Making sure everyone can use your website is an important concern, especially for your business focused on practicing law, financial services, and healthcare.
Companies, large and small, are being sued because their site does not allow the sight impaired to visit and navigate your site.
All this is based on the ADA, or the Americans with Disabilities Act*. While most think this applies to handicapped parking spaces, accessibility ramps and braille signs, it’s now being important that your website can be viewed by everyone.
* For more information on ADA, visit https://ada.gov
Does your site work for all your users?
Accessibility means you care about your clients and customers.
We provide several services that helps determine how compliant you are. From initial audits that tell us where problems exist, to every detail about how your site can be seen, we providing safe and secure websites—and are here to help you.
A Simple Solution: Making your site more accessible
Before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s really important to note, the fix can be a simple one. Our site, for instance, provides great functionality, giving sight impaired users more options when visiting your site.
In the upper right corner, you’ll note an icon, which stands for accessibility.
Click the icon, access the Accessibility Menu and see the options. Click, Read Page to see the screen reader we’ve installed,
While this addresses many concerns, there’s more we can do. Using a tool like this is a great start and we follow through by providing other best practices built into your site.
Screen Readers
Understanding how others view your website is what this exercise is all about. Screen readers are apps that read the contents of a site for the user, often in painful detail, describing every element on the page. Minimizing these elements makes for a better experience and is worth the effort.
Considering the needs of different users makes the difference. A little effort pays off—and might just avoid a lawsuit. We advise you to get ahead of the issue.
At PracticeDev, we help resolve challenges like making your site more accessible and are here to help you navigate both the technical and human side of developing your practice.
Here’s a great link to a Review of 10 Screen Readers.
In the News
Businesses ‘sitting ducks’ for lawsuits because websites aren’t ADA compliant
This article and video from Florida television station, News 8 in Tampa, shows how one local retailer is facing litigation. The article relates that…
In 2018, there were 2,285 ADA website lawsuits filed in federal courts across the nation. The majority of lawsuits originate in Florida and New York.
The retailer states that, “Lawyers tell me to just settle. You can’t fight ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you fight this, you’re going to quadruple your bill”.
