An Increase in Web Accessibility Lawsuits
In 2017, there were 814 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) web accessibility-related lawsuits filed. Fast forward to 2018 and this number jumped to 2285 lawsuits, a 181% year-over-year increase. While every state had lawsuits filed, New York, California, and Florida saw the highest number. Additionally, the most targeted industries included retail, food service, travel/ hospitality, banking/ financial, and entertainment & leisure, though no industry is immune.
It seems all companies and industries we deal with on a regular basis have a necessary digital footprint. The ADA is ensuring this world is fully accessible to everyone, and the digital world is no exception. That is why they have compliance rules in place for every site on the world wide web. The ADA requires certain businesses to make on-site accommodations for people with disabilities.
These accommodations touch many facets of your website and are related to:
- Website Presentation
- Website Appearance
- Content Alternatives
- User Control
- Website Usability
“How do I know if my website is ADA compliant?”
A reasonable question to pose. But here is the tricky part: Although failure to create an ADA-compliant website could negatively impact your brand, there are no clear regulations defining website accessibility. And what’s more, the ADA has declared that there is no real “defense” for failing to meet regulations, leaving many a little lost.
As a general guideline, you can protect your business by adhering to Level AA compliance regulations. This laundry list of regulations can be difficult to digest. Additionally, it is not easy to manually ensure on a regular basis that your site remains compliant as new content is added. 10 Pound Gorilla recommends leveraging 3rd party software solutions to help identify compliance issues.
10 Pound Gorilla & Monsido
Monsido will scan piles of data on your website for compliance issues and report back on the changes that need to be made in order to have a website that is accessible to all of your potential customers! As it scans your domain weekly, the platform organizes compliance standards by level. (A, AA, and AAA) You can begin with low-level fixes and work your way up. Monsido offers features that will help you maintain compliance such as:
Page Assist: an accessibility toolbar that gives visitors to your site with & without disabilities control over the way in which they view your website. This toolbar can serve as a badge of compliance and potentially deter lawsuits.
PageCorrect: a widget* within the platform which allows you to detect compliance issues and quickly remedy them without modifying or editing your website. Once edited, the platform flags these quick fixes so you can go back and provide resolve them in the actual website code at your convenience.
Even though Monsido detects ADA issues for you, compliance can still be overwhelming. 10 Pound Gorilla is here to support your ADA needs! We are hosting a free webinar on Wednesday July 24th at 2pm EDT. We have assembled a panel of industry experts to teach you about the risks and solutions around ADA compliance. Register for the webinar today.
Glossary of Terms
*Widget- An application, or a component of an interface, that enables a user to perform a function or access a service.
Sources
2018 ADA Web Accessibility Lawsuit Report