Is Your Website ADA Compliant?

Every day, individuals across the globe use the Internet to read news, access social media, shop for products and services, attend classes, and much more. People with disabilities may experience applications and websites with the aid of assistive technologies. A website designed without those technologies in mind will have inherently limited accessibility, preventing equal access and impeding the potential of both the website’s users and owner.

Your goal should be a website that is friendly to all users. The information and resources on your website should be available to all visitors regardless of the peripherals they are using to interact with it—keyboard and mouse, adaptive input device, touch screen, screen reader, and so on. The experience should be complete no matter the medium.

The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) & Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), enacted in 1990, prohibits discrimination based on disability in public places. Simultaneously, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, passed in 1998, requires that all government agencies, financial institutions (such as credit unions and banks), healthcare organizations, and others to make their electronic and information technology available to all people. While court opinions are currently split regarding the applicability of the ADA to private websites and other non-physical locations—the First, Second, and Seventh Circuit Courts of Appeals have held that it does apply, the Third, Sixth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals have held that it does not—it is almost certain that either Congress or the Supreme Court will eventually extend the law to cover privately owned websites. The most responsible decision ethically, financially, and legally is to make your website equally accessible to all people.

Making Your Website Compliant

Using sophisticated utilities from our partners at accessiBe, the team at IDMI.Net can audit your website to identify and correct content that is not friendly to all users. These tools have been developed in concert with people with disabilities to ensure practical results. Examples of content that may need to be adjusted include:

• Descriptive ALT tags on media (images, videos, and audio)
  
• Text captions and/or transcripts of video and audio
  
• Excessive use of flashing images and/or animated videos
  
• Color schemes and contrasts appropriate for people with low vision
  
• Easily adjustable colors and font sizes
  
• Properly labeled fields where text entry is required
  
• Clear, precise instructions for filling out forms
  
• Navigation instructions in hyperlinks
  

Take the Next Step

There are many good reasons to make sure your website is equally accessible to all people. The obvious are the moral and ethical ones—and perhaps legal if your organization is a government contractor. But it also makes sense financially, since a website with poor accessibility keeps your products and services hidden away from potential customers.

Auditing and updating your website to be usable for all is a difficult, time-consuming job. Our team can automate the entire process with guaranteed results.

Contact IDMI.Net to speak with one of our experts about your website and ADA compliance!