Read our follow up to this article here:
We have received a number of calls over the past several months from clients who have questions about ADA compliance in regards to their website. We now have a reputable solution for all websites, which can be added to your website for a modest monthly fee.
While we are not lawyers (and are not giving any sort of legal advice), our best efforts to find information regarding this issue has been challenging. The language from government entities regarding compliance is vague, without specifics ort real guidance for what needs to be done.
ADA compliance is a set of standards that ensure you adhere to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which protects against disability-based discrimination.
What does it mean to be ADA compliant?
“What does an ADA-compliant website look like? No clear ADA regulations spell out precisely what compliant web content should entail. However, businesses that fall under ADA Title I or ADA Title III must develop websites offering reasonable accessibility to people with disabilities.” (According to Sammi Caramela, from www.businessnewsdaily.com)
Is the ADA targeting small businesses?
“Technically, the ADA isn’t targeting anyone. However, there are law firms that are now seeking out websites, often small businesses, and quickly running a scan and threating legal action for non-compliance. These often require settlement to avoid trial. In most cases, the Userway AI solution will deter these attacks, or can have a claim dropped entirely with their help in proving best-efforts to be compliant.” FAQs – from https://americancreative.com/ada/
Why isn’t my website already ADA compliant?
“It may technically be compliant, or it may not – the guidelines as to what makes a website ‘compliant’ is incredibly subjective, making it very easy for someone to find items that qualify as violations and issue a lawsuit. Your site may be fully accessible, but have an image where the contrast ratio doesn’t quite comply with the requirements, or have a blog posts where the headings may be set a particular way for style, but causes a warning for screen readers. . . .To manually remediate or build a ‘fully-compliant’ site can often cost more than the website itself.” FAQs – from https://americancreative.com/ada/
What are the technical requirements for ADA Compliance?
- Photos, images video and audio files on your website must have ALT Tags – every photo should have a tag (it can be hidden and hovered over to read) that describes what the photo is. This allows users with disabililties to read or hear the description of the file.
- Video and audio files should have text transcripts to help hearing impaired users understand content.
- Be sure the website language is identified in the header code. This allows text readers to use the language set for the website.
- Use color contrasts to assist those with visual impairments, but don’t rely just on color.
- Also use consistent easily-readable font sizes – not too many sizes or colors, which can be confusing for those with low-vision challenges.
- Offer alternative recommendations should a user with a disability encounter a problem.
- Organize your navigation, links and buttons throughout the website so a user can easily find their way throughout the entire site. (This is just best-practice for ALL websites!)
What are you recommending we do to address these compliance issues?
We are now partners with UserWay, which currently provides ADA compliance tools to over a million websites. We’ve been researching this issue for nearly two years, and really wanted a robust solution we could offer all our clients. We are offering this package for an additional charge to your monthly or annual Support Care Plan.
This package includes:
- Coverage for unlimited website pages
- A $10K pledge to cover awarded damages if accessibility is ever questioned
- Accessibility Statement
- Remediations based on ADA, Section 508, AODA, EN 301 549, WCAG 2.1 AA & 2.2
- Continuous updates to include new pages and content
- Works on local and 3rd party website content
What compliance certifications are included?
Are There Tax Credits Available?
There also are tax credits available to small businesses to help cover the cost of implementing ADA compliance. You may receive a 50% tax credit on any expenditures (up to $10,250) if your business has fewer than 30 employees and less than one million in annual revenue. It is explained well in this article: https://userway.org/blog/ada-tax-credit/
How do I address Privacy and Cookies?
In addition to the ADA compliance offerings, we are pairing a reputable Privacy Manager, which includes Privacy and Cookie Policies, Opt-in/Out out popup and many other features. This is the standard best practice for websites today, especially because so many website visitors are now international. Privacy policies and acknowledgements are required in Europe and many other nations around the world.
What’s next?
It is in your best interest to consider this package of compliance tools for your website, and to give potential customers the best experience while visiting your website. You can view these tools in action on our website: thinairweb.com, look for the blue icon in the lower right corner of each page.
Call us today for a detailed discussion, and costs to implement.
