The Importance of Website Accessibility for ADA Compliance

In today’s digital world, the internet is vital for sharing information and doing business. This means it’s more important than ever to make sure everyone can access online content equally. For businesses and groups in the United States, following the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) isn’t just a rule – it’s the right thing to do.

One part of ADA compliance that often gets overlooked is making websites accessible. This means designing and building websites so that people with disabilities can easily use them. Disabilities vary a lot, from vision and hearing problems to difficulty moving or thinking. So, it’s crucial to create websites that everyone can use, no matter their abilities.

To make sure your website follows ADA rules, you’ll need to understand the accessibility guidelines. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you make sure your website meets ADA standards.

Familiarize Yourself with Accessibility Guidelines

• Learn about the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). They are the internationally recognized standards for web accessibility.
• Understand the four main principles of WCAG: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust (POUR).

Design with Accessibility in Mind

• Use high contrast colors and clear typography to improve readability. Use tools like Color Safe to find accessible color palettes.
• Provide descriptive text for all images and multimedia content using alternative text (alt text).
• All interactive elements, such as buttons and links, should be easy to find and use with keyboard navigation.
• Avoid relying solely on color to convey information or indicate errors.

Implement Accessibility Features

• Enable keyboard navigation. Ensure all functionality and content on your website can be accessed and operated using a keyboard alone, without a mouse.

• Add alt text to images, videos, and audio files. This text should be descriptive to let users know what the content is, in case they cannot access it.

• Add captions and transcripts. Provide captions for videos and transcripts for audio content to make them accessible to users who are deaf or hard of hearing.

• Use accessible forms. Ensure that form fields have clear labels, instructions, and error messages. Forms should be easily navigated and completed using assistive technologies.

• Make your website responsive. Ensure that your website works well on a variety of devices and screen sizes.

Conduct Accessibility Testing

• Use accessibility tools and validators to scan your website for potential accessibility issues. Tools like WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool) can help identify common accessibility issues.

• Conduct manual testing with assistive technologies, such as screen readers and keyboard-only navigation. It will help identify any accessibility barriers that automated tools may not detect.

• Involve users with disabilities in user testing to gather feedback from their perspective.

It’s important to follow these steps to make your website accessible for everyone. If you are not ADA compliant, you leave yourself open to a lawsuit.