AbilityLinks is excited to announce this month’s blog series on user accessibility and company compliance! Stay tuned for a 4-part blog series diving into minimizing legal risk, issues with the lack of accessibility, how to improve accessibility, and more!
What is Accessibility?
Simply put, accessibility is the action of making a website functional for all users. One’s ability plays a major role in their capability to use a website to its full extent. All users deserve an equal opportunity regardless of their condition. As an employer, when you make an extra effort towards incorporating better accessibility you demonstrate high moral standards and integrity.
Issues with Non-Accessible Websites
Companies need to recognize that not all users operate the same way. Acknowledging this shines a light on the struggles persons with disabilities face every day. Below are examples of disadvantages people with disabilities encounter with websites and ways companies can incorporate enablement features.
Visual Impairments: Including options to zoom in or out, change the lighting, enlarge text, screen readers, etc.
Hearing impairments: Incorporating transcripts, captions, audio description, pre-recorded sign language, etc.
Mobility Impairments: Featuring multiple options for scrolling, tabbing, keyboard actions, etc.
Cognitive Impairments: Using language that is easy to understand, text-to-speech options, minimizing distractions, easy to complete forms, simple processes, etc.
There are multiple legal risks associated with website accessibility. Non-compliance lawsuits can be a big issue due to their financial burden. These lawsuits have been increasing over the past few years. There were about 3,500 accessibility lawsuits in 2020 alone. You can avoid this by completing a free Website Compliance audit through the American with Disability Act website. Also following the guidance set forth by the ADA will help your company avoid any potential legal issues.
When your company’s website is accessible, you can further drive innovation. The level of activity on your site will increase immensely by having a user-friendliness platform. This in turn will increase and diversify your market reach to include all users regardless of circumstance. Your company’s brand awareness will strengthen by acknowledging issues surrounding website accessibility and enablement. Lastly, it’s important to make sure that your website is accessible on all forms of technology. Some users may rely solely on their phones or tablets, so it’s important to strive for the highest level of technical compliance.
