

Web accessibility is your ally—helping you exhibit your social responsibility and promote inclusivity. However, on the other hand, if you ignore it, statistics show that someone will sue you sooner than later.
So, you’d think everyone would be on board by now.
But that’s not the case.
With the rapidly changing digital landscape, achieving website accessibility is a tall order. While that’s no reason to ignore an opportunity to better serve people with disabilities—the overwhelm is real.
This guide provides basic information on ADA compliance and what’s required for your website to achieve Level A and Level AA – two of the three levels associated with the Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
For those who would rather turn on easy mode — we also introduce web accessibility software that takes care of most accessibility issues. The companies we recommend also offer complementary manual services. That way, you can keep your website a step ahead of compliance standards.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a law that protects differently-abled people and their needs. Employers and business owners must provide reasonable accommodations for differently-abled people to prevent discrimination.
The purpose of the law is to give everyone the same rights and opportunities.
Additionally, it guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in federal and state government services, employment, transportation, and telecommunications.
While websites aren’t explicitly included in the ADA, they’re considered places of public accommodation and are thus subject to the law. Various courts around America have enforced this, requiring websites to be ADA compliant.
Because there are no clear guidelines for website ADA compliance, websites adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1.
An ADA compliance checklist can be a great reference point to ensure that your website complies with the ADA guidelines.
Below are the latest and updated checklists highlighting all important aspects to help you make your website ADA compliant.
A good way to check for ADA compliance requires breaking your website down from Level A and Level AA. This will also help you ensure that your website is accessible to users with disabilities.
You must also optimize your website for any assistive technology. This is because different assistive technologies use different programming to help people with disabilities navigate the site.
One of the most important parts of maintaining website accessibility is ensuring users can navigate your site in many ways. For instance, you have to ensure that users can navigate your website by making it easier to use the keyboard. You should also avoid keyboard traps, where someone could be stuck on a web page using keyboard-only navigation.
To achieve ADA compliance, you must ensure that your website uses a language that accessibility software can easily identify.
The language your website uses should also depend on where your website is based. For instance, a website for a US-based company should have English, while the language for a France-based website should be French.
Another crucial element to attaining ADA compliance is the website accessibility of your content. Content like photos and videos require special accommodations so users can easily access them.
When it comes to ADA compliance, you must ensure that your web design is aesthetically pleasing. Not only that but your website should be designed to be accessible to all users.
There are many ways to improve your website design. However, the most common way to do this is to ensure that your website is simple, consistent, and easy to navigate.
That may seem like a lot to take in.
Many businesses are using accessibility software to scan their websites for compliance issues. From there, they can decide to hand off the heavy lifting to a third-party accessibility service provider.
Scan your website for accessibility related issues for free
Level AA requirements refine your website’s accessibility standards even further. It takes a little extra effort to implement and bumps you to an advanced accessibility standard qualification. The requirements include:
Aside from the Level A and AA checklists, plugins and widgets can greatly enhance the accessibility and efficiency of your website. Some plugins take care of most accessibility issues for you and keep your website up to date. Some complementary manual services are usually needed. Widgets add features that further help visitors access your site.
As we mentioned before – it’s a handful.
However, a fast and easy solution is available.
Complete the scan below, and see what needs to be done in seconds. You will find each step you need to take to qualify your website for each level of compliance. You can also find suggestions for third-party accessibility software that suits your needs.
Scan your website for accessibility related issues for free
The checklists above help you determine what changes to make on your website to achieve ADA compliance. Additionally, here’s why you should look for the 2023 checklist.
When differently-abled people highlight new challenges and hindrances to accessibility, authorities and lawmakers update laws and guidelines. With our increasing need for the internet, these challenges constantly change.
That said, it is necessary to have an updated and latest checklist. This way, you can ensure that your website complies with the latest regulations.
An updated checklist also helps you provide differently-abled users with the best experience possible.
Making your website accessible is a continuous and ongoing process. New checklists constantly appear over the years, and businesses must follow them to comply with the law.
While it can be fast-paced, these checklists help keep you on track with website accessibility. However, checklists are not the end-all-be-all of ADA compliance.
Another step you have to remember is to take the time to audit your website to check for compliance.
Take all the necessary actions to make your website ADA compliant to avoid any issues. Begin by conducting an audit of your website at Accessibility Checker
Liked this post? Learn more about ADA compliance below:
Scan your website for accessibility related issues for free
Website slideshows need to meet ADA requirements because they’re a part of your site. To ensure a slideshow is accessible, you would take steps such as avoiding excess animation, adding ALT text to graphics, using screen reader-compatible templates, and paying attention to color contrast.
Suppose you are coding a website from scratch and want to make it accessible. In that case, you need to focus on aspects such as adding ALT text, creating a consistent and organized layout, adding text transcripts for audio and video files, and providing suggestions in the event of input errors. Automatic tools are available to scan your site once it’s complete, ensuring you don’t miss any accessibility issues.
Websites that are not ADA compliant can attract a penalty of up to $75,000. Any issues that are identified thereafter can result in fines of up to $150,000. And if an ADA lawsuit goes to court, expect the overall cost to be much more.
A restaurant website must meet the same ADA requirements as any other consumer site. This means all elements on your site need to meet WCAG criteria, and assistive technologies should be used to ensure that anyone with a visual or hearing impairment or cognitive or physical disability can still access all parts of your site.
ADA-related lawsuits are on the rise across the globe. Paying attention to ADA requirements while designing your site not only protects your brand and bottom line but it helps you reach a much wider audience overall.
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Thank you for an excellent website and business. This morning I checked my 2 websites – mikedbowley.com & calibri.pro and a good friend’s site – motodreamer.com. Two failed, and one passed. Thank you for your fantastic insight.
Thank you for the kind comment Mike! We are here to help on your digital accessibility journey 🙂
You need to stop using the term “differently abled.” Disabled/disability are not bad words. And when a site like this that aims to increase accessibility for us disabled folks uses this language you’re actually doing harm instead of helping us.
Thank you for your comment Christine. We will take this into considiration.