ADA Compliance & Web Development

By: August Erickson | Published on Aug 25, 2020

Web development can be like the wild west in some elements. The internet evolves so quickly that it’s hard for the government (at both the federal and state level) to keep up. This leads to countless legal grey areas in the world of web development.

One of these legal grey areas is ADA Compliance.

History:

The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) was signed under George H. W. Bush in 1990 (see picture of singing below). This predates the first website being published on the World Wide Web, therefore, web development / websites are NOT mentioned within the in the original Act.

George H. W. Bush

However, in recent years, several court systems have begun interpreting Title III of the ADA to include websites, setting a precedent.

There are currently no set federal guidelines for ADA Compliance when it comes to web development, Congress was supposed to present a bill in 2019, however that has been pushed back to 2021 (based on news reports). I have little to no faith that guidelines will be introduced in 2021.

Several court systems have used the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as the benchmark for web Compliance. The ADA also mentions the WCAG once (see screenshot below ) on their official website. Again, the WCAG is a set of guidelines NOT law. 

The WCAG was created by W3C, which is an international community, not tied to any government entity.

Exploitation:

Unfortunately, some individuals are exploiting the lack of formal (federally created) ADA Compliance guidelines for web development and creating lawsuits against companies in the hope of creating so much fear they can settle outside of court for thousands (sometimes even tens of thousands) of dollars.

While there is no way to completely eliminate the risk of exploitation, there are some steps you can take to minimize the risk (and also improve the web experience for those with disabilities). These steps include:

  • Creating an accessibility statement, which provides contact information.
    • Providing contact information allows users to relay accessibility issues.
    • Additionally, providing contact information allows users to obtain support if they experience barriers.
  • Familiarize yourself with WCAG success criteria, as these are the guidelines being used in accessibility related lawsuits.
  • Conduct automated scans of your website, to identify any existing accessibility issues.
  • Have individuals with disabilities user test your website, and then implement their recommendations.

My Thoughts:

Making your website accessible to those with disabilities is not only the right thing to do, it can also decrease your organization’s legal risk. Additionally, it can increase the size of your potential customer / user base.

 

While digital accessibility is a complex subject matter, it’s worth allocating resources to ensure your website is accesible to all.