The Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA was passed almost three decades ago. At first, it covered all legal requirements a business needs to fulfill to allow people with disabilities easy access to their business premises. The objective of the ADA is to achieve an equal experience to all people – whether handicapped or not.
The ADA was amended in 2016 to include web presence. Lawsuits targeting businesses with websites not compliant with the ADA have been on the rise since then. Some of the businesses to be hit with lawsuits include restaurants, hotels, retail shops, and more. People with disabilities file cases against businesses when they have websites that are not properly coded to assist those with disabilities.
If you own or operate a business with customer access, you should have a website that is compliant with ADA rules and regulations. For example, your website should provide a screen reader for those who are blind. If not, you should be prepared to face lawsuits over time. That’s where PERC comes in handy. PERC is made up of a team of highly motivated technological experts committed to excellence. They provide a website audit that will identify the areas of your website that are not in compliance with the ADA. Over 96% of remediation will be identified and corrected by PERC’s AI tool, with the remaining pieces done by hand. Choose PERC to make your business website ADA complaint without further delay.
The CDC or Center for Disease Control states that your website isn’t accessible to:
- 8.1-million visually impaired
- 2.0-million blind
- 7.6-million auditory impaired
- 19.9-million motor-impaired (cannot use the mouse) and
- 2.2-million epilepsy sufferers in the United States alone.
Failure to comply with Section 508 of the Department of Justice’s ADA Standards for Accessible Design may expose your business to hefty fines or expensive criminal and civil litigation. Not only that, your business will get a bad reputation for being unfriendly to the disabled. A website that doesn’t meet WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards could be fined up to $50,000 for the first violation as well as up to $100,000 for the second violation. There have been hundreds of lawsuits and thousands of demand letters targeting some of the popular websites in the world. That’s why you need to code your website to make it compliant with the requirements of ADA. PERC is a reliable source to make your website ADA-complaint in as little as 48 hours.
Why Are ADA Regulations Important?
Every commercial establishment wants customers to easily access what they have to offer. The ultimate goal of ADA compliance is to eliminate exclusivity and allow equal access to all people – whether disabled or not. People with disabilities shouldn’t have to struggle to access the product or service you offer on the internet. That’s why your website should be ADA compliant. The act wants businesses to be inviting to every customer via physical location and website. An ADA compliant website should meet the WCAG 2.1 website compliance guidelines and offer a user-friendly experience to all its customers.
What Is WCAG 2.1 Website Compliance And Why Is It Important?
The WCAG 2.1 is the current guideline used to determine if your website is ADA compliant. WCAG 2.1 was released at the end of 2018. Following these guidelines will make your website accessible to a wider range of people with disabilities – which includes accommodation for blindness & low vision, hearing loss & deafness, speech disabilities, limited movements, photosensitivity, and a combination of all these. The WCAG 2.1 states that:
- Users should perceive all relevant information in your website content
- Websites and apps should support both landscape and portrait display orientations
- Identify input purpose of the customer – for example, the autofill option when filling a form
- Users should be able to increase the distance between paragraphs, rows, and characters without losing functionality
- Users should operate the website interface successfully, and more…
What Is ADA Section 508?
Section 508 of ADA compliance requires federal agencies to develop and maintain information and communications technology (ICT) that is accessible to people with various disabilities – regardless of whether they work for the federal government or not. Federal employees with disabilities should be able to do their work on accessible computers, phones, and equipment in their offices.
How Can You Tell If Your Website Is ADA-Compliant?
According to WCAG 2.1 guidelines, your website content should be perceivable, understandable, operable, and robust to all people who access your site – whether disabled or not. The best way to know if your website is ADA compliant is to have a website audit by the experts at PERC. The experts at PERC will identify the areas of your website that are not in compliance with ADA requirements. They will generate a report for all content that needs to be changed or replaced to be compliant with the regulations of ADA. PERC’s AI Plugin will complete almost 96% of the work required to make your website ADA compliant. PERC will provide a list of changes that should be made and an estimate for them to perform this work on behalf of you.
You will receive a certificate and an accessible statement once all the changes have been made. PERC will also install the “PERC ADA Compliance™ Plugin.” The plugin’s AI will automatically update daily to keep your website ADA compliant. The best thing about the entire process is it can be completed in as little as 48 hours. That’s why you need to choose PERC today without waiting until you are served with a lawsuit.
With the help of PERC, your business is protected from all the frivolous, rediculous lawsuits that are increasing daily. Your business is protected while people with disabilities will have easy access to what you offer when you rely on PERC to make your website ADA compliant. On the other hand, if your business has been already served with a lawsuit, we can refer you to our attorney in Minneapolis that has specialists in ADA litigation.
