Why is it Crucial for Your Website to be ADA Compliant? AccessiBe
Back in 2010, the United States Department of Justice released some guidelines for the public entities to be compliant with the accessibility needs of the individuals with disabilities. This also covers the right of disabled people to use computers, websites, and other digital devices like others. Becoming compliant with ADA should be a necessity for organizations. By being compliant with the accessibility needs of all kinds of people, organizations can also actively and quickly. We will discuss more the meaning of ADA compliance and the standards to achieve it as below.
ADA compliance – AccessiBe
ADA is the short form for the Americans with Disabilities Act. There is a set of standards for the accessible design of web applications. We may confuse ADA compliance with the 508 compliances. ADA compliance actually differs from 508 as a civil law which necessitates the inclusion of all types of people, especially people with disabilities, in all public spaces. This includes workplaces and other places which are open to the public. Even though the goals of ADA and article 508 are the same, in practical situations, 508 is applicable only to the federal procurements.
Who should ensure ADA compliance?
As per the rule, all public utilities should ensure ADA compliance. As ADA covers electronic and Information technology as well, the web world and all websites on it must be ADA compliant. AccessiBe lists out more specifically that ADA compliance is applicable primarily to the following entities.
- All the local and state government organizations.
- All private organizations with 15 or more employees.
- Organizations that aim at the public benefit like schools, transportation, restaurants, hotels, restaurants, law firms, social services, healthcare services, etc.
- Business centers can be considered a public accommodation place.
Public accommodation comes under Title III of ADA, which covers the webspace and online platforms.
The impact of noncompliance
In many cases where ADA compliance is not met, it is either due to ignorance of the website owners and developers or not understanding the requirement fully. However, this does not matter if a website is not ADA compliant; you are at high risk of facing a suit. Even if you skipped compliance due to ignorance, you might still pay a huge penalty. In addition to facing the financial loss, you may also be at the risk of other legal proceedings related to ADA noncompliance. You also have to bear additional costs, like a legal fee for settlement, PR-related problems, the cost of restructuring your website, etc.
Along with the penalties and other complications, you may also be losing the customers on not meeting the accessibility features on your website. As per the US census back in 2010, about 60 million people in the country are with disabilities. This is quite a lot for online businesses, which you may simply lose if not being compliant with their accessibility needs. Providers like AccessiBe can help organizations achieve the desired level of accessibility compliance. They offer dedicated services for accessibility audit of your existing websites and proper directives to make them compliant.
