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5 Things You Should Know about ADA Compliance

Author: Tom Cottrill | Date Posted: Feb 14, 2019

ADA Compliance is a complex topic that is constantly evolving and changing. Education and research are key when determining if your site is ADA Compliant, what that means, and what happens if you’re not. Here are five quick-hitting things to get you started.

What is ADA compliance?

In 2010, The US Department of Justice declared that all electronic information needed to be accessible to all users, including the hearing and visually impaired. These users often use different means to browse the web than most of us are accustomed to.

To be ADA Compliant, your sites should be accessible and navigable through these browsers.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) established the main international standards and accessibility for the World Wide Web. The WCAG is created by the W3C to provide a standard for web content accessibility that can be shared around the world. You can review the WCAG standards here. Think of this as your “hard to understand blueprint” on how to make your site easy to use.

Does my site have to be ADA compliant?

That’s a little harder to determine. If you’re a government website, most definitely. If you’re providing any access to a physical space, then you definitely should be. If you’re conducting ecommerce, then it’s in your best interest. In this instance, you may be legally required to be ADA Compliant. If you’re not, the line is a little fuzzier, but it’s probably still a good idea.

What happens if I’m not ADA compliant?

Maybe nothing, if you’re lucky.

Maybe scary letters from an attorney, if you’re not.

And if you’re REALLY unlucky, perhaps a lawsuit. While your site may or may not be legally required to be ADA Compliant, legally proving you needn’t be will likely be more expensive than making sure it is in the first place.

Is it hard to make a site ADA Compliant?

It can be. It really depends on the scale of the site and the competence of the developer. Sites with 1000’s of pages will naturally take more time than a site with 10 pages. There are rules, and if you follow them, it’s not that bad. But if you have to untangle dozens of issues on 1000s of pages, it can an endeavor.