When most of us think about Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance, what comes to mind is usually something like installing ramps or special equipment, having braille versions of literature, or making other accommodations for those with disabilities in businesses and other facilities. We often think of these physical accommodations, but did you know your website should also be ADA compliant and accessible to anyone, no matter their physical abilities?
Why Your Website Should Be ADA Compliant
Just as a brick-and-mortar business needs to be accommodating to customers, clients, and guests of all abilities, a website should be too. Proactively demonstrating ADA compliance will open your online business to more clients, helping grow your business. It also reflects positively on your company, showing your commitment to welcoming customers of all types.
What Makes a Website ADA Compliant?
Making your website ADA compliant means that it is accessible to anyone, even if they are using assistive technologies to access your information. This accessibility can take many forms. The information on your website should be perceivable, operable, and understandable to anyone, of any ability. This means that people can consume the text, pictures, videos, and more with assistive technologies or alternative versions provided for those who need them. Everyone should be able to access your content.
ADA Compliant Website Requirements & Considerations
So, what should you consider for your website for it to be welcoming to all? Your website most likely has written content, pictures, and videos, but for anyone with disabilities or injuries, this content can be challenging to take in. Anyone with disorders that affect vision or hearing will have difficulty with the content on your website. Additionally, disorders that can affect motor abilities can make it more difficult for a user to interact and navigate on your website.
Consider the following disabilities or conditions that can affect a user’s experience of your website:
- Blindness
- Motor impairment
- Cognitive disorders
- Color blindness
- Macular degeneration
- Epilepsy
- Blurred vision
- Old age
- Cataracts
- Hearing impairments
How to Make Your Website More Accessible
If members of your audience cannot fully experience the content on your website, what can you do? Websites are mostly a visual experience, sometimes with audio components as well. This can all be enhanced and offered in alternative formats that are more inclusive. Here are just a few examples of how you can make your website available for all abilities:
- Captioning. Providing captions and readable audio descriptions can help anyone with hearing issues experience the audio and video content on your website.
- Text resizing. Allow your users to change the size of the text on your site easily to provide a better experience for all sorts of visual impairments.
- Ease of navigation. Make sure that your website is understandable and has multiple navigation options to get to specific actions and pages on your site. You want to be sure that crucial portions of your site, like contact information or checkout pages, are easy to find and use.
These are just a few of the things you should think about to enhance your website and provide a better experience for all users.
How Zero Gravity Marketing Can Help
The partnership Zero Gravity Marketing has built with accessiBe allows us to provide ADA solutions at a cost and maintenance level that is affordable for almost all digital businesses and websites. As partners, we are afforded special pricing that allows us to give discounts on the already affordable service. We have been trained by the accessiBe partner team and are able to streamline the implementation of ADA compliance overlay as a service. This will give your target consumers the ability to interact with you digitally even in the case of a user that requires adaptive technologies.
At Zero Gravity Marketing, we know how to optimize your website to easily allow for adaptive technologies like keyboard navigation and screen readers, as well as enabling visual adjustments, built-in dictionaries to help with cognition and understanding, and so much more. Contact us for more information and get your website on track for ADA compliance.
Already have a letter from an attorney about the requirement to upgrade your website for ADA compliance? Call us now we can help relieve the stress of a potential lawsuit.
