What’s ADA compliance? How does ADA Compliance affect websites? This is something every company should know.

What does ADA compliance mean?

ADA compliance refers to the Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design. This stipulates that all electronic and information technology (such as websites) must be accessible to people with disabilities.

Businesses are asking these questions more often due to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design. The U.S.

Department of Justice, 2010. These standards demand that companies provide accessible websites for people with disabilities.

With resources like the Web content accessibility (WCAG) guidelines and ADA Compliance Services, your business can make its website accessible to all users. This proactive approach can help your company grow and demonstrate your commitment to users around the world.

Continue reading for more information about ADA compliance. Learn if ADA accessibility standards apply to your site and how to make it ADA-compliant.

What are the ADA requirements?

Now that you understand the meaning of ADA compliance, you might want to find out if it applies to you.

All organizations must comply with the following ADA requirements 

• Agencies of the State and Local Governments

• Employers with 15+ employees

• Businesses serving the public

ADA compliance impacts almost all businesses, webmasters, and websites. Electronic and information technology is covered in the ADA. 

It is important that everyone can use your website

What happens if a site is not ADA-compliant?

However, ADA accessibility may not be an option for all websites.

A lawsuit could be filed against you if people with disabilities cannot access your website. This could potentially cost you thousands of dollars.

Answer the following questions:

• How does ADA compliance look on websites?
• Who benefits from ADA compliance?
• How do you comply with the ADA?

The U.S. Department of Justice does not have any guidelines regarding ADA compliance. These are the recommendations your company should follow to ensure that your website and user experience are ADA-compliant.

How can I ensure ADA compliance for my website?

Now you know the meaning of ADA compliance, let’s talk about becoming ADA compliant.

The WCAG 2.0 guidelines provide the best guidance for making your website ADA-compliant. This resource outlines many goals and recommendations for making your site ADA-accessible for all users in the U.S.

These core principles guide WCAG:

• Perceivable – Users should be able to see and hear all information on your website. 

• Users should find it easy to navigate the site. Any user should have access to the main navigation, as well as any tools, such as calculators, on the site.

• It should be easy to understand. Your visitors should be able to understand the contents of your website. This will allow users to easily understand text, images, and other tools on your site. You might have instructions on how to use certain features, such as a calculator or contact form.

• Robust – Users should be able to get the same experience no matter what assistive technology they use. For instance, voice readers should give the same experience to people who read your content.

How can these principles be turned into steps to make websites ADA-compliant?

The good thing is that the WCAG has compiled its principles into a straightforward-to-follow checklist. 

• Level A – Create a website that is accessible to some users

• Level AAA: Create a website accessible by nearly all users

• Level AAA – Create a website that anyone can access.

Many organizations recommend that you meet Level AA standards to comply with the ADA.

How to conform with the WCAG 2.0 Level AA Guidelines

These rules will assist you in complying with Level AA WCAG2.0 guidelines to ensure ADA compliance.

Rule	Action Item
Captions	Captions must be included for the live video. Captions may be added using professional services.
Audio descriptions	Pre-recorded content can have audio descriptions. You can add a link to your audio description to direct people to it.
Contrast ratio	Images and text should have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1. Large texts, images of large text, and logotypes, as well as images of text, are exceptions.
Text resizing	Sites can be resized up to 200% Without any assistive technology. Captions and images of text are not covered under this ADA compliance item.
Text images	Avoid images that contain too much text. This is a great way to convey your message.
Navigation options	Provide multiple options to users if the page you are trying to find is not the result of an action, such as placing an order online.
Headings and Labels	Headings are used to explain the content’s purpose or topic. Label all site elements, including a pricing table or contact form.
Focus Visible	Using a keyboard to access your website should enable you to see the outline of a form field or the keyboard indicator on-site elements like links and form fields.
Language	Add language attributes to pages that contain website content, not in your default languages
Navigation consistency	Users need to have consistent navigation organization and layout
Consistency in identification	Site elements with the same function must be consistently identified. You can either label and label these elements or use the same alt text to identify elements that share the same function.
Error suggestion	Offer suggestions to users to correct input errors, such as formatting a contact form’s number. You can also email correction suggestions via text.
Preventing errors	Pages that create financial transactions or legal obligations, modify, delete or submit user-controlled information must be reversible. You could also create order confirmation pages or allow customers to cancel orders within a time limit.

Install an ADA compliance plug to speed up compliance.

These items are available immediately to assist your business in moving towards an ADA-compliant site.

Accessibility resources

• What is the best way to determine if my website meets ADA standards? 

• Is My WordPress Site Compliant with ADA Standards? Get the answers you need using 3+ plugins.

•  All Websites Must be ADA-Compliant

•  HTML58 vs. HTML508 

•  Website Accessibility Review

Need help to be ADA-compliant

It can be hard to ensure that your website is ADA-compliant, especially if it takes a lot of time. Your business could be sued and lose thousands of dollars.

Kobe Digital can help you make your website ADA-friendly.

Our ADA Compliance Services allow our web design and development teams to ensure your site meets ADA standards.

To learn more about our capabilities, contact us online or call today!