The Importance of ADA Compliance on Your Website

Text says Is Your Website ADA Compliant in black and organge.

What is ADA Compliance? It’s a fancy way of saying that your website should be designed in a way that allows people with disabilities to access it. Since 1990, it has been a requirement by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life.

Ensuring ADA compliance on your website is not only required by law but also offers several benefits you may have not considered!

It Increases Your Potential Audience

Making your website accessible to people with disabilities opens up your content to a larger audience. This leads to increased traffic and engagement on your website.

 

There’s SEO Benefits

Search engines like Google prioritize websites that are accessible to all users, so having an ADA compliant website improves your chances of ranking higher in search results.

 

Improved User Experience

Designing your website to be accessible to people with disabilities can improve the user experience for everyone. For example, captions on videos can be helpful for people who are hard of hearing, but they can also be useful for people who are watching a video in a noisy environment. Providing alt text for images not only helps individuals with visual impairments but also improves the website’s overall usability by providing context for images.

 

It’s the Right Thing to Do

Everyone deserves equal access to information and resources, and by complying with the ADA, you’re helping to create a more inclusive society. By prioritizing accessibility, you’re showing that your business values and respects all individuals, regardless of their abilities.

And just for good measure, we’ve added an 18-Step ADA Compliance Checklist.

ADA compliance checklist for websites

Step 1: Read the legal documentation regarding ADA Compliance
Step 2: All media files and maps should have an “alt” tag
Step 3: All your online forms should have descriptive HTML tags
Step 4: All hyperlinks should have a descriptive anchor text
Step 5: All pages on your website have “skip navigation” links
Step 6: All the text content should be structured using proper heading tags
Step 7: All PDF files should be accessible
Step 8: All videos should have subtitles, transcripts, and audio description
Step 9: The color contrast of your web pages should be sufficient according to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
Step 10: All fonts should be accessible
Step 11: All HTML tables should be populated with column headers, row identifiers, and cell information
Step 12: All audio files on your website should have a written caption
Step 13: All call to action buttons on your website should have an accessible name and an ARIA label
Step 14: Your website(s) should be accessible with keyboard navigation
Step 15: Have a website accessibility policy page
Step 16: Have easily locatable contact information to allow users to request accessibility information
Step 17: Test your website accessibility according to the WCAG
Step 18: Automate your website accessibility check to prevent missing critical accessibility issue

In summary, ADA compliance is crucial for ensuring that individuals with disabilities can access websites, and it also offers several benefits for website owners. Ensuring ADA compliance is not only a legal requirement but also an ethical obligation to create a more inclusive society.

Want to know more about making your website accessible to everyone? Contact us about adding ADA compliance. You’ll not only be following the law, but you’ll also be improving your website’s traffic, SEO, user experience, and inclusivity. Let’s talk.

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