What Is Website Accessibility?
Did you know your website is considered a place of public accommodation? Because of this ruling from the Department of Justice, websites should now comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III.
Website Accessibility
The practice of removing barriers throughout a website that would hinder a disabled person’s ability to navigate and access the site’s content.
According to ADA.gov,
ADA Title III “prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in the activities of places of public accommodations and requires newly constructed or altered places of public accommodation—as well as commercial facilities—to comply with the ADA Standards.”
Another web accessibility standard, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), is a set of recommendations to make websites more accessible to all users. According to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the guidelines of WCAG will…
“make content more accessible to a wider range of people with disabilities, including accommodations for blindness and low vision, deafness and hearing loss, limited movement, speech disabilities, photosensitivity, and combinations of these, and some accommodation for learning disabilities and cognitive limitations; but will not address every user need for people with these disabilities. These guidelines address the accessibility of web content on desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile devices. Following these guidelines will also often make Web content more usable to users in general.”
One Fifth of Web Users Have a Disability
About 20% of the world’s population (1/5th) has some form of disability that hinders their experience when using websites. Having an accessible website allows these users to experience your website and your business like everyone else. Organizations shouldn’t implement accessibility solely because it’s legally required; they should do it because it’s the human thing to do.
Examples of web accessibility:
- High contrast ratio
- Fully keyboard compatible
- Screen reader friendly
- Ability to adjust font sizes
- Alt text for all images
- Option to disable animations
The AI Solution to Web Accessibility?
accessiBe is an automated web accessibility widget powered by AI.
We have partnered with accessiBe to ensure all our websites are WCAG 2.1 AA (the accessibility standard for websites), ADA Title III, Section 508, and EAA/EN 301549 compliant. accessiBe is an artificial intelligence (AI) powered accessibility solution that can get your website compliant to these standards within 48 hours. According to accessiBe, 98% of websites are inaccessible. If you have an inaccessible website, you’re more likely to be subject to litigation, as there has been a 300% increase in accessibility lawsuits since 2018.
Don’t simply make your website accessible because you don’t want to get sued, do it because it allows everyone to access your website without issues. Is your website accessible?
How To Get Started With Website Accessibility
We follow our internal website accessibility guidelines for each website we built for our clients, but standards are constantly updating. Because we have partnered with accessiBe, we highly recommend each client implement the accessiBe widget on their new website. With Peabody Communications and accessiBe, you can be confident your website will be compliant with the latest WCAG and ADA standards.