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See more information and links at: https://www.w3.org/WAI/perspectives/keyboard Web accessibility is essential for people with disabilities and useful for all. Learn about the impact of accessibility and the benefits for everyone in a variety of situations. Copyright © 2016 W3C ®

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Policies, Law, Regulations, Standards

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Web compliance - that state of observing and following all accessibility laws and regulations that apply to your website - should be an overall goal for your organization.
Why is Website Compliance Important?
Two-thirds of Americans now own more than one digital device, such as laptops, tablets, or smartphones.

So, it should come as no surprise that eight in 10 people in the U.S. make purchases using one of these devices. ¹ Increasingly, consumers rely on digital interactions with brands to conduct business and make buying decisions. A sizeable number of these individuals have disabilities.

The legislation protecting the human rights of people with disabilities has gradually become more extensive and more relevant, reaching into all areas of day-to-day activities to ensure that barriers are eliminated. And while accessibility in the physical environment is often what comes to mind first, it's certainly not the only way people with disabilities are participating in society.

For any organization that has a website, mobile app or other digital technology to the general public or within a group such as a workplace, web compliance with accessibility standards is an increasingly important consideration (If it's not, it absolutely should be!).

True accessibility means fully meeting the diverse needs of people with disabilities who interact with your company digitally.

What is Web Accessibility?

Disabilities can affect the way someone gets around in their community - they may use wheelchairs, for instance, or service animals. But disabilities can also affect the way someone navigates their digital environment.

Someone who doesn't have full use of their hands may not be able to use a mouse or trackball. They may use a keyboard or voice input instead.

Someone with a vision disability may not be able to see the text that appears on their computer screen. They may rely on a screen reader to read the words out loud.

A website is considered to be accessible when steps have been taken to ensure there aren't barriers, or any existing barriers are removed, that might prevent these individuals from using the website.

The world population of people with disabilities is growing. In fact, the actual prevalence of disability is also going up, in part because we're living longer. The rates of certain chronic health conditions that can cause disabilities, such as cardiovascular disease, are also increasing.

Even if the number of people with disabilities in our societies were modest, it would be unfair to discriminate based on disability. When you realize, however, that the size of this group is quite substantial - in fact, it's 15 percent of the global population - web compliance means more than just following human rights laws.

Additionally, it's a way to attract a vast consumer group to your online presence, ensuring they have a quality experience on your website while you introduce them to your products or services.

More than a third of U.S. households include someone who self-identifies as having a disability. When members of these households are planning purchases, you can be sure they take notice if accessibility efforts have been made.

Convinced yet?

What Does Web Accessibility Look Like?

Since disabilities can affect the way people interact online, web accessibility takes into account all the alternative methods of using technology.

That includes keyboard input and screen readers, but also other specialized software, different web browsers, and specialty hardware like switches.

Web accessibility also takes into consideration those people who may use conventional technology to go online, but then face potential barriers once they're there - such as poor color contrast, fonts that are hard to read when they're enlarged, or video files that don't have captions.

There are many accessibility features like these to consider. Many of the laws in place outline the specific technical accessibility standards required. Fortunately, there are also resources to ensure that web accessibility compliance is a straightforward process.

Website Compliance with Web Accessibility Standards & Laws

Not only is providing equal access a way to ensure you don't discriminate, it's also the law - or should we say laws.

It can be confusing and even overwhelming to determine whether or not your organization is covered by some or all of the laws that govern web accessibility, as well as what is required by each one, and how you can ensure you're in compliance with the law.

If you aim for the most universally accepted standard of web accessibility, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, you can be sure you're providing the best, most barrier-free experience possible to the disability community. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)'s Web Accessibility Initiative led to its development.

By following the WCAG 2.0 checklist, you can also be confident that you're in compliance with:

The Rehabilitation Act, which in Section 504 requires all federal government-funded programs and activities to be accessible. Section 508 requires all electronic and information technology in these programs to be accessible.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which bans discrimination against any person with a disability in the United States.

Do websites have to be ADA compliant? All communications technology, apps and websites must be fully accessible, regardless of whether your organization is federally funded. There are ADA checklists

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), ² which requires Ontario websites and web content to conform to the standards of WCAG 2.0.

How To Comply With Web Accessibility Guidelines

How can you ensure that your website is in compliance with accessibility requirements?

There are a few steps you can take. If you believe you're already in compliance, then you might test your website out with an web accessibility evaluation tool, also called a validator.

A WCAG validator is an automatic website compliance testing tool, so when you plug in your URL, you'll receive an instant report back. These kinds of web accessibility checkers provide guidance - they'll give you a fair idea of how well you're doing - but because they're automated and not necessarily thorough, there's no guarantee of web accessibility.

They're also not a repair service, so if a validator does identify barriers on your website, you will need to find a way to remediate them - and maintain your site going forward.

The next step, then, is to turn to a qualified, experienced accessibility consultant. It's imperative to seek out a firm that has expertise in web accessibility compliance and a proven track record.

