Ada Compliance Accessibility
Accessibility for individuals with disabilities is a crucial part of any website or online program. 60 million Americans and over one billion people worldwide have a disability, making access to web technology and the digital world a critical issue. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is the main US law aimed at preventing discrimination against people with disabilities and provides guidelines for providing access to digital sources. ADA compliance accessibility seeks to ensure that individuals with disabilities can access and use digital sources, including websites, mobile apps, software and documents.
Benefits of ADA Compliance Accessibility
Making an online presence ADA compliant provides a range of benefits to customers and businesses, including:
- Enhanced user experience for people with disabilities – Webpages and documents must be made accessible for users with disabilities to rely on assistive technology.
- Greater reach – Websites with ADA compliant accessibility are available to a wider range of customers, including those with disabilities.
- Improved customer relations – Organizations that prioritize accessibility and provide an understandable interface build better relationships with customers and increase customer trust.
- Protection from legal action – Not making websites ADA compliant could lead to legal action, so compliance provides a protection to organizations.
Implementing ADA Compliance Accessibility Guidelines
ADA compliance standards provide guidelines for ensuring that people with disabilities can use online platforms with ease. These guidelines can help ensure a website is accessible to everyone, including those who are hearing impaired, visually impaired, or physically disabled.
- Improve color contrast – Poor color contrast can lead to difficulty reading text on the page, particularly for visuals impairment. This includes avoiding white on black text, making sure the text and the background are sharply different, and helping the user distinguish between colors to help navigation.
- Include captioning for video – Captions are crucial for hearing impaired users, as they provide a text version of what is being said, allowing for better understanding.
- Add alternative tags to images – Adding tags to images helps people with visual impairments better understand what is on the page through their own devices.
- Allow user control – Pages should be built in such a way that the user has more control over their experience, without the need to resort to assistive technology.
Adopting ADA compliance guidelines offer organizations an opportunity to increase their market potential and protect themselves from legal action. In providing accessible webpages and services, companies can ensure everyone can benefit from their online presence.
