Does my website have to be ADA Compliant?
The law that governs accessibility is The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Title III of the ADA has been interpreted by US courts to apply to websites since January 2018. For websites to be ADA compliant, they need to be accessible.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are organized around four principles:
Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust
Perceivable means that the information and content is presented and available to everyone, including with persons with disabilities.
Operable means that the website interface does not require interaction that persons with disabilities cannot perform.
Understandable means that both the information and operation of the user interface must be readily understandable to everyone (make everything simple, provide clear instructions).
Robust means that your website is accessible through a wide variety of user agents and technologies such as various screen readers and browsers.
Failing to comply with the ADA means your business is susceptible to lawsuits, and it’s common for attorneys to seek out non-compliant businesses both in the physical and digital space.
As a result, we require our clients to opt-out of this compliance in writing as to remove our liability risk.
Compliance
- In recent years the legislative landscape has changed. Hundreds of thousands of business owners have received demand letters for having inaccessible websites.
- On top of that, the pandemic has made us all rely on the internet for just about everything. Society is awakening to the fact that people with disabilities have a right to equal access to all websites.
- Our main motivation for taking this initiative is simply to look out for your interests and make sure that your website is up to date in an ever changing web ecosystem.
By implementing for an ADA compliance license, the benefits to you are the following…
- It helps to mitigate the legal risk of lawsuits.
- It is a way to grow your business by reaching out to a huge (15% of the population), underserved, and extremely loyal consumer group.
- Finally, being inclusive is the right thing to do and sends a positive message about your brand.
See examples (look at icon in bottom right)
https://www.putnamservicedogs.org
https://www.saugatuckkitchens.com/
https://levyemploymentlaw.com
Contact me today to see how you can make your website compliant.
