Accessibility and ADA compliance apply to digital assets online. All business websites need to be accessible to those with disabilities. It is indeed the law. Not to mention the right thing to do as a company.
Your offices and stores are most likely following ADA compliance guidelines. Why wouldn’t you apply them to your website, landing pages, product pages, desktop and mobile apps, and other digital assets?
This is definitely needed if your business is in the retail space, like ecommerce. Did you know that 60 percent of ADA compliance lawsuits involved retail websites and apps in 2019?
The food service and hospitality industries are also on the list for ADA lawsuits. In fact, 20 percent of restaurant chains have had multiple ADA lawsuits since 2017.
ADA website and app lawsuits are actually more common than one would think. This is because developing an ADA compliant website can prove challenging for business owners. Even enterprise companies have difficulty with 100 percent web accessibility.
There is, however, web accessibility technology a company can employ to make websites 100 percent accessible with ADA compliance at the forefront.
Enter accessiBe, a web accessibility tech company changing the way businesses meet ADA compliance guidelines.
Web Accessibility Tech A Game Changer for Website ADA Compliance
Website accessibility can be simple for companies utilizing web accessibility tech via platforms like accessiBe’s. This tech company serves up game-changing technology to help companies large and small reach full ADA compliance.
And the process is automatic and immediate via computer vision technology and machine-learning artificial intelligence (AI). How does it work? Two revolutionary applications that tweak UI and design with AI optimization for screen-readers and keyboard navigation.
This allows you to transform your business’ website to a fully accessible, ADA compliant site with little effort and resources on your side. This eliminates manual processes that company IT managers would normally need to implement.
This includes manual testing by disability (motor, cognitive, auditory, visual), finding an expert to fix web accessibility issues found during testing, and tweaking the website based on changing ADA compliance laws and regulations.
Web accessibility software technology from accessiBe eliminates the need for businesses to do it on their own.
ADA Compliance For Websites Reduces Legal Risk
Many companies overlook the legal problems that could arise if their websites and applications are not ADA compliant. In fact, you could find yourself battling multiple lawsuits due to ADA compliance failure.
For instance, 2019 was a breakout year for web accessibility lawsuits. Over 21 percent of companies were sued multiple times.
Legal fees can add up fast when battling multiple lawsuits. This can be extremely damaging if your company has multiple websites and applications via subsidiary companies.
Despite the legal issues and simply doing the right thing when it comes to ADA compliance for your business’ website and apps, another important factor plays a role. The ability to attract and convert consumers with increased spending power.
Web Accessibility Can Generate More Revenue For ADA Compliant Businesses
Spending power is definitely something companies look at very closely when developing customer profiles, buyer personas, and marketing campaigns. A target market companies may be failing to leverage are those with disabilities.
Having an ADA compliant website allows companies to market to consumers with disabilities. Did you know that one in five Americans have a disability? That’s around 64 million people. And 35 percent of those disabled Americans are of working/prime spending age.
Consumers with disabilities also have extreme spending power with a total of $490 billion in disposable income. This is a game-changing market segment for companies that can deliver web accessibility at a high level.
Web Accessibility Hallmarks Business Owners Need To Consider
The benefits of ADA compliance for your business are pretty clear. Mitigate negative public view, eliminate ADA compliance lawsuits, increased web traffic, and more revenue by attracting a market segment with spending power.
Web accessibility tech can definitely get your company moving in a powerful direction when it comes to website and application ADA compliance. There are, however, a few important web accessibility hallmarks to keep in mind when researching technology.
First, you should aim to achieve compliance in all these areas:
- WCAG 2.1
- ADA Title III
- Section 508
- EAA/EN 301549
Compliance in all the above is critical to transforming your website into a 100 percent ADA compliant site. For full compliance, it is also essential to know more about what web accessibility actually looks like.
For example, integrating the right color contrasts and font size. Adding text to break up color contrasts can also help differentiate sections for those with visual disabilities. Navigation is also important, emphasizing the need to have an easy to navigate site for all four main disability categories (auditory, visual, motor, cognitive).
Backend site adjustments also need to be a priority. These backend tweaks for web accessibility include defined, detailed alt tags and schema markups. Having all this in mind can help you research and choose a web accessibility tech company.
Wrapping Up . . .
Technology is certainly a powerful tool when it comes to business. Web accessibility tech is potentially your business’ most important technology. It can keep your company safe from lawsuits, as well as improve your company’s bottom line. ADA compliance is not a maybe anymore. It is indeed a necessity for business growth and success.
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