Your Website: An Extension of Your Storefront

In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court in 2019 chose to uphold a lower court’s decision and determined that the website of a commercial entity with a public accommodation is an extension of their place of business, meaning that their websites must be accommodating to people with disabilities. While this win for the disabled community should be celebrated, it can be confusing as a business owner to convert your website into an ADA compliant site. Here are the major steps one should take when converting.

Does My Site Need to be ADA Accessible?

A reasonable question to ask, as the American Disability Act is not a blanket act, and its guidelines only apply to a specific, albeit large, portion of businesses in the United States. For starters, all government entities, departments, and agencies, whether at the federal, state, or local level, must bring their website into compliance. For businesses, only those with a place of public accommodation must make their website accessible. Title III of the act gives twelve categories of businesses that feature public accommodations. These twelve are:

  1. Places of Lodging, such as Apartments, Hotels, and Rehabilitation Facilities
  2. Restaurants, Bars, and other establishments that serve food or drinks
  3. Entertainment Centers, such as theaters or stadiums
  4. Public gathering centers, like lecture halls
  5. Retail or Rental Stores, such as moving centers or grocery stores
  6. Service establishments, which can range from hospitals to law offices to barbers
  7. Public transportation terminals like bus stations
  8. Museums, Libraries, and other public centers of knowledge
  9. Outdoor recreation centers, such as parks and zoos
  10. Places of education, from nurseries to universities
  11. Social service establishments like homeless shelters or retirement homes
  12. Recreational Exercise facilities like gyms, but also golf courses and spas

A good rule of thumb is that, if ninety percent of the foot traffic within your business is performed by employees, such as in manufacturing plants and warehouses, then there is probably very little need to bring your website into ADA compliance. However, there are edge cases, and if you are not certain on whether your business needs to be ADA compliant, you can always contact the Department of Justice directly and speak with an accessibility specialist. Their contact information can be found by clicking here.

Should I Make My Website ADA Compliant If I Am Not Required To?

This question is ultimately up to you, but we 7C Lingo would like to point out the amount of money lost each year by corporations ignoring the disabled population. According to the Valuable 500, an initiative designed to tackle prejudiced views towards the disabled, an estimated $13 trillion is lost per year due to ignoring disabled consumers. For those businesses that want to connect with the disabled community but do not see a reason to update their website, consider working with a local organization and connecting with certified professionals, such as ASL interpreters, to ensure that you are connecting with every person interested in your product, regardless of ability

What Are the Features of an ADA Compliant Website?

The Department of Justice laid out a series of rules for determining the accessibility of a website in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or the WCAG. The broad strokes of these guidelines come out to four major categories:

  1. Perceivable – This clause ensures that all information on a website is available in multiple formats to ensure that anyone, regardless of condition, can consume said information. This includes generating captions for video and audio content, text is properly spaced for the visually impaired, and the color chosen for the text is distinguishable from the background with regards to the colorblind.
  2. Operable – To be within accordance with this guideline, a website must allow for multiple methods of navigation. This means that a website must be navigable via just a keyboard, or that all the information is presented so that a screen reader can accurately read out all sections. This section also emphasizes that all elements of a website pose no risk in causing a seizure for those with epilepsy.
  3. Understandable – This section lays out the rule that a website must follow consistent formatting to ensure easy navigation for the disabled. Instructions for reaching certain pages must be clear and concise, legal documentation such as terms of service must be upfront and transparent, and that forms are simple to fill out and lack redundant information.
  4. Robust – This generalized guideline is designed to ensure that all websites maximize compatibility with users and whatever software they need to navigate. While there is leeway here, as new software is being developed daily, this clause mostly refers to ensuring that difficult-to-access file formats do not become the norm.

Based on these guidelines, the Department of Justice will analyze the accessibility of your website and give it a rating, letting you know what is working as intended and what needs more attention. These inspections are usually only done when a third-party contacts the Department to run an audit on the website, so it is best to get ahead of the curve and plan out your website to ensure you are not surprised later down the line.