What's the deal with ADA Website Compliance?

[mikepcservice]

Hey guys, this morning my inbox is being flooded with with emails warning about fines and being sued for a site not being ADA compliant, is this just hype or for real please?

https://blog.cws.net/5-reasons-your-website-should-be-ada-compliant

 

[Tim Colling]

This legal threat is very definitely real, at least for companies located in the USA.

 

[mikepcservice]

thanks. Any idea what it costs to make your site ADA Compliant or what exactly needs to be done?

 

[djbaxter]

https://www.3mediaweb.com/blog/7-steps-to-make-sure-your-website-is-ada-compliant/
Web Accessibility - Test Your Site for Accessibility

https://achecker.ca/checker/index.php
https://www.powermapper.com/products/sortsite/checks/accessibility-checks/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbes...ite-for-ada-and-wcag-compliance/#35def49567bf
https://www.mediacurrent.com/blog/5-website-accessibility-checkers

 

[Tim Colling]

That is a great list of resources!

 

[mikepcservice]

This is a LOT of requirements:

https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/quickref/
Any idea what it costs to do get that done please?

 

[djbaxter]

Really you can do most of it yourself. It's just time consuming.

 

[djbaxter]

Use one of the checkers. I used Web Accessibility - Test Your Site for Accessibility on one of my sites and there's not that much to change really:

Best Practice	Instances
Provide alternative text for images <svg>	40
Ensure links or controls that open new windows or frames do not open without a warning <A>	8
Ensure links do not directly target images <A>	3
Ensure link text is meaningful within context <A>	1
Ensure ARIA regions, landmarks and HTML sections are identifiable <NAV>	4

 

[mikepcservice]

My research is showing "Ambulance chasers connect with someone with disabilities and start suing a ton of sites, this is the heart of the issue it seems so it’s more of an extortion issue and not the law itself pursuing this?"

 

[pony]

Some people are serial suing websites for non-ada compliance but it's not working for them, as the courts have realized they are just the equivalent of a patent troll. I wouldn't worry about someone with nefarious plans when it comes to ADA, but make sure your site is actually usable by those whom may have a disability or impairment.

Simple as that. Just like the rest of SEO don't over complicate it.

 

[mikepcservice]

Also, I did a test here of one of my sites and this is what it's showing:
Does that mean only those 2 issues showing needs fixing?

 

[djbaxter]

That would be my interpretation, yes.

To be safe, try it on a couple of different testers from the list above.

Also note that I think most of these testers are done on a page by page basis so you may need to check a few (or all) of the pages on your site.

 

[mikepcservice]

Ohhh, I had thought the tester would test all pages and show the report based on that but yes for safety that would be the best way to go, will do.

I also wonder if web developers bear any liability for this issue since a site owner can say well it's my web developer who built the site so it's his/her responsibility?

 

[djbaxter]

Ohhh, I had thought the tester would test all pages and show the report based on that but yes for safety that would be the best way to go, will do.

There may be a site tester somewhere that will crawl the pages on your site for compliance (as there is with speed testers) but that would almost certainly be a paid service.

I also wonder if web developers bear any liability for this issue since a site owner can say well it's my web developer who built the site so it's his/her responsibility?

I wouldn't count on that. Your site, your liability. Of course, you could always countersue the developer but unless you have a contact indicating that ADA compliance was one of the requirements I don't think that would go anywhere.

Basically, this is like GDPR compliance (and the similar new California bill and whatever is coming in Canada): you can always ignore it until someone complains but I think doing that is more dangerous in the US than in Canada. In the US, people are as a rule more litigious in general and the courts are more likely to support such suits.

 

[Wirenut]

My research is showing "Ambulance chasers connect with someone with disabilities and start suing a ton of sites, this is the heart of the issue it seems so it’s more of an extortion issue and not the law itself pursuing this?"

I would worry about using these checker websites, it seems like a perfect place for one of those ambulance chasers to purchase a list of failing websites to sue.

This happens around here with small businesses. Shyster lawyers team up with people with disabilities to find the tiniest little issue with a local small business and sue them. They usually end up settling because it is in the best interest of the small business, who has just been legally extorted.

 

[djbaxter]

Sometimes there's a fine line between caution and paranoia.

 

[mikepcservice]

I think this article pretty much covers everything in a nutshell and lists the 8 requirements
https://www.digitalauthority.me/resources/ada-compliance-website/
but I think those 8 items would require revamping of a site or having to build an entirely new site and look at what the average site owner might need to pay someone for this:
Pricing - accessiBe

Pricing Accessibility | EqualWeb

 

[djbaxter]

No you don't need to revamp your entire site. Most of what is required is alt text in various places to accommodate voice readers.

 

[mikepcservice]

I would worry about using these checker websites, it seems like a perfect place for one of those ambulance chasers to purchase a list of failing websites to sue.

Is that legal for checker sites to provide that info?

 

[mikepcservice]

What about these plugins especially the first one?

https://speckyboy.com/wordpress-plugins-website-accessibility/
Since not every SEO person has the technical knowledge to fix all of the issues and may need to pay a developer to fix whatever, I am wondering if a plugin might be sufficient?