They will do a thorough, human-led, hands-on audit of your website, testing all functions and environments.

They will assist and guide you with the remediation process to ensure that all aspects of your website conform to a high standard of accessibility. Often, they offer a monitoring service to ensure you stay in compliance.

Being Web Compliant Doesn't Mean Unappealing

Those who are brand-new to web accessibility are sometimes concerned it might hamper the quality of their website. If they strive to meet all the guidelines, won't their website's function and creative flair suffer as a result? It isn't true.

Experts will tell you that design and accessibility go together seamlessly - as they should! They'll also tell you that people with disabilities have tremendous buying power, and that making a point of engaging these customers is an approach that will pay off handsomely.

That's why we're confident that website compliance can be appealing on many levels. It's worth finding out more about how you can ensure that your brand is accessible - and inviting - to customers with disabilities.

An Innovative Solution

eSSENTIAL ACCESSIBILITY has developed a comprehensive accessibility solution to help organizations follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and achieve and maintain compliance with standards and regulations. This includes integrating web compliance evaluation services with assistive technology to deliver a transformative experience for people with disabilities. Learn more about eSSENTIAL ACCESSIBILITY's innovative solution.

References

1. Online shopping and purchasing preferences. Pew Research Center, December 19, 2016.

2. About Ontario accessibility laws. Ontario Government, September 26, 2016

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How To Ensure Website Compliance With Accessibility Standards

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Web compliance - that state of observing and following all accessibility laws and regulations that apply to your website - should be an overall goal for your organization. Why is Website Compliance Important? Two-thirds of Americans now own more than one digital device, such as laptops, tablets, or smartphones.

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How People with Disabilities Use the Web

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Mr. Lee wants to buy some new clothes, appliances, and music. As he frequently does, he is spending an evening shopping online with his tablet computer. He has one of the most common visual disabilities for men: color blindness, which in his case means an inability to distinguish between green and red.

More about Mr. Lee

Mr. Lee has difficulty reading the text on many websites because they use color combinations with poor contrast for text and images, which appear to him in indistinguishable shades of brown. For example, some websites highlight discount prices using red text, but all of the text look brown to him. Other websites use red to indicate required fields on forms, but again he cannot tell which fields have red text.

Mr. Lee prefers websites that use colors with good contrast, and indications that do not rely on color alone. One of his favorite websites accomplishes this by:

including the name of the color while showing a sample of the clothing;

adding the word "discount" to discounted prices in addition to showing them in a different color;

using text cues, such as an asterisk, to indicate the required fields on the order form in addition to showing them by color.

After additional experimentation, Mr. Lee discovered settings in his web browser that allow him to define customized color combinations for text, links, and the background. He also found a setting for high color contrast combinations in his web browser that he can switch on when he encounters websites that are difficult to read. However, this approach does not work for all websites - some are not coded to allow readers to override the default presentation.

Eventually, Mr. Lee bookmarked a series of online shopping sites where he could get reliable information on product colors or where he could override the colors, and not have to guess at which items were discounted.

Sections related to Mr. Lee
Diversity of web users: Diversity in web use: Accessibility principles: back to page contents
Mr. Jones is a reporter for an online journal who must submit his articles using a web-based authoring tool (a content management system - CMS) provided by the publisher. Over his twenty-year career, Mr. Jones developed repetitive stress injury ( RSI) in his hands and arms, and it has become painful for him to type.

More about Mr. Jones

Mr. Jones does not use a mouse because it strains his wrists. He also cannot type for extended periods of time without serious pain. After dedicated research and consultation, Mr. Jones developed an approach that allows him to continue working as a reporter. He uses:

keyboard with an ergonomic layout to relieve strain on his hands and arms;

web browser with keyboard support to use websites without a mouse;

voice recognition software to control computer functionality by voice;

mobile phone to dictate long passages of text rather than typing.

It took him several months to become sufficiently accustomed to using voice recognition software and be comfortable working with it for many hours at a time. It also took him a while to learn the keyboard commands built into his web browser and use them effectively on different types of web pages.

Still, Mr. Jones cannot use websites that do not provide keyboard support. For instance, some websites have forms and controls that do not have keyboard equivalents. To activate these, he would have to use a mouse instead of voice recognition or typing, and this would worsen his RSI. Many websites also do not provide mechanisms to skip over forms, menus, and other parts of a web page using the keyboard alone. To navigate through such websites, he would have to use the keyboard extensively, and this would again strain his hands.

For Mr. Jones to continue working with the publisher, web developers built customized workarounds into the CMS to add some of the keyboard support that was initially missing. It is not an optimal solution and only works for some of the functions, but the publisher intends to upgrade the CMS to one with full keyboard support, especially since other employees found that keyboard support was easier on their hands.

Sections related to Mr. Jones
Diversity of web users: Diversity in web use: Accessibility principles: back to page contents
Ms. Martinez is taking several distance learning courses in physics. She is 62 years old and has been hard of hearing since birth. She can hear some sounds but not enough to understand all speech, so she learned sign language early on in addition to the written language. She likes to use text messaging and chat to communicate with her instructors and classmates.

