ADA is short for the American Disabilities Act, which was signed into law in 1990. It prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and places that are open to the general public. Handicap parking, wheelchair ramps, and braille signage are some things that may come to mind when you think of the ADA. But it also covers technology, because websites can exclude people just as much as steps to an entrance.

What is ADA compliance?

ADA compliance means that all electronic information and technology, including your website, must be accessible to those with disabilities. Because the ADA applies to all electronic information and technology, ADA compliance applies to virtually all businesses and web developers, including:

• State and local governments
• Private organizations with 15 or more employees
• Places of business that are considered a place of public accommodation by Title III (which includes public-facing websites)
• Organizations that work for the public’s benefit (e.g., public transportation, schools, restaurants, bakeries, grocery stores, hotels, banks, gyms, healthcare providers, the U.S. Post Office, etc.)

However, we feel all websites should be ADA compliant and inclusive to everyone, even if these guidelines don’t apply to your organization. People rely on websites for nearly every service and product offering, so providing access to everyone has become a necessity.

How can I meet ADA compliance standards?

To become ADA compliant, you must follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, which are based on the following principles:

1. Be Perceivable

All information and user interface components, including text, images, and video, must be presented on your website in a way that is perceivable to all people. This means you need to offer alternatives to accessibility. For instance, if your users can’t see, there should be an option to listen to the text (text to speech). If they can’t hear, there should be an option for closed captioning on videos.

2. Be Operable

All users must be able to easily navigate your website and use every feature (the interface cannot require interaction that a user cannot perform). To do this, you’ll probably need to rewrite your HTML, which means you’ll need a web developer who understands ADA compliance standards.

3. Be Understandable

In addition to being able to “view” your website and navigate through it, your users must be able to understand the information being presented. You can accomplish this by supplying instructions with your site tools, navigation menus, forms, and other features. Also, try to avoid acronyms, industry jargon, abbreviations, and complex language.

4. Be Robust

This means that content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide range of users, including assistive technologies. In other words, your content should provide the same overall experience to all users, even if your disabled users are supported by assisted technologies. You can provide everyone with the full user experience by not shortening descriptions, directions, explanations, etc.

What are some examples of website accessibility?

In a nutshell, web accessibility means making sure people with different types of disabilities can independently browse your products, check your pricing, understand your content, request a service, and if available, make a purchase. People with different types of disabilities require different accommodations. For example:

• Someone who is visually impaired needs descriptive alt tags on images so their screen reader can describe them.
• Someone who is hearing impaired needs subtitles or sign language interpretation alongside your videos.
• Someone with a motor disability needs to be able to navigate the whole site using a keyboard instead of a mouse or use voice recognition software.
• Someone with low vision (typical of many seniors) needs a high contrast ratio and clear fonts on your text.

To learn more about different web accessibility guidelines for people with different disabilities, read this guide from accessiBe.

How difficult is it to become ADA compliant?

The task of making your website ADA compliant depends on how your site is currently designed. Some organizations will need a complete overhaul to make sure accessible alternatives are built into their HTML coding. Others may just need some minor tweaks. The first step is to talk to a web developer who offers compliance services and get an assessment or website audit.

We won’t lie: The process can be expensive and time consuming, but it could be more costly if you don’t do it. Companies who don’t meet compliance standards could face a lawsuit, resulting in legal fees, a possible settlement, negative press, and loss of customers – plus the cost of making your website compliant. If you’re designing a new website, it’s much more efficient to make it accessible from the start than to go back and fix it later.

The risk of a lawsuit is real. In 2022, the number of web-accessibility lawsuits in federal courts reached a new record of 3,255 filings – a 12% increase from 2021. As the web continues to grow, along with internet users, we can expect legal actions to also increase.

Thankfully, the cost associated with making your website ADA compliant can be greatly reduced; both in total cost and time!

Think Clutch is now an approved partner of accessiBe (https://accessibe.com). This partnership helps our clients purchase, implement, and monitor your website, including updates and changes to your websites ADA compliance status and approved documentation.

accessiBe is a leading AI-powered web accessibility solution that makes websites accessible to people with disabilities, and compliant with the WCAG, ADA, and other accessibility legislation.

By using artificial intelligence and automation, accessiBe significantly reduces costs and time, making web accessibility achievable for all businesses.

It’s The Right Thing to Do

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of people with disabilities increases by the millions every few years. Currently, there are over 61 million people in the U.S. and one billion people worldwide living with a disability. That’s a lot of potential customers who may be unable to access your website. Web accessibility is also great for SEO, helping your website rank higher on search engine results. Descriptive alt tags and anchor tags for links offer the opportunity to add more meaningful keywords.

More importantly, being ADA compliant makes your organization inclusive to all people, which is only right. Think about how often you use the Internet. Can you imagine not being able to access information, order goods and services like groceries and medication, or schedule a ride or an appointment online? Using the internet has become an important aspect of daily living and should be a basic right for everybody, regardless of their abilities. Let’s make that happen, together.

For a free website audit to find out if your website is ADA compliant, contact us today.

ThinkClutch is a member of accessiBe.