ADA Website Compliance — What You Need to Know

Your website is your digital storefront. And just like a physical storefront, making it accessible to as many people as possible is good for business. Moreover, it can help you avoid a lawsuit.

In 2019, Beyoncé (yes, that Beyoncé) became the defendant in an ongoing class-action suit alleging that her site was not compliant with ADA regulations. And if you’re wondering whether you, like Bey, have a non-compliant site, the answer could be “yes.”

So what can you do to make your content more accessible to people with hearing or vision disabilities, those who rely on screen readers and/or voice controls, or anyone else who is otherwise unable to access your pages?

Here are a few places to start:

Adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

There are no formal guidelines for how to be ADA-compliant. However, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is the closest thing there is to a rule book. And as anyone who’s ever tried to implement all the recommendations within knows, it can be a daunting task. Nevertheless, it’s an important one if your goal is to make your content more accessible to as many people as possible.

And If you need help, just let us know. At Black Raven Digital, we have the design and web development chops (or know someone who does) to help you perform a web accessibility audit and fill in any gaps to achieve ADA compliance.

In the Meantime, Start With a Few Basics

• Make sure your content is navigable by keyboard only.
• Create Alt tags for images.
• User proper HTML markup (meta tags, etc.) to make your content more machine-readable.
• Transcribe video and audio content.
• Provide text alternatives to charts.
• Use sufficient color contrast between text and the background.