Infographic: What You Need to Know About Website ADA Conformance

To maximize your site’s usability for all people – no matter their ability – your website needs to be designed, built and maintained against current website conformance guidelines.

Title III of the ADA & WCAG

• Prohibits discrimination on the basis of disabilities in places of public accommodation, commercial facilities and select private entities
• WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) were established to provide site owners with a set of guidelines for site accessibility
• Together, these attempts to prohibit discrimination and create a fairer digital experience

In a study of 10 million web pages:

• 98% had non-compliant menus
• 89% had non-compliant popups
• 83% failed to utilize accessible buttons

A recent survey found that 69% of individuals with disabilities click away from a site with access barriers.

 It is estimated that 13.1% of the U.S. population (more than 43 million Americans) have some form of disability, such as a vision, hearing or cognitive impairment.

Is Your Website Meeting Accessibility Guidelines?

Technical Requirements:

• Upload documents in a text-based format (HTML or RTF- in addition to PDF) as they are most compatible with assistance technologies
• Heading tags should be used for ordered and unordered lists
• Content should be organized in a logical hierarchy so that the sequence reads properly
• Include a “skip navigation” link on top of each page so people using screen readers can go directly to the desired content on the page
• Allow websites to expand to 400% without degradation
• Target inputs (like buttons and accordions) on mobile devices must be at least 44x44 pixels
• All functions on website need to be accessible by keyboard only
• Use the site’s CSS for styling, avoiding the <b> and <u> for example
• Users must be able to turn adjust time limits.
• Each page needs to have a unique and descriptive page title
• There must be multiple ways to access site pages (search bar, navigation menus, sitemap, breadcrumbs, links)
• Appropriate fields in forms need to provide an autocomplete option
• The website must be accessible in both landscape and portrait views as well as in all screen sizes

Image/Table/Form Rules:

• Include alt-text for every visual (photos, logos, maps, charts)
• Data tables must have headers and layout tables must be marked as “presentation”
• Form controls (buttons, check boxes, drop-down menus, text fields) must be labeled

Audio/Video Guidelines:

• Videos need to include audio descriptions and captions
• All video-only and audio-only content must have text transcripts
• Audio must be able to be paused, stopped or muted
• Any animation must have a pause/play button or last less than 5 seconds

Design Standards:

• Avoid dictating text colors and settings (users need to be able to change color and font settings to what’s readable for them in their browsers and operating systems)
• Minimize distracting features like blinking, flashing and moving objects (or allow users to control these)
• Information that requires only color to convey its meaning must also include text or symbols
• Establish a color contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 between all normal text and background
• Establish a color contrast ratio of at least 3:1 between all large text and background
• Non-text content needs 3:1 contrast with background

Website ADA Violation Lawsuits

• 2,000+ website accessibility cases were filed in 2019
• From 2017 to 2018, lawsuits for ADA website non-compliance increased 177%

No excuses for violations:

• Beyoncé lawsuit reason: beyonce.com not equally accessible to visually-impaired consumers
• Burger King lawsuit reason: Website was not fully accessible and wouldn’t work with screen reading software
• Domino’s Pizza lawsuit reason: Blind individual unable to place a customized pizza order or take advantage of online-only discounts because website and mobile app wouldn’t work with screen reading software

Redesign vs. Retrofit

Redesign Your Site

• Design and build a website that adheres to all WCAG guidelines
• Ideal approach if site is older or WCAG violations are too numerous to retrofit

Retrofit Your Site

• Update design and code based on ADA conformance audit results
• May be costly to address issues and some may not be able to be fixed

Website ADA Ongoing Testing & Reporting

Your business should have a formal website ADA plan and process in place:

• Enlist software and train employees on interpreting results, or hire an agency for regular site testing
• Quickly address any issues discovered in an audit or reporting
• Keep up to date on the latest guidelines
• Train administrators on guidelines

Sources: Medium, Entrepreneur, ADA.gov, AccessiBe.com, Clickawaypound.com, Statista.com, ADATitleIII.com, montereyherald.com

Visit www.zaginteractive.com for more information.