Although it is not explicitly stated in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III of the Act which governs accessibility has been interpreted by courts in the United States to apply to the accessibility of Website to those with disabilities. In fact, the court decision has defined websites as ‘places of public accommodation’. Those company websites that do not make an effort to allow those with disabilities to access the information and services that are part and parcel of the site open the organization to charges of being discriminatory.
Making the website ADA compliant can be a challenge. There are no hard and fast rules and approaches that provide guidelines to ensure compliance. However, what is true is that increasing numbers of lawsuits are being filed on behalf of complainants with disabilities who are of the opinion that the site discriminates unfairly against them. There are experts who advise that companies do have flexibility in their approach to ensuring accessibility – but once again it is worth noting that there are no solutions that come ready to ensure accessibility, no toolset of accepted widgets or approach to toolbars.
However, there are approaches that the company can take to reduce the possibility of facing legal action by an aggrieved party.
It may be useful to define just what accessibility means in terms of a website. in short, it requires that a person with disabilities have access to the content of the site, including being able to navigate it without undue effort. The acid test is whether the site provides for effective communication with those who are facing the challenges of disabilities.
There are 38 requirements contained in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) – and these are used by courts and the U.S. Department of Justice to gauge whether the company is making their website accessible. The organization may not have to meet all 38 of those criteria in order to be considered accessible – but the key to avoiding legal action is to be seen to be taking proactive steps in order to make the site accessible.
There are a number of concrete steps that the company can take to improve accessibility.
One of these is to provide audio descriptions that go into more detail than the standard video audio. Text of the audio content should also be provided for those who may be hearing impaired.
Images should have closed captioning.
The company should make sure that there is a color contrast ratio of 4.5:1 (at the very least) between all text and background and text should be able to be resized up to 200% of the original size without losing legibility or coherence.
Companies should also ensure that the site is navigable using the keyboard only and not rely exclusively on a mouse.
The list does go on and on – and a full outline of all recommendations is beyond the scope of this article. It is worth noting that WCAG 2.0 AA is often a densely technical document and can be confusing to understand. It is also worth noting that a pat on the back, once the company has made the site more accessible, is well deserved, however this is not a static process. Each piece of new content must be compliant, for instance, the video should have a transcript available.
For the smaller business, the best approach might be to engage the services of a specialist consultant or legal advisor on the best way to avoid legal action. The legal challenges are not going to stop – and will in fact in all probability grow in number. this is one of those instances where erring on the side of caution is prudent.
