As the world moves more online, it’s essential to keep information and services accessible to people with disabilities. Just as ADA regulations apply to physical locations, like stores, organizations should also consider ADA website compliance.
Failure to follow ADA regulations on your website can result in heavy fines, litigation, and an alienated audience.
The website design team at Forge Apollo provides website design in Philadelphia for ADA-compliant industries, like hotels and medical services. Today, we’re breaking down the basics of ADA compliance on websites so you can keep your site compliant and accessible to all.
What is ADA Compliance?
The Department of Justice (DOJ) introduced the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. The ADA protects people with disabilities in everyday activities. It is a set of regulations to provide those with disabilities equal access to employment, purchases, and participation in government programs.
ADA regulations apply to state and local governments (Title II). They also apply to businesses open to the public (Title III). Some examples of businesses open to the public may include (but are not limited to):
- Retail businesses
- Banks
- Hotels and other accommodations
- Medical facilities
- Food and drink establishments
- Entertainment venues
How Does ADA Compliance Apply to Websites?
Since 1996, the DOJ has taken the position that ADA regulations of “general nondiscrimination and effective communication” extend to website design. The ADA acknowledges in its guidance on web accessibility that it does not have detailed standards for website accessibility. However, it does point to existing guidelines. The primary guideline is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Federal government websites should also follow the Section 508 Standards.
Why Does ADA Compliance Matter?
Let’s start with legality. Non-compliance with ADA standards can lead to fines of up to $150,000 and litigation.
Now, consider your users on the human level. ADA compliance ensures that your entire audience can use your website. It also makes them feel welcome. About 42.5 million Americans have disabilities, which is a large audience to ignore.
Some compliance measures, like alt text, also support Search Engine Optimization efforts. This is because site crawlers read your website similarly to screen readers.
Understanding The Guidelines
The WCAG breaks its criteria down into three levels of compliance:
- Level A – This is the minimum level. The website addresses basic accessibility for a broad range of users.
- Level AA – This is the most common level of conformance. The website goes further to address accessibility for a wider variety of users.
- Level AAA – This is the highest level of conformance. The website provides accessibility features for almost all users.
They also use four principles to group their guidelines.
- Perceivable – Users should be able to perceive all the information on your website.
- Operable – Users should be able to navigate your website and its features.
- Understandable – Users should be able to understand all of your website content.
- Robust – Users should get the same experience, even using assistive technology.
ADA Compliance Website Checklist
Here are some basic checklist items to help you meet accessibility standards. However, we recommend digging deeper into the WCAG guidelines on your own. You can also work with website developers who are ADA compliance experts.
Navigation
- Page Structure – Assistive technology should be able to understand the purpose of every element on your page and its relationship to other information on the page.
- Order and Context – Users should also be able to experience content in the relevant order. Navigation and page elements should not change order or context without explicit action from the user.
- Keyboard & Assistive Technology Accessibility – Users utilizing a keyboard interface and other assistive technologies should be able to navigate your website.
- Website Location – Users should be able to understand where they are on your website in relation to other pages (for Level AAA).
- Clear Labels – Page titles, headings, subheadings, and labels should clearly represent the content on the page and any relationships to one another.
- Clear Links – The anchor text and surrounding contextual text should clarify where a link leads.
- Bypass Repeated Content – Users should be able to bypass content that is repeated on multiple pages.
- Multiple Ways to Access – Users should be able to access web pages in more than one way unless they’re a step in a process.
Design & Programming
- Accessible Programming – Assistive technologies should be able to understand all programming on the website
- Clear Form Instruction – There should be clear instructions or labels on all forms, as well as error identification, prevention, and suggested corrections (if known).
- Color Contrast – Color should not be the only visual means of sharing information.
- Level AA compliance color should have a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1, except for large-scale text, user interface components, or graphical objects (which should have a ratio of at least 3:1) and logotypes or purely decorative text (which have no contrast requirements).
- For Level AAA compliance, the contrast ratio should be at least 7:1 (4.5:1 for large-scale text).
- Avoiding Known Seizure or Physical Reaction Causes – Designs should avoid known causes of seizures or other physical reactions, like flashing more than three times in one second.
- Avoid Images of Text – Text should be used whenever possible instead of images of text to convey meaningful content.
- Enough Time for Timed Content – Users should have enough time to read and interact with timed content (and have options to pause or hide it in specific scenarios).
Text
- Size – Users should be able to resize text to 200% of its size without losing functionality.
- Adjustments – When users can adjust the text’s line height and spacing (within specific parameters), they shouldn’t lose functionality (for Level AA). Special considerations should be made for Level AAA compliance on blocks of text.
- Language – Assistive technology should be able to understand what human language your content is written in programmatically.
- Definitions – There should be a way to define unusual words (like jargon) and abbreviations.
- Reading Level – The content should be at a lower secondary education reading level (7th-9th grade) or lower, or alternative content should be provided if it is not (for Level AAA).
Other Content Formats
- Text Alternatives – For images, graphs, and other non-text content, use alt text to provide a text-based alternative for understanding that content unless the content is simply for decoration.
- Captions – Provide captions on prerecorded video content (for Level A) and live audio content (for Level AA). Provide sign-language interpretation for prerecorded audio content (for Level AAA).
- Audio Description or Media Alternative –
- Level A – For prerecorded video content, provide an audio description or an alternative format sharing the same information on the page.
- Level AA – Produce audio description for all prerecorded video content.
- Level AAA – Extended Audio description for prerecorded video and alternative media available for prerecorded video-only and audio-only content.
- Audio Control – Users should be able to pause automatic audio longer than three seconds (Level A). For pre-recorded audio content where someone is speaking to convey information, background audio should not exist, be able to be turned off, or be at least 20 dB lower than the speech (Level AAA).
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Here are some of the most common ADA compliance mistakes we see on websites.
- Low color contrast
- Missing alt text on images
- Lack of keyboard accessibility
- Unclear links
- Forms missing labels, instructions, or keyboard accessibility
- Poor heading structure
- Complicated navigation
- Auto-play audio or video with no user control
- Linking out to PDFs or other content formats with no accessible options
How to Check Your Compliance
Run your website through an ADA website compliance checking tool. That can help you avoid these common mistakes and help ensure it stays compliant. There are several popular ones out there. They point out areas of non-compliance and offer suggestions for how to fix them. Our favorite is the WAVE web accessibility evaluation tool.
Of course, you can also work with a team of experts on ADA compliance on websites to evaluate and correct your site.
ADA Compliance Plugins
Several plugins claim to make websites more accessible with the click of a button. They let users adjust aspects of the website, like contrast or text size. These plugins apply an overlay to your site but don’t fundamentally make the code accessible. There have been several lawsuits filed against the companies making these plugins. While their marketing claims to make a website compliant, installing the plugin alone isn’t enough.
Plugins can also be expensive. To avoid the expense of an ineffective plugin (and a potential lawsuit), work with a website designer and developer experienced in ADA compliance to design an accessible website.
Create an ADA Compliant Website
Ensuring your website meets ADA compliance standards is essential for accessibility and inclusivity. Not to mention, it can help you avoid a hefty fine. Follow the ADA compliance website checklist outlined above to create a welcoming online environment for all users. If you need help making your website accessible or have questions about compliance, contact the expert Philadelphia website design company Forge Apollo.
