Avoid Lawsuits By Making Your Website ADA Compliant

Why should I make my website ADA Compliant?

As the Internet has evolved and grown, people with all types of disabilities struggle with using many websites. If you own a business or run an organization, you want everyone to enjoy their experience when visiting your website. And in fact it may be a violation of the American Disabilities Act if your website isn't available for everyone. This could be anything from posting a special discount within a JPG image in a blog that screen readers cannot read or as simple as not providing enough contract between background color and a font color.

Imagine if you lost your eyesight and want to book a summer vacation for your family. Your first step might be to do some research online about the hotels, restaurants, retail stores and things to do in that area before you start spending your hard-earned money. As a business owner, you want this family as customers. But if your website is not optimized for people with disabilities, you've just lost their business and possibly opened yourself up to receive negative online reviews and possible lawsuits from this community.

According to the Web Accessibility Initiative Guidelines, there are four (4) major areas web designers must address for a website to be considered ADA Compliant for people with disabilities.

1. Your website must be perceivable: The information on your website and the user interface must be presentable to all users in ways they can perceive it. In other words, all website users must be able to perceive the information being presented. The information on your website can't be invisible to all of their senses.
2. Your website must be operable: The user interface and website navigation must be operable for all visitors. Your website interface cannot require any interactions that the visitor cannot perform effectively.

3. Your website must be understandable: The information and the operation of user interfaces must be understandable to all visitors on your website.
4. Your website must be robust: Website visitors must be able to access the content properly as technologies advance. Your content must be robust enough to be interpreted correctly. This includes the assistive software you have installed.

If your website fails to meet these ADA standards, you run the risk of being sued. Years ago, this might have been highly uncommon. But since the pandemic, more and more people are now using the Internet to make purchases, book vacations and make donations. Think of how many activities you do online. An entire generation of people who do everything online.

In 2019, a blind man named Guillermo Robles filed a law suit (Robles v. Domino's Pizza, LLC, No. 17-55504 (9th Cir. 2019)) against Dominos Pizza because they lacked the software on their website for him to order a pizza online. This case made it all the way to The Supreme Court. How much money do you think that costs Dominos Pizza in lawyer fees and bad press?

ADA Compliance related lawsuits are on the rise. And when there is blood in the water, there are usually a school of lawyers waiting to feed. The number of ADA Compliance lawsuits continue to grow each year. No one wants to open up a letter from a law firm who is threatening legal action against your business.

"ADA-based cases, where the subject of the claim was either a website, mobile application or video content, reached a rate of over 10 per day in 2021 with over 4,000 in total. That is a 15% increase from 2020. Cases counted include those filed in federal court and those filed in State courts such as California under the Unruh Act with a direct reference to violation of the ADA. The trend of increased California-based cases, both federal and state is continuing due to the damages ($4,000) that can be claimed under the Unruh Act and the Dominos case that has set both websites and apps subject to the ADA." According to Useable.Net

Here's the good news: we offer a solution to instantly make your website ADA Compliant (WCAG 2.1, ADA Title III, Section 508, IS 5568, ACA/AODA, EAA/EN 301548 compliance) starting at $490 per year. This ADA widget was developed side-by-side with people who suffer from epilepsy and ADHD, blind people, people with motor and vision impairments to create the best ADA Compliance solution on the market today.

Here's how it works

• Purchase a ADA widget plan.
• Install the ADA widget code into your website.
• The ADA Compliance icon instantly appears on your website.
• The ADA widget starts scanning and analyzing your website's content.
• That same widget fixes all of the inaccessible code and content on your website.
• Every twenty-four (24) hours, the AI widget scans and corrects any updated content.

Investing in this website upgrade now can protect your business from ADA Compliance lawsuits and unwanted lawyer bills down the road. Investing in web accessibility and complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) now entitles businesses owners to a tax credit according to Section 44 of the IRS Code. This makes investing in an accessible website and offering an inclusive user experience to the population living with disabilities, a no brainer. Plus, this is just the right thing to do for the people who struggle when they visit your website.

You can see the ADA widget in action by clicking the blue and white circle icon in the right hand corner of our website.