ADA Compliance Website Development Specialist
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is one of the most complicated accessibility legislation that has been implemented. In the year 1990, “access barriers” were understood to mean literal barriers such as stairs. However, the Department of Justice wanted to make sure that the ADA will also be applied to website accessibility. Dog and Rooster is only one of the few companies who have experience in ADA web development compliance.
What is ADA Compliance?
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted in 1990. It was implemented in order to end discrimination based on differing abilities. ADA took a step further from Civil Rights Act of 1964, an act that guaranteed protection against discrimination based on race, religion, sex or national origin. ADA required organizations to provide “reasonable accommodations” to individuals with disabilities. As of today, organizations worldwide are scrambling to have their sites compliant with the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
What is ADA Compliance Web Procedure?
The following are the procedures involved in ADA Compliance Web Procedure:
- Every image, video file, audio file, plug-in, etc. has an alt tag
- Complex graphics are accompanied by detailed text descriptions
- The alt descriptions describe the purpose of the objects
- Decorative graphics with no other function have empty alt descriptions (alt= "")
- Add captions to videos
- Add audio descriptions
- Create text transcript
- Create a link to the video rather than embedding it into web pages
- Add a link to the media player download
- Add an additional link to the text transcript
- The page should provide alternative links to the Image Map
- The tags must contain an alt attribute
- Data tables have the column and row headers appropriately identified (using the tag)
- Tables used strictly for layout purposes do NOT have header rows or columns
- Table cells are associated with the appropriate headers (e.g. with the id, headers, scope and/or axis HTML attributes)
- Make sure the page does not contain repeatedly flashing images
- Check to make sure the page does not contain a strobe effect
- A link is provided to a disability-accessible page where the plug-in can be downloaded
- All Java applets, scripts and plug-ins (including Acrobat PDF files and PowerPoint files, etc.) and the content within them are accessible to assistive technologies, or else an alternative means of accessing equivalent content is provided
- When form controls are text input fields use the LABEL element
- When text is not available use the title attribute
- Include any special instructions within field labels
- Make sure that form fields are in a logical tab order
- Include a ‘Skip Navigation' button to help those using text readers
Why is ADA Compliance Website Needed?
(1) Increases Target Audience
A non-ADA compliant website means you are missing out on millions of potential customers/clients who does not have the capability to access your site due to their disabilities. It is possible that many of them are interested in your products or services. However, once they arrive at your website and it is non- ADA compliant, they will have difficulty navigating through your site with ease because it is only user-friendly for people without disabilities. This may cause them to choose your competitor over you if there website is ADA compliant.
(2) Improves SEO Efforts
Search engines are now evolving and have the capacity to crawl pages with more human intention. Screen readers crawl your website pages just like search engines. If your website is ADA compliant, it will likely appeal to users, search engines, and screen readers, which can help in terms of improving and achieving your SEO goals. This is one of the reasons why ADA compliance should be taken seriously.
(3) May Help Your Reputation
Putting an effort to make your website ADA compliant is a great way to make a positive press for your business due to the fact that your customers will feel that they are valuable to your business operation. Keep in mind some of them might have already been disappointed each time they could not access the content in the website that they tried accessing only to figure out it was not user friendly for people with disabilities. Making your website ADA compliant will set you apart from the rest of your competitors.
(4) Overall Better Website Usability
A website that you can navigate through easily will benefit not only the disabled but also the non-disabled. ADA compliant websites are more likely to convert leads because the users are assured that they will be able to find the content that they are looking for without difficulty.
5) Avoid Penalties
In order to avoid penalties, all updated pages on your website are required to be at least grade A complaint, with grade AAA being the highest. As a matter of fact, there are numerous brands that faced lawsuits for not having an ADA compliant website.