Ensuring your website is accessible makes a lot of sense. Not only does increased web accessibility help you maximize the number of people visiting your site, but it also is increasingly legally enforced, which leads to lawsuits and other legal implications for companies that don’t take the necessary steps to meet current accessibility requirements.
Website accessibility refers to the ability of people with a wide range of physical and mental abilities to be able to access not just websites, but also the products, systems, services, and facilities that websites feature. Web accessibility means being able to purchase tickets, recharge transport cards, use apps, as well as any number of other services that are offered online. As more information and services migrate to the web, the business providing those services must ensure they aren’t leaving people with limited capabilities behind.
Recent statistics show that around 1 in 5 people in the U.S. live with one or more disabling conditions. This adds up to more than 50 million people in the U.S. alone and more than 1.3 billion people around the world. A Firth Quadrant Analytics study also found that people with disabilities and their immediate friends and family around the world represent around $7 trillion in disposable income annually.
Americans with disabilities are about three times as likely as those without a disability to say they never go online (23% vs 8%), according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2016. This shows that there is a large portion of people in society who are missing out on using many essential services and accessing information and entertainment. The good news is that, with few exceptions, the technology needed to accomplish web accessibility isn’t difficult or expensive to implement on websites or apps if they are considered in the initial design of the sites and products.
The following statistics show how common certain types of disabilities are and reveal how certain types of vision, hearing, and cognitive conditions can negatively affect people’s ability to access web services:
It is important to remember that web accessibility features designed for the 20% of the population with disabilities can also be used by the other 80% of the population. Anyone can be affected by a situational disability where they would benefit from accessibility features:
Having a legal framework around accessibility ensures that companies are given a clear incentive to make their web services accessible to the largest number of people possible. Many companies have rushed to embrace accessibility because of its financial and ethical benefits, but without a legal requirement to make accessibility a priority, it would take the majority of businesses much longer to implement accessibility features.
The 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) outlines digital accessibility requirements for companies in the U.S. The ADA is a set of laws put in place to prevent discrimination against people with disabilities in all areas of public life such as work, school, and transport services. The Department of Justice has also made it very clear that the ADA extends to people’s right to use the internet and online services.
The goal of WCAG 2.0 is to provide a clear methodology and a shared standard for digital accessibility that meets the needs of individuals, companies, and governments around the world. WCAG 2.0 is designed to apply to a broad range of web technologies now and in the future, as well as be easily evaluated or tested by a range of automated tools.
The guidelines help companies make sure their web content and apps are accessible on computers and mobile devices to a wide range of people with disabilities, including those with blindness and low vision, deafness and hearing loss, learning disabilities, cognitive limitations, limited movement, photosensitivity, and speech disabilities.
Companies face substantial risk of litigation if they do not meet accessibility responsibilities. Any member of the public is well within their rights to use the accessibility legislation that exists as part of the ADA to argue that their needs are not being met by a company or public organization.
Companies that fail to take accessibility into account in planning and building their digital services face not only the risk of unhappy customers, reduced revenues, and damaged reputations, but they also face direct financial consequences. Since 2015, there have been more than 250 federal lawsuits filed in the U.S. against various organizations regarding accessibility.
Here are some of the cases that highlight companies’ requirements to meet the accessibility requirements of the ADA:
These recent legal cases demonstrate that, regardless of size or products and services provided, companies are being held to ADA requirements. It is good business to allow as many people as possible to access your company’s products and services, and there are very real legal and financial consequences involved.
Incorporating accessibility features, such as captions or text-to-speech capabilities, in a website does involve additional costs to organizations and developers. But there is also opportunity cost associated with not providing those features, effectively preventing customers from being able to access your site and services.
The WCAG guidelines outline principles and techniques for making web content
“perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.” This means that users should be able to access content, use interactive elements, understand and navigate content, and use the content on their chosen device.
These are the three most important ways to achieve those goals for website content:
Other common assistive devices to consider are Braille readers for hearing/reading text or images, screen magnifiers for low vision users, and keyboard or joystick navigators for people who cannot use a mouse or standard input controls.
Web Accessibility and the Law Interview:
Christian Antkowiak, a shareholder at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney
The first step in automated testing involves running a test against the WCAG 2.0 principles. Automated testing can identify 20% to 30% of the compliance issues and are a starting point to familiarize yourself with the WCAG requirements.
Accessibility testing software is not infallible. These tests don't possess the subtleties needed to identify areas of only partial compliance with regulations. Manual testers can provide a multitude of test including using keyboard-only testing schemes to identify where issues might occur for people who cannot use mouse or touch interfaces to access the web. This involves testing all interactive parts of the site:
Other manual tests include testing pages and case scenarios with a screen reader or a screen reader emulator to experience how a webpage will respond to a user that wants to use text-to-speech capabilities.
BoIA clients receive a breakdown of all checkpoints that don’t comply with the WCAG 2.0 A/AA standards. By blending the automated computerized results with those identified by our manual testers, we provide our clients with a comprehensive view of any accessibility issues within their websites and/or mobile applications.
Digital technologies have become so widespread that they now influence almost every aspect of our everyday lives. We can use our smartphones, equipped with any number of apps, to complete a huge variety of tasks from information searches to purchasing tickets, using public transport, or paying bills. These tasks have been identified by the Department of Justice as essential for modern living, and it is therefore vital that people with disabilities are not prevented from also being able to take advantage of these types of services and opportunities.
All organizations, large and small, should make sure they are aware of their accessibility obligations, and in doing so, they will mitigate their risk of facing an accessibility lawsuit while maximizing their revenue base. Wider accessibility means a better online experience for everyone.
Is your web accessibility knowledge up-to-date? Find out today with our 2-minute web accessibility quiz.
Additional Resources You May Be Interested In:
Download Our Website Accessibility Checklist
Get A Free Automated WCAG 2.0 Scan Of Your Website
Achieve web accessibility & reduce your legal risk with comprehensive web accessibility testing, consulting & remediation services.
Call us today 401-830-0075.