Making a Website ADA Compliant

Making your website ADA compliant is one of the most important aspects of creating a workable, user-friendly website. You’ve probably heard about some aspect of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and generally understand why it’s important to be ADA compliant. Being ADA compliant means your business follows the guidelines of employment and accommodations for people with disabilities. This means having wheelchair accessible public buildings, being accessible for people with visual impairments and many other regulations. One of the newest sections of ADA compliance – and one that has been in the news a lot lately – is website ADA compliance.
 ada compliant

ADA compliance is important to you and your customer

Recently, making a website compliant has been a major topic of conversation even though the law was introduced many years ago. According to Law360, in 2016, 240 companies were faced with lawsuits because of issues with their website. This is expected to continue to be an issue if websites aren’t updated to meet all the regulations.

This is also a point of concern because the government is expected to expand the rules sometime in 2018. This means it’s really important start working on getting your site up to current standards so you don’t fall too far behind.

Aside from staying out of legal trouble it’s good to make your website accessible for everyone on a business level. You want to reach the largest possible amount of your target audience. If your website isn’t ADA complaint you could be losing out on valuable customers.

It’s essential to make your website compliant. There’s no reason to cut corners when creating a website or risk money in a lawsuit when there’s a much cheaper route to take.
 

What does an ADA compliant website look like

A website that is ADA compliant means it follows a few important rules. The current standard for website compliance is listed under Section 508, WCAG 2.0 AA. These regulations include, but aren’t limited to:

  • All images must have a text equivalent
  • A screen reader must be able to read all links
  • Users must be able to alter colors and fonts

The purpose of having text on links, images and other aspects of a website is because people who are visually impaired use screen reading software to navigate through pages. If the website isn’t set up correctly the software will have nothing to read to the user. This makes the website impossible to navigate for people with disabilities. It’s also important to use colors and fonts that are easy to read and easily altered because it can have an effect on people with visual impairments, such as color blindness.

The full list of regulations can be found on the government website about ADA compliance.

Making your website accessible 

The first thing that needs to be done is a review of your current website. Twin State performs an audit of your website to see if everything is up to par. If errors are discovered it’s important to get it settled right away. Twin State has experience making websites ADA compliant for many different businesses. It’s also important to keep up on any new regulations coming out in 2018, so we will stay up-to-date and keep you posted.

If you have any questions about ADA compliance or want to make your website ADA compliant you can contact us. We’ll get you set up with a website that works for everyone.

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