ADA Compliancy – What does it mean?

Sep 10, 2020 – Carlsbad, CA

The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) became a law in 1990. It prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities by enforcing standards to places used by the general public such as business, schools, and transportation.

Title III specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability based on 12 categories.

Because the ADA was enacted prior to the world wide web/ internet, Title III does not specifically address the internet or provide guidance for websites. However, within the last few years Title III of the ADA has been interpreted to include websites.

So, what does this mean for your online business and ADA compliancy?

The answer can be quite confusing and complicated. When addressing the requirements for online business it’s been ruled both ways by the courts. Because websites are considered a place of public accommodation some believe that commercial websites should be subject to the ADA. Others have decided the ADA law and how it was written does not govern websites.

Therefore, ADA compliance is NOT mandatory for your website. Still it is a good idea to lean towards compliancy since the amount of lawsuits have heightened over the last few years.

How does a website become compliant?

The current general standard for online accessibility regulations are the WCAG 2.1 guidelines. There are 3 levels of compliancy – A, AA, and AAA.

• A – Most urgent and includes problems that can severely limit a disabled visitors ability to navigate / use a website.
• AA – These issues tend to be more functionality based, addressing these issues enables the disabled user to have a better or improved experience of a site. **This level is considered the target level or standard for most commercial websites.
• AAA – This level is typically beyond the scope of any websites reach.

If your website is WCAG2.1 Level AA compliant you {should} be considered site accessible.

There are many apps and 3rd party companies that help make websites accessible and free from the concern of litigation.

Reach out to Fan & Fuel for company recommendations on who we use for our clients!