Legal professionals refer to Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for web accessibility and ADA compliance. Title III guidelines previously covered only the people’s access at physical locations. Today it includes online accommodations.
Frequency of lawsuits
Most of the ADA-related lawsuits filed today are dueto the lack of digital accessibility. According to UsableNet’s Full Report in ADA Digital Accessibility Lawsuits for 2020, the number of digital lawsuits in 2019 rose by 23 percent in 2020. These are lawsuits filed against companies for their failure to abide by ADA Title III.
Most of the accessible content and apps are online, so it becomes easier to document the violations. Currently, online retailers are subject to most of the lawsuits because of their complicated websites and apps. Likewise, their online content changes frequently. However, other industries also faced lawsuits. These include education, travel and hospitality, entertainment and leisure, insurance, banking and finance, and healthcare. If your business is in one of these industries, keep your website accessible to visitors with the use of accessibility overlays.
Aside from websites and mobile apps, video accessibility is also an issue. Most of the complaints focus on the lack of audio descriptions and closed captions.
Tech tools and other strategies to make your site more accessible
Companies should prioritize making their websites accessible. Online presence is vital, so it makes sense for businesses to optimize their sites. They should make sites more accessible, particularly to users with vision and hearing impairments.
Add alt text to images
Many visually impaired individuals use screen readers to access online content. Some may use refreshable braille readers. However, the screen readers cannot read images. Ensure that you add alt text to your images; it will allow screen readers to read the images’ descriptions.
Option to increase font size
Individuals with low vision cannot read small and thin fonts. Offer the option to enlarge font settings. Your web developer or designer can also create an alternate style sheet where the user can increase font size without ruining the page layout. In the same token, increase the font size of your CTA buttons.
Add keyboard navigation
Think of those who cannot use a mouse to browse your site. Ensure that users with some form of disability can access all the site’s interactive elements, such as URLs, CTAs, anchor texts, dropdown menus, dialog boxes, forms, and widgets.
Make multimedia content accessible
User engagement is vital to websites today. Help web visitors with vision or hearing impairments access your multimedia content more easily. Add subtitles, captions, and audio descriptions. Choose an HTML5 online video player that is compatible with most multimedia content.
Use Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) roles
ARIA attributes and roles provide more context and information about a site’s elements to assistive tools and screen readers. Dynamic content becomes more accessible with ARIA. Your website developer can include this.
It is essential to learn the ADA accessibility requirements to improve compliance. Protect your business and ensure that your website is ADA compliant by discussing web accessibility with your web developers.
