Web Accessibility Standards: An Elevator for Your Website
Accessibility compliance for a website? Most of us are familiar with the legal requirements for being ADA compliant at your brick-and-mortar store. For instance, state and local governments require businesses to build structures like ramps, elevators, and access points to ensure everyone can access your building — but what about your website?
While ADA standards don’t specifically refer to websites, the Americans with Disabilities Act requires that you effectively communicate with people. They also require that public spaces be accessible to all, and websites are beginning to be viewed as public spaces. Conformance is measured on websites using Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). People of varying abilities and disabilities should be able to use our business websites, and the web standards outlined in WCAG ensure that all your website visitors can navigate your site.
Why do webpages need accessibility standards?
Most of us would look at the average website and think it’s perfectly navigable. We often don’t realize that what seems okay to us might be a barrier to someone else, and we fail to recognize the accessibility pitfalls that might make some websites tough for users with different abilities and disabilities to use.
WCAG standards apply to web browsers, designs, and web documents in an effort to make the entirety of the world wide web easier to access. But it’s not only a legal requirement. Ensuring every customer can access your web content is the morally responsible choice, and it tells people with disabilities that their business matters to you.
Think of it this way: you wouldn’t dismiss customers who use service animals or turn away a client who needs a ramp to get into your building. An accessible website and online services are like installing an elevator in a multistory building — a social and legal civil rights responsibility that makes your online locations welcoming to all.
Overlays are not solutions
A quick Google search for improving your web accessibility will suggest using overlays. Overlays add features on top of the existing website to modify it based on the user’s needs. They’re a tool businesses commonly use to avoid a complete overhaul of their web technologies and mobile apps.
Surprisingly though, survey feedback suggests that the majority of disabled users say an overlay actually makes their experience worse, not better. The best way to have an accessible website is to address the root issues, not attempt to fix them with a Band-Aid.
Where do we start?
Here are 10 open web standards you can check on your website today.
- Do all images have helpful, descriptive alt text?
- Is semantic HTML structure set up so a screen reader moves through the webpages in a logical order?
- Are fonts dyslexic friendly?
- Does all text meet minimum color contrast standards?
- Are captions provided for any video or audio elements?
- Can movement (animations or video) be stopped at will by the viewer?
- Can the site be effectively navigated with a keyboard?
- Is the viewer alerted when a link will open in a new window?
- Do buttons have specific, descriptive text instead of generic phrases like “Read More” or “Learn More”?
- Do all forms have labels that remain visible while the form is being completed?
Ready for the risk?
Accessibility is complex and covers a wide variety of issues — much more than what we can cover here.
And the legal risks are huge. In 2022, more than 3,200 lawsuits were filed in federal court (Codemantra). Non-compliance can result in staggering fines ranging from several thousand dollars to millions. Ignorance isn’t a defense in the eyes of the law, and unless you’re well-versed in the guidelines, it’s important to consult with an accessibility specialist to make sure that your website complies with accessibility guidelines.
Wondering if your website passes the test? Get your site audited and find out!
