2023 WCAG & ADA Website Compliance Requirements
Wondering how important it is to make your website accessible? It is crucial to ensure that your website is accessible to people with disabilities. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) have set standards for making websites accessible to people with disabilities.
So what are WCAG and ADA?
WCAG is a set of international accessibility standards developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). WCAG 2.1 has three levels of conformance: A, AA, and AAA. Level AA is considered the minimum level of conformance for most businesses.
ADA is a federal law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in all areas of public life, including employment, education, transportation, and public accommodations. While the ADA does not specifically mention websites, the courts have ruled that websites are considered public accommodations and are therefore subject to the ADA.
What are the requirements for website compliance with WCAG and ADA?
The WCAG and ADA web content accessibility guidelines, compliance requirements are designed to make websites accessible to people with a wide range of disabilities, including visual, auditory, physical, and cognitive disabilities. These requirements cover a variety of areas, such as:
Text alternatives: All non-text content, such as images, videos, and audio files, must have text alternatives that describe the content. This allows people who cannot see or hear the content, to still understand it.
Structure and presentation: The structure and presentation of the content must be logical and predictable. This allows people who use assistive technologies to navigate the site and understand the content.
Input assistance: Users must be able to input information into the site in a variety of ways, including using a keyboard, mouse, or other assistive devices.
Error prevention: Users must be able to avoid and correct errors easily. This includes providing clear error messages and allowing users to re-enter information.
How can I make my website WCAG and ADA compliant?
There are several ways to make your website WCAG and ADA compliant. Here are a few suggestions:
Use a web accessibility auditing platform: There are several web accessibility initiative platforms (like Wally) available that can help you identify potential accessibility issues on your website.
Hire a web accessibility consultant: A web accessibility standards consultant can help you make your website compliant with WCAG and ADA.
Make changes to your website's content, structure, and presentation: You may need to make changes to your website's content, structure, and presentation in order to make it more accessible. This could include things like adding text alternatives to images, providing keyboard navigation, or making sure that your website is readable by screen readers.
Provide input assistance to users who need help entering information into your site: You may need to provide input assistance to users who need help entering information into your site. This could include things like providing autofill options or allowing users to enter information using voice commands.
Prevent errors and make it easy for users to correct errors: You should take steps to prevent errors and make it easy for users to correct errors. This could include providing clear error messages and allowing users to re-enter information.
Why is it important to make my website WCAG and ADA compliant?
There are several reasons why it is important to make your website achieve your ADA and WCAG guidelines checklist. Here are a few:
It is the law: The ADA requires businesses to make their websites accessible to people with disabilities.
It is good for business: Studies have shown that businesses with accessible websites have higher customer satisfaction and loyalty rates.
It is the right thing to do: Everyone deserves to be able to use the internet, regardless of their disability.
By making your website accessible, you make it open to more of your target audience, which has the potential to increase your top-line. Wally is a comprehensive accessibility platform that can help you identify and resolve any website accessibility issues. Our platform not only points out areas that need improvement according to WCAG 2.1 and ADA guidelines, but it also suggests custom codes for every improvement suggested, which just need to be copy-pasted.
We recommend you to have a free trial right away, to understand the real value we can offer you. Let's work together to make the web more equal for everyone.
