Here’s Why You Must Care About Accessibility

An ADA compliant website can be inferred as a website that obeys the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and provides full accessibility of their website to people with disabilities.

A 508 compliant website will procure, create, use, and maintain information communication technology that’s accessible to people with disabilities, regardless of whether they work for the federal government.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are developed in cooperation with organizations and individuals with a single aim to provide a standard for web accessibility internationally. If a website is WCAG compliant, it means the same information can be accessed by individuals, organizations, and governments internationally.

If you’re a federal agency or contractor, you must comply with accessibility standards guidelines. However, if you’re a private business, the answer might be complicated. It may not be required by law to comply with any of the accessibility requirements, but websites must comply with them to avoid any penalties or fines.

No, ADA is different from 508 compliance. ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in all areas of life, including electronic and information technology. While 508 is a federal law that requires federal agencies to maintain and use the information and communications technology that people with disabilities can use.

While each compliance aims to make all information (whether digital or print) accessible to people with disabilities, they are all different.

ADA compliance being a civil rights law forbids the discrimination of people with disabilities and applies to the public and private sectors.This includes electronic and information technology.

508 compliance is a federal law, applying only to federal agencies and departments to maintain and use the information and communications technology that people with disabilities can practice.

WCAG is an ISO standard set of guidelines that serves as a reference for ADA or 508 website compliance.

ADA compliant sites give equal accessibility to people with disabilities and safeguard your business from any lawful repercussions that could happen due to non-compliance. If your website purveys to general consumers, ADA compliance or an accessible website becomes all the more necessary.

ADA compliance is very critical, especially for small businesses.

If you didn’t intend to make your website inaccessible to people with disabilities, you could still get fined by the federal government. Also, affected parties may file a civil lawsuit against your organization.

If you break the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), you might be penalized with the following fines:

For first-time violations: $55,000 to $75,000

For Every Repeat Violations: $150,000

Also, if your business or organization receives federal funding, the government may revoke those funds.

It’s recommended for you to get professional ADA assistance and enhance your website’s functionality and usability. Rave Digital can help you with ADA web accessibility compliance, 508 compliance, and WCAG accessibility standards.

To abide by ADA or 508 compliances, you can either hire a web design agency or build a website in-house with a professional development team.