ADA stands for Americans with Disabilities Act. For a business firm that has a website for internet marketing, it is crucial to be ADA compliant. It is all the more important for those online businesses that have no offline stores as such. To help you understand better, we have divided this article in a number of questions.
What is ADA compliance for websites?
To make electronic information and technology accessible for people with disabilities like visual or hearing impairment, the Department of Justice (DoJ) has set out certain Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design for business websites to comply with.
Can your business website be sued if it is not ADA compliant?
Yes, your business can legit face a lawsuit if your business website is not ADA compliant. In fact, many studies show that ADA website accessibility lawsuits are most of the times directed towards small and medium enterprises. The number of such non-compliance litigations has increased over the time. In both 2018 and 2019, over 2,200 lawsuits were filed in federal courts. Moreover, settling such cases whether inside or outside court can be very expensive. Many enterprises have gone bankrupt in settling such suits. So, if your website is not ADA compliant yet, get it done ASAP!
Is ADA compliance important for only American websites?
If your website is based in some country other than America but you do business in America too anyway, your website still needs to be ADA compliant. Any business operating in America needs to have an ADA compliant website, if they do.
However, even if your business does not operate in America, it is still best advised to have your website ADA compliant as it would be one task less when you decide to go global. Moreover, many countries have their own legal acts ensuring electronic information and technology access for specially abled people.
Apart from the legal aspect, it is only a good thing for your business website to be inclusive of people with disability.
What to do if you get sued for non-compliance of ADA for your website?
If this happens, the first thing you’d do is panic— something you should make a point to avoid. Try to keep calm. Firstly, your focus should be on identifying the problem in your website and correcting it. The sooner you remedy ADA compliance issues of your website, the better.
And the next is not exactly the second thing to but it should be done meanwhile you fix the problem in your website– get professional help. Talk to your attorney or seek help from outside organizations that specialize in dealing with such situations– in fact, such organizations have a team of experts that can help you with making your website ADA compliant.
Go for the ‘in-court’ or ‘out-of-the-court’ way?
If you find yourself facing an ADA compliance lawsuit, it is better to go for out-of-the-court settlement than to go for a trial since court trials are way more expensive. This is the route most of the companies tend to take. In any case, you will need to have professional advice from either an attorney or an ADA accessibility expert.
How to prevent ADA website lawsuits?
As is the good ol’ saying, “Prevention is better than cure.” It is better and in fact much easier to prevent your website from ADA lawsuits than to look for remedies later. Here are a few things you can do to prevent ADA website accessibility lawsuits-
Get an accessibility audit done for your website.
Yes, now you can get an accessibility audit done for your website to make sure that your website is ADA compliant. Now, there are many ADA accessibility audit services available on the internet that can help you find ADA compliance issues in your website.
Keep your website updated according to ADA standards.
After getting the audit done, it is important to make the relevant changes in your website in order to keep it up to date with ADA standards.
Stay updated.
Such laws are dynamic and keep changing. It is important to constantly keep an eye on such changes and upgrade your website accordingly.
In conclusion
Mastering internet marketing requires being on the qui vive for laws and codes concerning digital marketing and ADA compliance for a website is just as crucial. Moreover, the ability to empathise with consumers is one of the essential traits of a good marketer. This inclusiveness will only help you further expand your audience and customers.
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