The Americans with Disabilities Act is very clear: every website must be accessible to those who are disabled. A website that fails to comply with the ADA can be subject to ADA web accessibility claims and lawsuits.
Going over the problem of infinite scrolling and speaking with a New York ADA lawyer who is familiar with ADA web accessibility law will allow you to protect your website.
What Are The Core Principles Of ADA Web Accessibility?
The core principles of ADA web accessibility are as follows:
Perceivable.
Operable.
Understandable.
Robust.
If you want your website to be ADA-accessible, then you must offer features that support these principles.
Just as an example, if you want your website to be robust, then you need to make sure that it supports assistive technologies. And, if it doesn’t, you need to make adjustments so that it does.
Even though infinite scrolling offers many benefits, it can conflict with the core principles of ADA web accessibility.
What Is Infinite Scrolling?
Many websites feature pages that you can scroll through continuously. By doing so, there is no need for you to select “Page 2” – among other possibilities – or to select a new page; every piece of content is on the same page.
On its own, infinite scrolling offers convenience, ease, and elegance.
Even though infinite scrolling offers those benefits, it also offers a few ADA web accessibility problems. And with this fact in mind, these ADA web accessibility problems are as follows:
Finding the content you want can be quite challenging since there is often a lot of content on one page.
Going through the content on a page that offers infinite scrolling can take a long time.
Many screen readers have a hard time reading/clarifying the content on a page that uses infinite scrolling.
Getting to the very end of the page is difficult and, in some cases, nearly impossible.
Reaching the footer of a page that uses infinite scrolling is very difficult for assistive technologies.
Outside of the problems outlined above, infinite scrolling can and often does, lead to other problems. These problems can be outweighed by the benefits of infinite scrolling, but they do affect your website’s accessibility.
How Can You Avoid The Problems That Infinite Scrolling Creates?
The best way to avoid the problems that infinite scrolling creates is as follows: if you use infinite scrolling, set up a “Load More” button that demarcates the content on your page.
For example, if you have a page that contains all of your blog posts, then you can set up a “Load More” button that will appear after twenty entries.
If a user scrolls down and passes by twenty entries, then they will see a “Load More” button. And by clicking on this button, twenty more entries will load right below on the same page.
On its own, this strategy allows for infinite scrolling. But it also allows for something else: easier and far more precise navigation that supports assistive technologies.
Your website can feature infinite scrolling. If it does, though, make sure that your content is demarcated in some way. This will make it much easier for disabled users to use your website.
Speak With A New York ADA Web Accessibility Lawyer Today
If you have received an ADA web accessibility claim or lawsuit, then you may need legal assistance. Speak with a New York ADA web accessibility lawyer at The Samuel Law Firm today, and we will help you protect your website.
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