For over 30 years the American Disability Act has governed how businesses provide accessibility for individuals with disabilities. This includes websites. In 2010 the Department of Justice published the ADA standards for accessible design. These stipulate that all electronic technology
must be accessible to individuals with disabilities.
Currently people are suing corporations if their site is not sufficiently accessible or understood. There are many things a website designer must bear in mind as they create a new site. Evolve's designers have been in the business for over 20 years and know, from the ground up, what goes into laying out and providing for individuals that have visual, dexterity and hearing disabilities. Some of the things we consider when designing your website are listed in the info graphic below.
If you want to know even more, check out this site:
ADA Standards for Accessible DesignOpens a new window.
Have you been served?
Evolve creates websites that are W3C and ADA compliant. We can also redo, modify or overhaul your existing website to become ADA compliant. Often this can be a long process, but we're in it with you as your site becomes compliant and will help it stay compliant as your living website continues to change and grow over time. Let us partner with you as you provide content, products and/or services to everyone.
Before you say that "it looks fine to me", take your web address over to this site:
Website Accessability TestOpens a new window
Things to bear in mind
- So who actually needs to be compliant? If you sell online, accept money from the goverment, or are in higher education, you can be sued. Some judges have ruled that all websites must be compliant.
- The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) lists 61 guidelines for compliance. To the right you'll see several to start. If you don't know how to do them, call us.
- In 2018 about 2000 lawsuits were filed against businesses that individuals deemed not in compliance, including Winn-Dixie, Beyonce, Peet's Coffee and 50 colleges like Cornell, Lyola of New Orleans and Vanderbilt University.
- Image Alt Text:
All images site wide must have descriptive alternate text.
- Headers:
Headers should be in logical order (eg. h1, h2, h3...).
- Keyboard Navigation:
Websites must be navigable by keyboard alone.
- Captions:
All video and audio content must have captioning.
- Lists:
Format lists with proper <ul>, <ol>, and </dd> tags. You can't use div tags within lists.
- No Flashing Graphics:
These can cause seizures in some individuals. They will have trouble buying from you if they are seizing.
- Accessible Forms:
Use descriptive, well-positioned labels for each field in your forms.
- Pause Option:
When using carousels and other moving elements, have a pause button.
- Tables:
Properly format tables, using descriptive column and row headers.