What You Should Do If You Face An ADA Website Lawsuit
Web accessibility is fundamental for website owners, developers, business people, and managers. There is always a chance of their ending up with an ADA website lawsuit for accessibility issues. Unfortunately, there has been an increase in ADA accessibility lawsuits over recent years. And as every website owner is at risk of facing one, you should know how to avoid web accessibility cases in the first place. And if you unknowingly face a lawsuit, you should know what to do to make your website fully ADA-compliant. This article explains more about web accessibility and what you should do if you do face an ADA website lawsuit!
What is an ADA website lawsuit?
An ADA website lawsuit is a lawsuit made against you because your website is not fully accessible. And the reason for this is that websites are now more like public accommodations that should be easily accessible to everyone without any discrimination. Many people wonder why there is so much hype over non-compliance issues, especially when the internet and websites have been around for so long. Well, it’s because there were not many sites doing business on the internet in 1989 upon the passing of the ADA. Besides, no one knew how much the internet would affect our everyday lives today!
Today everyone uses the internet for everything, like shopping, finding jobs, and booking tickets. With these changes and necessities, the average adult uses the internet for about six hours every day, looking for information and doing some form of online work. This includes disabled people who may use the information for the reasons mentioned above. So take the example of visually impaired users who want to find something or some information online. They generally use the help of assistive technologies like screen readers to access online information. If they land on your website and cannot access it, they lose the privilege of visiting and using it!
Besides, this cannot be very pleasant to disabled users as they cannot access your site to gain information or do business with you. For reasons like this, the disabled may opt to file a case against you for an inaccessible website. This claim that they make is called an ADA website lawsuit!
What is American Disabilities Act or ADA compliance?
ADA is the Americans with Disabilities Act acronym and is a federal law protecting people with disabilities. It states that your website should comply with the ADA and provide equal access to everyone to your web content. With over a billion people suffering from some disability, this is a critical act ensuring equal web accessibility to everyone!
How to avoid web accessibility lawsuits
The best way to avoid ADA accessibility cases is by testing to ensure your entire site complies with ADA. This is where these tips prove helpful:
# Audit your website accessibility
# Use ADA-dedicated plugins and experts
# Learn about accessibility requirements
# Remediate issues and keep up with changes
# Use ADA-dedicated plugins and experts
# Learn about accessibility requirements
# Remediate issues and keep up with changes
5 Ways to Reduce Your Risk of a Web Accessibility Lawsuit
It is easy to understand possible discrimination against users with physical disabilities in brick-and-mortar government agencies and stores, like the absence of ramps for wheelchairs. However, it is not so easy to detect issues on your website. Your company website may be violating ADA Title III without your knowing it. And if this happens, a blind plaintiff can legally file a claim for being denied equal access rights. So to prevent this from happening, here are some of the best ways to make your website accessible and avoid any possible title III-related litigations. Hire a relevant expert at ADASiteCompliance we will ensure your website accessibility lawsuits!
1. Know the requirements to conform with WCAG 2.1 AA standards
2. Have a professional audit done
3. Address the most critical barriers first
4. Create a roadmap for ongoing monitoring
5. Hire website accessibility experts
2. Have a professional audit done
3. Address the most critical barriers first
4. Create a roadmap for ongoing monitoring
5. Hire website accessibility experts
If you receive an ADA lawsuit, you mustn’t ignore them. Instead, read it carefully and hire the right attorney. Get a website audit done, and make the necessary changes to your website. You generally get a maximum of 21 days to respond to the lawsuit. Make sure you document everything and make the required moves on time. So if you want help to make your business website ADA accessible, reach out to the #1 place for all ADA website compliance issues, adasitecompliance.com!
