NewsBeat

January 2018 NewsBeat 15 hasn't determined what the final set of regulations for ADA compliant websites will be yet, but there are established guidelines and standards of accessibility that can be viewed on the ADA website. Once a website meets these accessibility standards it qualifies as ADA compliant. What Are Some of the Features of ADA Compliant Websites? ADA website compliance is about making sure that everyone has equal access to all the elements on your website and apps. That may mean you need to provide alternatives for some of the functions and content on your site in order to meet ADA website compliance standards. Here's a quick rundown of some of the accommodations that need to be incorporated into your website to meet the ADA guidelines: Your website needs to have easily resizable text with a high contrast mode option to make text easier to read for your sight impaired visitors. Photos would need to have text descriptions, and the videos on your website and social marketing strategies should include audio descriptions and transcripts for people who are hard of hearing. Your site would need to have a text only option, with all functionality accessible through a keyboard for visitors with mobility issues. Once you make these and other changes to meet ADA guidelines, your site would need to be tested by a website development company familiar with ADA compliance issues to be sure that visitors who use assistive technology such as screen readers are able to access your web content fully. How Does the Need for ADA Website Compliance Affect Your Business? For most businesses, the need for ADA web compliance means they will need to make at least some adjustments to all of their online marketing strategies. For instance, if your company provides tax preparation services, all of the tax forms you provide for customers to download would need to meet accessibility standards. Any online tax preparation services that you offer would also need to be configured so they meet ADA standards, as would your mobile app. If you are a hotel owner, you probably have a hotel website, mobile booking app, virtual concierge through your Twitter account, and a reward program that loyalty club members can access through a social site. All of these web components should be audited and adjusted to meet compliance guidelines. If your hotel used responsive web design when creating your online marketing strategies, you're already meeting many of the ADA compliant regulations for hotel websites. You will still need to make some changes, but you definitely have a head start. Making the changes now, before your business is the target of a lawsuit or government action, makes good business sense. How Can Businesses Make Sure They Have ADA Compliant Websites? The fastest, most certain way to be sure your website is in compliance is to contact a qualified web design agency and have them perform an audit of all your online properties. Make sure you interview the agency thoroughly first, as not all agencies are up to speed on ADA website compliance rules. A qualified web design firm will be able to identify any violations of ADA Website Compliance and outline a plan for updating your online content and properties. If you prefer to handle the audit yourself, the ADA.gov website provides a complete list of ADA compliance guidelines, with clear breakdowns that detail potential problems and solutions. The need to make websites, mobile apps, and other online properties accessible to all is only going to increase as time moves on. Smart business owners will do well to get in front of this issue and make sure that their websites are ADA compliant now so that all their customers have the equal access to the resources they offer. Not just because they want to avoid a lawsuit or government action, but because it's the right thing to do. — Peter Brooke is Founder and CEO of Blue Interactive Agency, a full service digital marketing agency. With a passion for online marketing, Peter enjoys analyzing digital strategies and offering his unique view on how effective they are. Having a track record of successfully commercializing digital properties, Peter is always looking for the next challenge to help a company succeed online. In his spare time, Peter maintains a personal blog which focuses on his gastronome adventures.

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