consistent locations across pages.
- Descriptive links: Use link text that clearly describes the destination (e.g., not just “Click here”).
- Form labels and instructions: Every input field should have a visible, descriptive label.
Robust (Compatible with Assistive Technologies)
This is accomplished by using:
- Semantic HTML: Use proper HTML elements for headings, lists, buttons, etc., so screen readers can interpret content correctly.
- ARIA landmarks and roles: Use ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) tags to enhance accessibility where HTML alone isn’t enough.
- Responsive design: Ensure your site works on all screen sizes and orientations.
Webolutions Can Help Your Website Become ADA Compliant
ADA compliance isn’t just a checkbox, it’s an ongoing commitment to accessibility, inclusion, and a better website for all. As the digital landscape evolves, making your website accessible ensures that everyone has equal access to the information, services, and opportunities you provide.
Whether you’re launching a new website or updating an existing one, the first step is to have our team conduct a website audit to identify accessibility issues and prioritize fixes based on user impact and legal risk.
At Webolutions, we have partnered with a software development company that specializes in making websites accessible to people with disabilities. Our comprehensive ADA services include:
- ADA widget with automated accessibility services
- ADA widget with managed accessibility services
- Website remediation
- PDF remediation
- Quarterly reporting of your site’s accessibility
ADA Widget with Automated Accessibility Services
An ADA accessibility widget is installed on your website that adds accessibility solutions for people with disabilities. This option uses AI and automated tools to convert content and apply accessibility fixes during the website session such as screen-reader adjustments, color contrast changes, and keyboard navigation support.
ADA Widget with Managed Accessibility Services
This option combines AI technology with manual intervention by human certified accessibility experts to provide audits, custom fixes, and compliance strategies to meet ADA, WCAG 2.2, Section 508, and EN 301549 standards.
Website Remediation
We have access to website ADA scanning tools to report any non-ADA compliant issues on your website. This audit gives us insights into the code changes that may need to be made to improve accessibility on your site.
PDF Remediation
PDF remediation is the process of modifying PDF documents to ensure they comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and follow accessibility standards such as the PDF/UA (Universal Accessibility) and WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines). Remediated PDFs are compatible with assistive technologies like screen readers and provide an inclusive experience for all users.
Quarterly Reporting of Your Site’s Accessibility
Webolutions will run quarterly monitor scans, analyze the report findings and make remediation recommendations.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation. Webolutions serves clients nationwide from our offices in Denver, Colorado.
