Website Accessibility Compliance with the ADA
Your business can be fined or sued for not having a website that is accessible.
While the issue of ADA accessibility for websites is not new, a wave of lawsuits have started to emerge across a range of industries, bringing the topic of ADA compliance to the forefront for businesses.
The Supreme Court of the U.S. has ruled that all business websites must be ADA compliant according to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Businesses that are not making their website accessible could face heavy fines and civil lawsuits.
Watch this Explainer Video
If you receive an ADA Demand letter or summons your business could face:
- Fines: $75,000 to 150,000
- Attorney Fees: $5,000 to $20,000
- Civil Lawsuits: $$$$
Protect Your Business NOW!
– LA Times Article
“The Supreme Court allows blind people to sue retailers if their websites are not accessible.”
– The Missouri Bar Article
“There has been a dramatic rise in lawsuits alleging that company websites, along with mobile phone apps and online job applications, are not properly accessible in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).”
– EMPLOYMENT LAW Article
“Plaintiffs have inundated website owners in recent years with lawsuits alleging that their websites are incompatible with screen-reading software used by blind and mobility-impaired users, and therefore violate the ADA’s public accommodation requirements and analogous state and local laws.”
– Don’t Do It Yourself Article
“What Happens if My Website is Not ADA Compliant? If your website fails to meet ADA standards, you run the risk of being sued.”
– ADA Compliance Article
“The ADA does not explicitly include web or mobile accessibility; however, the Department of Justice has stated on numerous occasions that ADA compliance includes access to websites that provide services, public accommodations, and/or other functions already included under the ADA.”
– National Law Review Article
“The best way to currently avoid falling prey to website accessibility lawsuits like Gil v. Winn-Dixie Stores and Robles v. Domino’s is to achieve substantial conformance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (“WCAG”) 2.1 Levels A and AA (as confirmed via human-based auditing from both the code and user perspectives), maintain internal digital accessibility policies and corporate governance procedures, include website accessibility obligations in all contracts with third-party vendors, provide training to relevant employees regarding developing, operating, and maintaining an accessible website, and ensure that these efforts are ongoing, and not simply one-time efforts.”
ADA Compliance for websites
Is ADA compliance mandatory for websites?
dis·a·bil·i·ty Definition
a physical or mental condition that limits a person’s movements, senses, or activities.
ADA compliance is short for the Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design. What that means is that all electronic information and technology—i.e, your website—must be accessible to those with disabilities.
The ADA does not explicitly address online compliance, even after undergoing several amendments in the far more web-oriented era of 2008. With no specific coverage under the law, it usually falls to the courts to determine how ADA standards apply to websites—or whether they do at all.
If you are wondering if your business is legally obligated to make your website accessible in the U.S., and whether your website falls under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and my general answer is yes, all websites need to be accessible.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) bans discrimination against any person with a disability, which includes communications technology, apps and websites. So if your website has barriers, you could be at risk.
1 – Mobility and Physical Impairments.
2 – Spinal Cord Disability.
3 – Head Injuries – Brain Disability.
4 – Vision Disability.
5 – Hearing Disability.
6 – Cognitive or Learning Disabilities.
7 – Psychological Disorders.
8 – Invisible Disabilities.
For a detailed description of ADA requirement see ADA.gov
AI-powered website accessibility solution
Mental health disorders fall under the umbrella of invisible accessibility barriers.
Websites with auto-play or moving content can be impossible to navigate for those with ADHD.
Individuals who struggle with eating disorders cannot safely use social media due to trigger foods appearing in their feed.
Those with PTSD may avoid these platforms all together due to the failure for people to preface content with trigger warnings.
Most importantly, the solution that these individuals have for their struggles is to delete or stop accessing these websites if they cannot cope with it.
The most common rebuttal for this is: designing for mental health barriers is too nuanced and abstract.
The answer: give your website users a *choice* on how they experience websites. Design is already moving towards customization. Give users the ability to manipulate the site or filter out harmful engagement, avoid triggering content, and toggle accessibility options.
ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuits are coming for your business.
The number of suits and plaintiffs are expected to explode in the next few years.
Disability Advocacy Groups are Encouraging Disabled Persons to File Lawsuits Against Businesses to force Change.
View this CBS News Story about a Disabled Veteran who had already filed over 150 lawsuits as of 2019 when this story aired.
