By Jay Bemis | Advertising Systems Inc.
Attention, business owners: Did you know that last year, the U.S. Department of Justice reaffirmed a 2018 ruling that websites are places of accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and — just like your brick-and-mortar store, if you have one — your website must comply with the ADA?
The ruling means that you must ensure that your company’s websites and digital content are accessible to people with disabilities.
With the reaffirmation, the department also issued guidelines on how to comply with the ADA and make your website accessible to people challenged with disabilities. Those guidelines: Identify barriers that inaccessible websites create for some people with disabilities: tell you when the ADA requires web content to be accessible, and, offer your company tips on making that content accessible — along with other information and resources.
“We have heard the calls from the public on the need for more guidance on web accessibility, particularly as our economy and society become increasingly digitized,” Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in releasing the web accessibility guidelines last year.
“This guidance will assist the public in understanding how to ensure that websites are accessible to people with disabilities. People with disabilities deserve to have an equal opportunity to access the services, goods and programs provided by government and businesses, including when offered or communicated through websites.”
Enforcement of the Rules Is on the Rise
Without an accessible website, your company could face a risk of litigation, including demand letters or lawsuits, which would cost you money as well as valuable time and energy that could be spent on other areas of your business operations.
Worried About Your ADA Compliance? We Have a Solution
Advertising Systems Inc. has partnered with accessiBe to offer an automatic, AI-driven, cost-effective solution for small business that ensures compliance with the ADA. Nearly 200,000 companies both small and large, including the likes of Forbes, NBC, Abbot, General Electric, lululemon, BMW, Hulu and Chick-fil-A, have turned to this solution.
More importantly, it helps you reach people who are challenged with disabilities.
This brings us to the stick person pictured atop this blog post: An icon that lets people with disabilities know that your company’s website is ADA compliant. While surfing our site while reading this blog, you may have noticed that figure at the bottom-right corner of your screen. When you click on that icon, a window giving accessibility adjustments appears.
As one example, the “ADHD Friendly Profile,” which, when you click the “on” button, gives a screen highlighter that provides users with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder a way to have better focus while reading your website’s content.
So, are you ready to make your website compliant with the ADA— and let your users know that your website is accessible to those with challenges?
Contact us today to learn more about how this solution can help you achieve and maintain ADA compliance on the web.
