ADA Compliance Website Accessibility Checklist for 2021… and beyond

ADA Compliance Website Accessibility Checklist for 2021… and beyond

In 1990, the US government passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This law mandates that products and services offered by public sector businesses are accessible to people with physical, sensory, and cognitive disabilities.

Considering the rapid use of technology, the government passed another law in 2010 and announced certain guidelines for Website ADA Compliance. In a nutshell, it implies that every organization must provide web-based solutions by adhering to the ADA guidelines, or face legal penalties.

Technical Standards for ADA Compliance

To prevent financial loss as well as reputational damage, business organizations have started considering a website accessibility checklist. The first step to ensure accessibility compliance is to refer to the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), which are prepared using globally shared standards for web-based solutions.

WCAG documents are intended for use by developers, accessibility evaluation experts, and anyone referring to web accessibility standards. The technical standards are explained in three releases: WCAG 2.0, WCAG 2.1, and the recently published WCAG 2.2.

It is suggested that a developer should consider the most recent version to ensure the utmost compliance. To summarize, the guidelines (both older and newly released versions) include the following accessibility factors:

1. Navigation: Every element including text, images, and code of a webpage should be developed in a way that confirms the latest guidelines for navigable web content. Users should be able to easily find where they are and how to navigate further. This might include development factors like page breaks, dragging movements, additional navigation methods, or screen magnifiers.
2. Appearance: While using web-based technology, the user should be able to clearly identify the focus indicators. The guidelines define the level of visibility with regards to contrast and minimum area of the focus indicators. For instance, the level of contrast should be adequate and discerning enough for the focused and non-focused components.
3. User inputs: Users with mobility impairments should be able to easily input information or operate the website. There are certain guidelines for assistive inputs and support functionality for minimizing errors, for instance, redundant errors or mistakes during password entries.

Why is it necessary to meet Website ADA compliance standards?

Creating ADA-compliant websites is great for minimizing the risks of legal recourse. Besides, adhering to the law can make a significant difference to your business. A few convincing reasons to ensure Website ADA Compliance are listed below:

1. Wide reach: With accessible content, you can easily reach a wider segment of the target demographic, including the 26% of the population that is disabled and uses the internet.
2. Streamlined SEO: With an ADA-compliant website, you are rewarded by Google. Adhering to the WCAG standards helps enhance your organic SEO efforts. It makes your website authentic and credible, which in turn improves your webpages’ SERP rankings so you can reach more possible customers and clients.
3. Reputational benefit: Your brand identity strengthens by adhering to the law. Compliance with the accessibility guidelines enables you to win the trust of your potential buyers as well as vendors who prefer to conduct business with compliant partners.
4. Profitability: With increased usability and improved SEO rankings, your business would also reap the benefits of maximized sales and increased profitability.

How to meet WCAG 2?

WCAG ensures that your web-based content is ‘perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust’. Using the WCAG 2 resources, a business owner or a developer can create a compliant solution.

The techniques to confirm the WCAG standards can be implemented in three levels of success criteria: A (minimum compliance), AA (mid-range compliance), and AAA (fully compliant). For all web-based information, it is recommended to at least aim for an AA level of conformance.

To meet these levels, implementing a Website Accessibility Checklist is an ideal solution.

WCAG 2.2 Checklist for ADA Compliant Websites

Website content is a meaningful sequence of your key performance indicators; it is the digital face of your business. To make it easily accessible, SEO-friendly, and legally protected, you may consider the following tips to create an accessibility checklist:

1. Titles: Use relevant titles and headers that are easy for users to understand.
2. Text: The webpage should not be populated with long paragraphs. Use CMS wisely to distinguish information using easy-to-read bullets and font faces. Users should be able to resize the text to 200%.
3. Color: High contrast schemes or a ratio of 4.5:1 with the background color are considered perceivable for people with disabilities.
4. Images: As widely known, use alt text but make sure it’s not just limited to images on a webpage. There should be alt text for every logo, button, or banner to ensure easy access for those using a screen reader.
5. Multimedia: While using videos, ensure that there are adequate accessibility provisions for the visually impaired and for users with hearing disabilities. For instance, there should be audio descriptions or text descriptions. For a higher level of conformance, a webpage with a multimedia element must have accessible narratives to change the settings of the content. For instance, gesture suggestions to access the video.
6. Navigation: There should be options to access a website by keyboard or other techniques. Navigation should not be complex and must not be slow. Screen readers can be used by visually impaired users; however, such technology doesn’t work for image-based programs like PDF, so consider this factor while planning for Website ADA compliance.
7. More: The focus indicators should be clearly visible. Input assistance should be provided to avoid user errors. Minimize the errors of removed or redundant links.

How to make your website ADA compliant?

Referring to the checklist, you can assess your website using accessibility evaluation tools. Additionally, you can hire a trained auditor to handle this complex task for you while ensuring accurate and detailed results.

Software scans are an instant fix, but as they only run at a 30% accuracy rate with the risk of false positives, they are not a sufficient solution. For a more reliable and complete assessment, it is best to involve human intervention.

Check each page of your website using our Free Accessibility Checker or get in touch with our accessibility experts for a more proactive approach towards the latest release of WCAG 2.2.

A great way to ensure your digital property is accessible is by getting a VPAT. What is VPAT compliance? It is the process of documenting the accessibility of your digital property in an official template called a VPAT.