The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was developed in 1990 to ensure that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as anyone else. In 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice passed the Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design, mandating all electronic and information technology, such as websites and applications, to be accessible to those with disabilities, like hearing loss and vision impairment.
Making your website ADA compliant is an important step in creating an inclusive brand and protecting your business. The ADA strives to make all websites accessible to people in need of accommodations.
Being ADA compliant not only makes your website accessible for your site’s visitors, but it can also help boost your search engine rankings–if your site meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)–to help reach your target audience. Taking the correct steps to become ADA compliant can protect your business from any future legal action. Websites that are ADA compliant will:
- Create an Accessibility Statement that describes your effort to meet guidelines and provides contact information
- Provide accessibility widgets such as UserWay and accessiBe
- Conduct an accessibility audit by a third party or our expert team here at Starkmedia
- Perform site corrections found during the audit such as:
- Proper meta tags that describe each page
- Alternative image text
- Text transcripts for video or multimedia content
- Size, scaling, and legibility of fonts used
- Colors and backgrounds used having proper contrast
During audits, the most common practices that are brought up for corrections are structural and markup issues within the code. This would include navigation or page content, or form fields more accessible for a site visitor. Style and content related changes, such contrast issues with text and backgrounds, and adequate heading organization would also have a positive effect on the visitor’s experience. By meeting these standards, ADA compliance shouldn’t be an issue for your company.
If you are wondering if your website is ADA compliant, contact Starkmedia today. We’re happy to help you make any necessary changes needed to make sure your website is ADA compliant.
