Most business owners find out about website accessibility the hard way, through a demand letter. Lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act over inaccessible websites have become routine in the US, and restaurants, retailers and local service businesses are common targets. The good news is that most of the problems behind these claims are fixable, and fixing them also makes your site better for every visitor.
What accessible actually means
An accessible website can be used by people who rely on screen readers, keyboard navigation, captions or larger text. The standard most people point to is WCAG, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
The checklist that covers most of the risk
- Every image has meaningful alt text, and decorative images are marked as decorative
- Text has enough contrast against its background
- The whole site works with a keyboard alone, with a visible focus outline
- Forms have real labels, not just placeholder text
- Buttons and links say what they do (no more "click here")
- Headings follow a logical order
- Videos have captions
- Menus and PDFs are available as real, readable text, not just images
- Pop-ups can be closed with a keyboard and do not trap the user
A warning about overlay widgets
Plenty of companies sell a one-line script that promises instant compliance. Many accessibility advocates and practitioners are critical of these overlays, and businesses using them have still been sued. They are not a substitute for fixing the site itself.
If you receive a demand letter, talk to an attorney before you respond. Then fix the issues regardless of how the claim turns out, because the next letter is usually not far behind.
How we handle it
Every site we build is designed and coded with accessibility in mind from day one, and we run audits for existing sites that list exactly what to fix in order of risk. Accessible sites also tend to be faster, clearer and better for SEO, so it is rarely wasted money.
