Do You Really Need an ADA Compliant Website?

In 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice passed the Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design, mandating that electronic and information technology, like websites, be accessible to those with disabilities, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, language, learning, and neurological disabilities. This was an important step towards greater accessibility for the more 3.8 million Americans with visual impairments, not to mention those with other disabilities.

Consequences on Non-ADA-Compliant Websites

More than a decade later companies are still struggling to achieve compliance, and a 2020 study found that 98% of companies do not offer full accessibility services. The companies who don’t comply with ADA standards are putting themselves at a substantial risk, including lawsuits and fines. The violation maximum civil penalty a first violation under title III is $75,000, with subsequent violations being capped at $150,000. In most cases, companies choose to settle complaints out of court, but even those settlements can run in the thousands of dollars. Fortunately, companies are making this technology more accessible.

Other Compliance Requirements

There are two key compliance groups that organizations must meet the requirements of: ADA Compliance and WCAG Compliance.

ADA compliance focuses on ensuring the same level of access to the disabled as their able-bodied counterparts with assistive technology.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines how to make Web content more accessible to people with disabilities.

An additional Section 508 compliance applies to federal contractors. You can learn more about the difference between the three layers of compliance here.

Common Triggers for ADA Compliant Website Investigations

There are many website features that might trigger non-compliance. A few examples of these include:

• Lack of alt tags, which describe images for visually impaired users
• Insufficient text/background contrast
• Site text is not scalable
• Menu navigation and a drop-down menu that is not fully keyboard-accessible due to some JavaScript and don’t properly support screen readers
• did not properly support screen readers
• Lacking “skip navigation” options for screen readers
• Password requirements that do not support screen readers
• Actions, like adding a product to cart, that aren’t designed to support screen readers
• PDF content was not able to be read in HTML format
• Phone number on the website lacked a full description, potentially barring users from understanding what the number is for
• Site information, such as the company address and hours of operation that are not labeled

How to Make your Website ADA Compliant

Fortunately for website owners, there is no shortage of companies that help them remediate these problems on websites, and you can learn more by searching for “ADA compliance Software.”

After conducting our own research, we chose to work with a provider named accessiBe. We chose this company for its ease of implementation, price point, and specific functionality. Their innovative use of AI to label photos was ideal for our company website, as we have hundreds of product pages and photos that require work. We also appreciated that their software is developed and tested by people with disabilities.

If you’re curious to learn more, look for the teal green accessibility button on the right-hand side of your screen. Clicking that button activates the accessibility menu, and you’ll be able to toggle the settings as needed.