Free ADA Compliance Website Checklist Posted: 2022-02-15 Why You Need an ADA Compliant Website Any business or public institution that must be ADA-compliant at its physical location and "that uses[s] the Internet for communications regarding its programs, goods, or services must be prepared to offer those communications also through accessible means." according to an open letter from the Department of Justice. Any business that has more than 15 full-time employees and is open more than 20 weeks per year is required to comply with Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act by being readily accessible to the general public.
Activists have recently begun researching and prosecuting non-compliant websites; 2,250 lawsuits were filed in 2018 alone. If your website is found to be non-compliant, you will lose thousands of dollars in fines and legal costs. You will also experience a public relations nightmare when the individual email list news media reports that your company has been sued for discriminating against people with disabilities. While “accessibility” was loosely defined in 1996 when the DOJ letter was published, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are now the standard used by the federal government for its own web presence and by the courts. to assess violations of ADA Title III.
Your current website is probably non-compliant Executives rarely realize that ADA compliance is a concern when purchasing a new website. Those who do often believe that anyone who can create sleek and attractive websites also creates ADA-compliant websites. Unfortunately, web designers often ignore ADA compliance best practices or ignore them to implement exciting new design features. Many brands' advertising teams also ignore the requirements. Others take them as suggestions and ignore major issues such as color contrast and font size, as that would require rebranding or changes to an ongoing campaign to comply.