The answer to the question written above is, “Yes, ADA web accessibility should be a priority when you are creating a new website.”
Going over why, exactly, this is the case and speaking with an ADA web accessibility lawyer if you need any legal help will allow you to protect yourself from any ADA web accessibility-related legal issues.
Why Should ADA Web Accessibility Be A Priority When Creating A New Website?
Right before we can go over why ADA web accessibility should – and, in fact, must – be a priority when creating a new website, we must clarify what, exactly, ADA web accessibility is.
The Americans with Disabilities Act is a legal act that prohibits discrimination based on disabilities.
To ensure that disabled people are not discriminated against, every business – among a wide variety of other entities – must implement certain provisions that allow their services to be accessible to those who are disabled.
Every single facet of this basic rule applies to websites. And, with that in mind, in order for a website to be considered ADA accessible, it must be:
-Perceivable
-Operable
-Understandable
-Robust
If a website is not those things and, as such, not ADA accessible, then the people who run the website can be hit with a lawsuit that alleges their website is inaccessible to those who are disabled.
3 Reasons Why ADA Web Accessibility Should Be A Priority When Creating A New Website
Reason 01: You Will Protect Your Business
Just as mentioned in the previous section, your website must be ADA-accessible. And, if it isn’t, then you can be hit with an ADA web accessibility lawsuit that can and will affect you and your business.
Given this fact, if you wish to protect your business, as well as yourself, from the consequences of an ADA web accessibility lawsuit, then you must make your website ADA-accessible.
A failure to do so can lead to a lawsuit that dramatically hurts your finances, as well as your business’ reputation.
Reason 02: You Will Improve Your Website’s Ranking
To ensure that your website can be found on search engines, you must be cognizant of something called “SEO.”
Or, alternatively, “Search Engine Optimization.”
A wide variety of methods and tools can be employed to improve your SEO. But, one of the easiest, within this context, is making your site ADA accessible.
Google, one of the world’s leading search engines, actively penalizes websites that people either don’t spend much time on or are difficult to navigate.
If you make your website accessible to those who are disabled and easy to navigate, then those people will use it, and Google will reward it.
Reason 03: You Open Yourself Up To New Users
Many of those who are disabled use and rely upon the internet.
A website that is inaccessible to those who are disabled is a website that a large market cannot access.
If you make your website ADA accessible, then the people who comprise this market can use your website, allowing you to reach more people through your website.
