Stay ADA Compliant, Stay Safe

There’s a new trend emerging in federal and state courtrooms across America, and it’s one that could land your company in expensive legal trouble. All company websites are required by law to abide by Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This means there are certain guidelines (i.e. WCAG, Section 508) your website must meet so that anyone with a disability can access your content.

Legal Precedent Has Implications For ALL Website Owners

The first high profile ADA lawsuit was with the large grocery store chain, Winn Dixie. Their content was not accessible to screen readers, meaning anyone visually impaired could not order from their website. They fought the case, but ultimately lost. This began a tidal wave of lawsuits across the country. In 2017, there were over 800 federal cases alone, and this is only the beginning. Congress has been trying to stem the tide of these lawsuits, but it could be a while before they get to a resolution. In the meantime, all website owners need to audit their site and take steps to become ADA compliant.

How Do You Know if Your Website is ADA Compliant?

Step one is to run a scan of your website. ADA compliance violations are tricky to spot, especially if you’re not a website developer. Even armed with the proper tools it can be tough to make sense of information presented. That’s why you need an experienced team of developers to assist you in wading through some of the more technical aspects of the ADA rules.