ADA Website Compliance & Interactive Accessibility: A Beginner’s Guide

As access to digital channels and platforms becomes more and more a critical part of daily life, it is imperative that ADA compliance, as it relates to digital customer experiences, is not only considered, but followed. 

According to US Census Data, nearly 1 in 5 Americans are living with a diagnosed disability, and over half of those with a disability describe it as severe. This means that a huge percentage of Americans will need some kind of assistance to navigate and use any given website.

The percentage is staggering – a recent survey of the world’s top one million websites found that 98% of them were not compliant. This is a massive problem – for brands, their customers, and everyone else.

Accessibility is the term used to refer to creating a world where all people, handicapped or not, can have the same experience – both online and in physical locations. Accessibility has always been important but recently came to the forefront because of updates to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Passed in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was put in place to ensure that all Americans had equal access to the world they lived in. In 2016, those requirements were extended to include websites. As these laws went into effect, businesses began to see a huge uptick in lawsuits regarding ADA Compliance and their sites.

What does this mean for brands? It means that every site, no matter the complexity or size of the company that runs it, needs to be compliant – both because it’s the right thing to do and because not being accessible puts them at risk of legal ramifications.

The standard for ADA compliance generally ascribes to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as put forth by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in 2018. Under this system, there are three types of compliance:

We’ll talk about how to become compliant a little later, but first, we’re going to cover the many reasons beyond legality to become ADA compliant.

The most important reason for a brand to make sure their site is ADA compliant is simply because it’s the right thing to do. Everyone deserves to have equal access to the places they want to visit online, and ADA compliance helps businesses offer that. It makes the site more useable while also showing that a brand is dedicated to inclusivity. Accessibility is a win for both brands and their customers.

Proper accessibility doesn’t just help those who need assistance, it can also make the site more useable for a variety of groups. When a brand ensures that their site is ADA compliant, they’re also implementing tactics that make it easier for the general population to us. Clear, organized sites that can be utilized a variety of ways allow everyone to do what works best for them – and that kind of flexibility and thoughtfulness on a brand’s part can really help build loyalty.

This was already mentioned above, but it’s pretty simple cause and effect: if someone can’t use a brand’s site, they aren’t going to purchase from them. One study found that 71% of individuals with disabilities will abandon a site if it’s difficult to use rather than trying to work through it. That statistic resulted in an estimated $14.4 billion in lost revenue.

Since the new laws went into effect in 2016, there’s been a large uptick in ADA Website Accessibility lawsuits. Everyone from Beyonce to Domino’s has seen this happen, and it won’t stop there. Though lawsuits are currently heavily focused in restaurant and retail sectors right now, they could expand in the coming years. Investing in compliance now could save you thousands or more in the very near future.

Enhancing the functionality and usability of your site makes it much easier for Google to crawl it, thus improving your SEO rankings. Many of the principles of accessibility are already considered a best practice as far as SEO is concerned. Nearly everything done to make a site accessible will also make your search rankings higher.  

Now that we know why accessibility matters, let’s talk about how to audit and execute it.

Accessibility has four principles. By creating sites that match all criteria, a site can call themselves ADA compliant. The four principles are:

While the above information is helpful, it’s important to take a little more time to understand the details of each principle.

1. Perceivable

Perceivable means, most simply, that information and interface components should be offered to users in ways they can perceive. The four most important elements of perceivability are:

2. Operable

Operable is pretty self-explanatory – users of all types should be able to utilize interface components and navigation.

3. Understandable

Another straightforward pillar – understandable simply means any user must be able to comprehend the information and interface of a site.

4. Robust

In layman’s terms, content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. The main way to do this is to do all of the above while also maximizing compatibility with current and future user agents as well as assistive technologies.

If a brand wants to make sure that they are meeting all ADA standards, they can have a thorough audit done. This is a process we can help with.

Audits are typically conducted by tools that scan a site quickly and make note of everything they catch. This gives the site owner a clear list of action items that need to be completed to reach viable compliance. Popular tools include:

Once a brand had completed an audit, it’s time to take action. While findings will vary from site to site, there are a few common issues that can be expected:

Those this is a long list, it is not comprehensive. There is still much more that may need to be done to reach full ADA Accessibility. If it’s time for you to take action on ADA Accessibility, feel free to reach out. We can help you get fully up to date.