– Accessability.com Report
In 2021 265,000 website accessibility demand letters were sent to businesses. U.S. companies have spent billions of dollars in legal costs as a direct result of inaccessible websites in 2020 alone
- 2,352 website accessibility lawsuits were filed in 2021.
- Consumer Goods, Services & Retail companies were targeted the most.
- New York had more than 62% of all the cases filed nationwide.
- More than 22% of all website accessibility lawsuits were filed by five plaintiffs.
According to Kris Rivenburgh (Attorney and author of The ADA Book)
“If you receive a website (or app) accessibility demand letter under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), $25,000 is a conservative final tab after you’re done at the buffet of plaintiff’s law firm.”
He further itemizes the costs for a “smallish” business –
“allocating $5,000 – $15,000 to the plaintiff’s law firm, $5,000 to your defense attorney, and between $5,000 and $20,000 for audit and remediation costs.”
Watch this video from WFLA News Channel 8 for the story of one small business owner who was sued.
The Solution
Step 1 – Assess
Assess the Website with a thorough review and audit.
Step 2 – Implement
Implement an automated widget on the website which solves up to 90% of the problems.
Step 3 – (Optional)
Manual Remediation of the website if needed which addresses any problems that the automated widget can’t solve.
(For large website or websites that need extensive manual remediation we may use a 3rd party company that completes the work).
Step 4 – Monitor
Once ADA updates are made on your website, there needs to be an ongoing review and audit of the site to ensure the website does in fact meet current and future ADA requirements.
What exactly makes a website ADA compliant?
While there are many components that go into an ADA website conversion, below are some key considerations:
- Websites should have easily resizable text with a high contrast mode option to make text easier to read for sight impaired visitors.
- Photos need to have text descriptions for external, screen reader devices so that sight impaired visitors can interpret the content.
- PDF documents also need to be properly tagged so that screen readers can properly interpret non-HTML content.
- Videos on your website should include audio descriptions and transcripts for people who are hard of hearing.
- For those who may have limited motor skills, all key website functionality must be accessible through a keyboard
Choose IN Local Marketing to be your Accessibility Partner.
We are experienced and knowledgeable in working with small or large businesses and making their websites ADA accessibility compliant.
At IN Local Marketing, we use the best third-party tools available to ensure our website meets ADA requirements and we continually monitor for compliance now and in the future.
Get your website ADA compliant ASAP
– WCAG 2.1, ADA, Section 508 and EN 301549 compliance
– Full Compliance Guaranteed with ADA certificate & year round protection
– Take the First Step – one-line-of-code to fix most issues
– Become Disability Friendly – open your website for everyone
– It’s the Law – protect yourself from lawsuits
Pricing
3rd Party AI-Powered Accessibility Remediation Plans Managed by IN Local Marketing
Free
$0
/ mo
Auto remediation for small websites of 10 pages or less
3rd Party Widget with Limited Features
Brings most websites to 85% to 95% Compliance but has Limited Features
NO Accessibility Statement
NO Certificate of Performance
NO Monthly Monitoring from IN Local Marketing
Pro
$89
/ mo
Auto remediation for mid-sized websites Up to 100 pages
3rd Party Widget AI powered accessibility widget with 25 amazing features
Accessibility Statement on the Website
Certificate of Performance
IN local Marketing monitors the service for you and provides you with monthly reports.
Pro+
$149
/ mo
Auto remediation for large websites of up to 1000 pages
3rd Party Widget AI powered accessibility widget with 25 amazing features
Accessibility Statement on the Website
Certificate of Performance
IN local Marketing monitors the service for you and provides you with monthly reports.
Enterprise
$199
/ mo
Auto remediation for huge websites of up to 10,000 pages
3rd Party Widget AI powered accessibility widget with 25 amazing features
Accessibility Statement on the Website
Certificate of Performance
IN local Marketing monitors the service for you and provides you with monthly reports.
The 3rd Party AI-Powered Accessibility Remediation tool is the #1 Web Accessibility Solution in the industry and is currently installed on over 100 million websites Worldwide.
The tool is installed on your website runs in the background. It won’t affect speed or performance and automatically corrects design flaws without having to completely rebuild or redesign your website site.
The IN Local Marketing prices shown include the cost of the AI-Powered Accessibility tool and 1 hour of our time to manage and monitor your website to ensure that it stays in compliance.
We will work with your existing website design / development provider for implementation.
