In 2010, the US Department of Justice moved to make electronic information and technology more accessible to people with disabilities by releasing specific guidelines that all public organizations must follow. However, many companies fail to follow these guidelines due to unintentional oversight or careless mismanagement.

Thanks to ADA compliance, companies, web development agencies, and independent designers are expected to be more meticulous when designing public websites. If you’re confused about what it means, keep reading for more information.

ADA Compliance

ADA Compliance is the shortened term for the Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design. It’s a civil law that requires the inclusion of all people—especially disabled persons—in all areas of public life. Aside from the workplace, schools, and transportation, it also means digital spaces like websites.

Since digital spaces are included in this law, all businesses and public organizations are required to comply. It includes state and local government organizations, private organizations that employ 15 or more employees, and public places of businesses. These public places of businesses can include public transportation, schools, restaurants, bakeries, grocery stores, hotels, banks, legal offices, financial institutions, social service centers, gyms, the USPS, and others.

Consequences of Non-Compliance

If you’re a web development agency or a freelance web developer, make sure your client knows that their site needs to be ADA compliant. If the site fails to meet the standards of this law, the company runs the risk of paying large sums of money to settle lawsuits. Aside from lawsuits, they could also face legal fees, settlements, and PR problems.

They would also have to spend on the additional costs of redesigning their website to make it ADA compliant. From a business point of view, being ADA compliant can give companies more customers. The US Census Bureau has shown that people with disabilities increase by millions every few years, which makes up a large portion of your consumer base. It’s far more cost-effective to make a website inclusive to all people from the get-go.

How to Meet ADA Compliance Standards

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) works to ensure the implementation of ADA compliance. Because of that, they have released guidelines that include a grading system and a breakdown of core principles of what it means to be ADA compliant. 

Their grading system consists of three tiers:

• Level A - some users find your website accessible
• Level AA - almost all users find your website accessible
• Level AAA - all users find your website accessible

The ideal goal is to aim for a grade of Level AAA because it ensures you won’t face any legal repercussions.

To do this, you need to make sure all people can perceive all the information on the site. That includes text, images, and videos. The site also needs to be easy to navigate, easily understandable, and it should allow disabled users to access assisted technologies. All users must have the same level of user experience.

Conclusion

ADA compliance is an important initiative that makes electronic information and technology accessible to everyone, especially those with disabilities. Unlike 508 compliance, which is only applicable to federal procurements, ADA compliance ensures all areas of public life are accessible to all people. 

These days, companies have been taking a step in the right direction by hiring web design agencies that offer services that can make their sites ADA compliant.

Happy Agencies is the perfect company offering white label services for web development agencies or independent designers. Talk to our experts today!