Website Accessibility – It’s the Law and the Right Thing to Do

Introduction

The Internet is the primary source of information for many Americans, and websites are the primary source of information for many people with disabilities. Many businesses use their websites as a way to reach their customers and potential customers, so it’s important that these sites are accessible. Government agencies use their websites as a way to communicate with the public, so they should be accessible too.

21% of Americans have a disability and 15% have a serious disability.

You are probably aware that Americans with disabilities are a sizable population. The Department of Labor estimates that this group comprises roughly 20% of the US population, and their numbers continue to grow as medical technology improves and increases life expectancy. The more you know about how people with disabilities use the web, the better equipped you’ll be to build accessible sites that reduce barriers for these users. Here’s a quick overview:

• A disability is any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. This includes conditions like blindness, deafness, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Parkinson’s disease and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
• A serious disability is defined as a condition requiring substantial modification to a major life activity due to an impairment such as PTSD. In other words, if your site requires visitors with PTSD (or another condition) to take extra steps in order to access it then you should seriously consider making changes if at all possible!

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted in 1990.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted in 1990, and one of its key provisions is that places of public accommodation must take appropriate steps to make sure their goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages or accommodations are accessible to individuals with disabilities. This includes the public websites of virtually all businesses. ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities and lawsuits are increasing as a result.

Title III prohibits discrimination against people on the basis of disability by public accommodations.

You should know that Title III prohibits discrimination against people on the basis of disability by public accommodations. Title III requires places of public accommodation to take appropriate steps to make sure its goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations are accessible to individuals with disabilities. For example: a hotel may not refuse to rent out a room to someone because he uses a wheelchair. In another example: if a movie theater has hearing assistive devices available for its patrons who wear hearing aids (or cochlear implants), it must provide this service without charge for those who need it.

• These laws apply no matter how small an establishment is; indeed many small businesses don’t realize they are covered under Title III rules simply because their business doesn’t appear “commercial” enough.*

Title III requires places of public accommodation to take appropriate steps to make sure its goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations are accessible to individuals with disabilities.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects people from discrimination on the basis of disability by public accommodations. Title III prohibits discrimination against people on the basis of disability by places of public accommodation. Title III requires places of public accommodation to take appropriate steps to make sure its goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages or accommodations are accessible to individuals with disabilities.” The ADA defines “public accommodations” as private entities that own and operate establishments that provide a good or service directly to customers such as hotels and restaurants; theaters; retail stores; banks; museums; galleries that display artwork; convention centers like those found in Las Vegas and Orlando where conventions are hosted by conference organizers who bring together thousands of attendees from all around the world for 3-5 days at a time (i.e., GDC & E3).

Individuals with disabilities may bring lawsuits in federal court alleging violations of the ADA and seek actual and punitive damages, as well as attorney’s fees.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities. The ADA applies to all businesses, not just those that sell products or services in the physical world. It also applies to websites, even if they do not have a physical location where you can go and knock on the door and tell them about your disability. If a site isn’t complying with the ADA, it’s illegal! If you believe a website has failed to comply with its obligations under Title III of the ADA and want to bring suit against it in federal court alleging violations of this law, contact us today for your free consultation!

In 2017, California amended its anti-discrimination law’s prohibition on discrimination against people with disabilities to include “websites.”

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that the ADA is a bit of an ugly duckling. But I’m here to tell you that it’s not just for people with disabilities—it protects all Americans from discrimination by private businesses and government entities. And while many don’t realize it, “websites” fall into this category. So why am I telling you this? Because as of January 1st, 2017 , California amended its anti-discrimination law’s prohibition on discrimination against people with disabilities to include “websites.” They did this because websites are important for everyone—but especially so for people who use assistive technologies (AT).

This means businesses must ensure their websites conform with WCAG 2.0 at a minimum.

You may have heard that WCAG 2.0 is the law. But what does that mean? It means businesses must ensure their websites conform with WCAG 2.0 at a minimum. This means your business has to avoid violating Level A of WCAG: accessibility for people with disabilities. If you’re unfamiliar with this acronym, here’s a quick primer: The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are standards set by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for making web content accessible to people with disabilities and older browsers—such as those on mobile devices or computers running operating systems earlier than Windows XP Service Pack 3 or Internet Explorer 8.. WebAIM is an online resource that explains these guidelines in detail and breaks them down into various levels of compliance as follows:

• Level A – Basic accessibility principles
• Level AA – More complicated accessibility principles
• Level AAA – Most advanced accessibility principles

The WCAG 2.0 guidelines have three levels – A, AA, and AAA – with Level A being the minimum standard applicable under most states’ laws.

The WCAG 2.0 guidelines are a set of international accessibility standards. They were developed by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), part of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The WCAG 2.0 guidelines are free and open source, based on scientific research, updated regularly to reflect changes in technology and user needs, and internationally recognized by governments around the world as the standard for designing websites that are accessible to people with disabilities.

There are more than 130 different criteria that must be met in order to ensure website accessibility under WCAG 2.0 guidelines at Level A, AA and AAA standards

The WCAG 2.0 guidelines are the minimum standard for website accessibility. However, there are more than 130 different criteria that must be met in order to ensure website accessibility under WCAG 2.0 guidelines at Level A, AA and AAA standards. Some examples of WCAG 2.0 guidelines include:

• Use relative units when expressing lengths or distances on a page (e.g., use percentages rather than pixels)
• Make sure international characters appear as expected (e.g., if you use a font that has been selected for your design template)

Just because you don’t need your website to be accessible doesn’t mean you don’t need it to be accessible.

• Just because you don’t need your website to be accessible doesn’t mean you don’t need it to be accessible.
• The ADA applies to all websites, not just those that deal with goods or services offered by a public accommodation.
• The ADA applies to websites that are not directly involved in the sale of goods or services to the public.
• The ADA applies to websites that are not directly involved in the provision of transportation