Regarding web design, one of the most critical elements to include on client websites is compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Non-compliant websites risk potentially damaging lawsuits, resulting in loss of traffic, revenue, or even business for your clients and your agency.
As a digital agency, delivering a high-quality product is essential. You must prioritize accessibility and consider partnering with specialized companies to achieve compliance. Doing so will protect your clients and ensure all visitors can access and engage with their websites regardless of ability.
This article will explore what ADA compliance means for your agency. We'll also provide practical tips to implement accessible features and recommend tools to support your efforts.
The Benefits of Being Web Accessible
Ensuring web accessibility offers a range of significant benefits beyond simply adhering to legal requirements. While compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) helps mitigate legal risks, the advantages of making websites accessible extend further.
Expand Market Reach
With over 1.3 billion people worldwide living with disabilities, accessibility opens your website to a broader audience, ensuring all potential users can engage with your content. Accessibility isn't limited to individuals with permanent disabilities; it also helps people with temporary or situational impairments, such as someone recovering from an injury or users navigating content in challenging environments like bright sunlight.
Boost Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Accessibility features such as proper alt text for images, clear headings, and structured content help individuals use assistive technologies and enhance SEO. Search engines favor well-structured content, improving your website’s visibility in search results and driving more organic traffic to your clients' websites.
Improve User Experience (UX) for All
Accessible websites tend to have better navigation, clearer content, and more user-friendly design elements. These features benefit all users, not just those with disabilities, by making websites easier to use and interact with. A website that is intuitive and simple to navigate reduces bounce rates and increases engagement.
Increase Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty
Prioritizing accessibility reflects a commitment to inclusivity and social responsibility, which can enhance customer perception of your brand. Companies that demonstrate respect for the needs of all users, including those with disabilities, foster greater trust and loyalty among customers.
Stay Competitive
In a market where accessibility is increasingly becoming a standard expectation, businesses that invest in accessible web design set themselves apart from competitors. By ensuring your clients' websites are fully accessible, you position their brands as forward-thinking and inclusive, a critical advantage in today’s socially conscious marketplace.
Legal Compliance and Risk Mitigation
As web accessibility lawsuits continue to rise, maintaining compliance with ADA and WCAG standards is essential for avoiding costly legal consequences. Many organizations face potential lawsuits if their websites are not accessible, and ensuring compliance helps protect both your clients and your agency from financial and reputational damage.
An Introduction to ADA Compliance
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal law in the United States designed to prevent discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Signed into law in 1990, the ADA was a significant victory for the disability rights movement, ensuring that individuals with disabilities have equal access to public spaces, employment, transportation, and telecommunications.
Most people are familiar with how the ADA applies to the physical world. It mandates accommodations like wheelchair ramps, accessible parking spaces, and the use of service animals in public places. It also guarantees reasonable workplace accommodations, ensuring that people with disabilities can participate fully in everyday life.
However, the ADA’s relevance extends beyond physical spaces, encompassing digital accessibility as well. As websites have become essential for conducting business and providing services, ADA compliance for websites is now a critical consideration for businesses.
How the ADA Applies to Websites
Title III of the ADA, which covers public accommodations, explicitly prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in any "place of public accommodation." While the original text of the ADA does not mention websites, recent legal cases, and Department of Justice guidelines have made it clear that websites are considered places of public accommodation.
This means businesses and nonprofit organizations offering goods or services to the public must ensure their websites are accessible. Courts have increasingly ruled in favor of plaintiffs in web accessibility lawsuits, setting a precedent that websites must meet accessibility standards. The Department of Justice has also issued clear guidance stating that the ADA’s accessibility requirements apply to websites, reinforcing the legal obligation for businesses to provide equal access to their online services.
ADA Compliance and Accessibility Standards
Although the ADA itself does not provide technical guidelines for web accessibility, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) have become the accepted standard for ensuring websites meet ADA requirements. WCAG defines three levels of conformance: A, AA, and AAA. Most businesses strive to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA, which covers essential digital accessibility features such as providing alt text for images, enabling keyboard navigation, and ensuring proper color contrast.
For businesses unsure of how to implement accessibility, tools like Equalize Digital’s Accessibility Checker provide an easy way to scan websites for compliance issues, offering practical solutions to ensure websites meet ADA and WCAG standards.
Why ADA Compliance Matters
Failing to ensure website accessibility can result in lawsuits, financial penalties, and damage to your business's reputation. Beyond legal obligations, ADA compliance also opens up your website to a larger audience, including people with disabilities, and improves everyone's overall user experience. Accessible websites are easier to navigate, more inclusive, and demonstrate a business’s commitment to social responsibility.
Ensuring ADA compliance doesn’t just benefit people with disabilities—it strengthens your business and makes your digital presence more effective for all users.
How You Can Add ADA Compliance to Your Websites
There are many ways to make websites more accessible. Consider starting with these actionable steps to prevent accessibility issues:
-
Alt text: Use descriptive alt text for images so screen readers can interpret them for visually impaired users.
-
Text transcripts: Provide text transcripts to make audio and video content accessible to deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals.
-
Captions: Include captions on all video content.
-
Readable text: Ensure text is legible by sizing it to at least 16 pixels and using fonts that are easy to read.
-
Color contrast: Use a color contrast ratio 4.5:1 between text and background to ensure clarity.
-
Descriptive links: Replace vague link text such as “click here” with descriptive phrases like “learn more about our services.”
Accessibility also involves making websites navigable for users with disabilities:
-
Implement skip links to allow keyboard users to bypass repetitive content.
-
Enable keyboard navigation for users who cannot use a mouse.
-
Allow users to select preferred language options for better accessibility across diverse populations.
While these steps are a good start, maintaining compliance can become complex and may require regular checks and updates. This is where a solution like Equalize Digital's Accessibility Checker can be invaluable. It automatically scans websites for accessibility issues, highlights areas that need improvement, and helps you maintain compliance with evolving standards.
Conclusion
ADA compliance benefits everyone—not just users with disabilities. Accessible websites are easier to navigate for all visitors, including older users or those with temporary impairments. Additionally, prioritizing accessibility demonstrates your agency's commitment to inclusivity, helping you build trust and reputation in a competitive market.
By following best practices, using checklists, and leveraging tools like Equalize Digital's Accessibility Checker, your agency can ensure the websites you design are accessible and compliant, helping you and your clients avoid costly lawsuits and deliver a better user experience.
Hero photo by ThisIsEngineering / Pexels
