Every website, as per the Americans with Disabilities Act, must be made accessible to those who are disabled. If a website is not accessible to those who are disabled, then it is in violation of the ADA and can be hit with a lawsuit.
Going over seven key web accessibility issues that you should be aware of and speaking with an ADA web accessibility lawyer will allow you to protect your website from an ADA web accessibility lawsuit.
7 Key Web Accessibility Issues You Should Be Aware Of
Issue 01: No Headings/Subheadings
A strong set of headings, coupled with subheadings, makes it easy for those who are disabled to navigate your content and understand its purpose.
Outside of the above, subheadings also make it easy for those who are disabled to understand the purpose of each section within your content.
Given this fact, you should make sure that every piece of content on your website is broken up with clear, concise, and accurate headings and subheadings.
Issue 02: No Captions
Every video on your website must be accessible to those who are disabled.
The easiest way to make a video accessible is to include captions – or, for that matter, a transcript – so that those who cannot see or hear can understand the video you have posted.
Issue 03: Incompatibility With Assistive Technologies
A core principle of ADA web accessibility is “Robustness.”
Or, more specifically, being compatible with a wide variety of different assistive technologies.
You must test out these technologies – or hire someone else to do so – in order to make sure that your website supports them and that, in turn, those who rely on them can use your website.
Issue 04: A Lack Of Alternative Text
Just like videos, the images on your website must be ADA-accessible. And the best way to do this is to develop alternative text for each image that clearly describes the image and its purpose. This allows those who can’t see to understand these images.
Issue 05: Poor Color Contrast
A poor color contrast makes it difficult for those who are disabled to understand the content they are accessing.
Just as a basic rule, the color contrast on your website should be 4.5:1.
If the text on your website is dark, then, as per the metric clarified above, the background should be light. This ensures that the content is easy to read.
Issue 06: Content With Time Constraints
Some web content – certain types of web media, for example – is bound to a time constraint.
On its own, this is fine. But, those with disabilities cannot always go through a piece of content within the amount of time that this time constraint allows for.
If you have content that comes with time constraints, ensure the amount of time within that constraint can be extended or, if possible, allow the constraint to be ignored altogether.
Issue 07: No Support For Keyboard-Only Navigation
Every website must be accessible using just a keyboard. This is a crucial rule within the WCAG. And in order to make sure your website is accessible using just a keyboard, you must test it out and make any necessary changes.
