ADA Website Compliance in 2022
What is Website Accessibility?
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are a set of rules, behaviors, code standards and design guidelines that are meant to allow people with disabilities to effectively use websites.
Altogether, they are composed of:
- WCAG 2.1 Compliance
- ADA Title III Compliance
- Section 508 Compliance
- ACA/AODA Compliance
- EAA/EN 301549 Compliance
- And IS 5568 Compliance
In the past, lawyers and specialty companies have been able to leverage their knowledge of these extensive guidelines to charge businesses high fees in order to make their websites ADA compliant. Now, however, there are easier and more affordable solutions on the market. But we’ll get back to that later!
First, let’s talk about how the WCAG works and the alarming rise in ADA lawsuits that are now hitting businesses hard.
The Facts
The W3C (The World Wide Web Consortium (an international community where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards) has created the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), which are meant to explain and guide developers on how to make websites accessible.
These guidelines have been adopted by many governments around the world and are now a part of various legislations, such as the ADA, EN 301549, Section 508, and more.
The WCAG focuses on three main areas of accessibility:
- Blind people using screen-readers (JAWS, NVDA)
- People with motor impairments using the keyboard
- And a variety of other disabilities such as color blindness, epilepsy, and minor visual impairments that are mainly focused on the UI (user interface) and design of the website (color contrasts, animations, fonts, etc.)
In order to be ADA compliant, websites need to be accessible to all of these disabilities and impairments. If a business fails to provide this website accessibility, it is liable.
That means lawsuits and demand letters, no matter how big or small a business is!
ADA Lawsuits & Demand Letters
There has been a dramatic 300% increase in lawsuits and demand letters from 2018 to 2019, and a 12% increase from 2019 to 2020 despite the dip in filings due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is because the DOJ affirmed that Title III of the ADA (which focuses on private businesses “public accommodations”) applies to websites in Nov 2018.
This affirmation has resulted in an estimated 265,000 demand letters sent in 2020 alone.
Unfortunately, very few businesses have been able to respond to these demand letters without paying a lot of money. 93% of demand letters have been settled outside of court for $20,000 – $150,000. That’s an average of $85,000!
ADA website compliance has become a very expensive lesson for many businesses to learn.
An Easy Solution to ADA Compliance
We’ve partnered with the #1 automated web accessibility solution for ADA & WCAG Compliance, powered by artificial intelligence.
This AI-powered solution is revolutionizing the accessibility industry by making web accessibility effortless, automatic, immediate, affordable, and most importantly, in compliance with the WCAG 2.1, ADA, Section 508 and other worldwide legislation.
This software was developed side-by-side with people with disabilities and leading experts in accessibility and assistive technology. To date, websites using this software have not lost an ADA compliance lawsuit (over 130,000+).
The Compliance Process
It’s quick and effortless for your website to become ADA compliant with this artful solution:
- We add customized color-coded JavaScript programming to the website
- The accessibility interface instantly appears on the site
- The background AI starts scanning and analyzing your entire site
- After up to 48 hours, the website is compliant and certified
- Every 24 hours, the AI scans for new and revised content to fix and monthly reports are run and saved.
Here’s how the software works…
Accessibility Interface:
The foreground application handles the user interface (UI) and design accessibility requirements, allowing persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI and design to their individual needs.
The interface includes font handling, color handling, animations, content highlighting, audio muting, cognitive disorders, and other options.
Background AI:
The background AI (artificial intelligence) mostly relates to blind people’s screen-reader adjustments, and keyboard navigation optimizations for people with motor impairments.
Its solutions include ALT (alternate text) attribute creation for images using image recognition and OCR (optical character recognition) technologies, form label creation and handling link/button icons using a contextual understanding technology, as well as fixing dropdown menus, popups, forms, and more.
Making Your Website ADA Compliant
If you want to check whether or not your website is ADA compliant, you can run a quick audit here.
Any website that proves to be noncompliant is at risk of facing a lawsuit or demand letter, with an average of $85,000 in settlements. Let us help you protect your business and reduce your risk.
Click here to become ADA compliant today.
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