More about Ms. Martinez

She had little trouble with the curriculum until the university upgraded their online material to a multimedia approach, using an extensive collection of audio lectures. For classroom-based lectures, the university provided sign language interpreters and CART writers (professionals typing spoken language verbatim). However, for web-based instruction, they initially did not realize that accessibility was an issue, then said they had no idea how to provide the material in accessible format.

With the help of a local disability organization, Ms. Martinez was able to point out that the university was clearly covered by a policy requiring accessibility of the online educational material. She was also able to show the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as a resource providing guidance on how to make websites accessible, including those with multimedia content.

The university had the audio-only lectures (no video) transcribed and made these transcripts available through their website along with audio files. For multimedia presentations that include video and audio, the university provides captioning of the audio. Ms. Martinez uses a media player that displays these captions directly below the video so that she can better understand the context of what is being said.

Through this process, the university discovered many more benefits of transcripts and captions. For instance, it was much easier to comprehensively index the accessible multimedia resources and provide them to the search engine of the website. They also found they can provide captions in other languages to support international students, students who could not download or play the audio, and much more.

Sections related to Ms. Martinez
Diversity of web users: Diversity in web use: Accessibility principles: back to page contents
Ms. Laitinen is the chief accountant at an insurance company that uses web-based documents and forms over a corporate intranet. She is blind and does not read Braille, like many other blind computer users.

More about Ms. Laitinen

Ms. Laitinen uses her desktop computer and mobile phone to access the Web. On her computer she uses:

screen reader software that interprets what is displayed on the screen and generates speech output;

web browser with keyboard support to help use websites without a mouse.

She uses the keyboard to navigate websites, often by jumping from heading to heading to get an overview of what is on a web page. Her screen reader indicates the structural information on a webpage such as headings, column and row headings in tables, list items, links, form controls, and more. She has become accustomed to listening to speech output at a speed that her co-workers cannot understand at all. However, when websites are not coded correctly and do not include structural information, Ms. Laitinen would have to read every web page from top to bottom to find the information that she needs, which is unmanageable. She avoids such websites where she can, both for business and for leisure.

Her company uses tables to organize much of the information on the intranet documents, which can sometimes be difficult to read by people using screen readers. However, since the tables in these documents are marked up properly, she readily orients herself to the information in the tables. The materials also include alternative text for images, labels for form elements, and other navigational cues that are interpreted by the screen reader.

As one of the more senior members of the accounting staff, Ms. Laitenen must frequently train employees in different locations using a virtual learning environment. This includes video conferencing, document and slide sharing, as well as a live chatroom. It was a challenge to find a tool that is accessible to her and other employees with disabilities, but in the end, this proved to be more beneficial for most of the staff.

Sections related to Ms. Laitinen
Diversity of web users: Diversity in web use: Accessibility principles: back to page contents
Ms. Olsen attends middle school and particularly likes her literature class. She has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD) with dyslexia - a combination that, in her case, leads to substantial difficulty reading. However, with new accommodations to the curriculum, she has become enthusiastic about this class.

More about Ms. Olsen

Her school recently started to use more online curricula to supplement class textbooks. She was initially worried about the reading load since she reads slowly. She experimented with text-to-speech software that highlighted the text on the screen and read it aloud at the same time. She found she was able to read much more easily when she could see and hear the text, instead of struggling over every word.

When she goes onto the Web, she finds that some websites are much easier for her to use than others. Some pages have useful graphics and illustrations that help her quickly focus on sections she wants to read. In some cases, though, where the graphics are animated, it is very hard for her to focus and she is constantly distracted by the movement. She set her web browser to freeze or hide animated graphics so that she can concentrate on the relevant information but that does not always work on every website.

One of the most important things for her is the level of accessibility of the online library catalogs and the general search functions on the Web. Until recently, Ms. Olsen often needed to visit the library physically, to seek assistance in finding the information that she needs. Today, the accessible online library catalog of the school enables her to find the right information without any help at any time and from any device - her mobile phone, tablet, or laptop.

Her teacher taught a number of different search strategies, but sometimes the search options are still quite confusing for her. She finds that websites that provide error corrections and suggest alternative spellings assist her significantly. Also, websites that provide multiple navigation mechanisms such as a navigation bar, a search box, a sitemap, or bread-crumb trails, are easier for her to use.

Sections related to Ms. Olsen
Diversity of web users: Diversity in web use: Accessibility principles: back to page contents
Mr. Yunus is 85 years old and started to use the Web several years ago to stay in touch with family and friends and to read about art history. He has reduced vision, hand tremor, and mild short-term memory loss.

More about Mr. Yunus

Mr. Yunus regularly reads selected news websites and tracks several blogs that interest him. He also uses several social networking sites with which he can communicate with his children, grandchildren, other relatives, and friends. Mr. Yunus maintains a blog where he writes about art history and other topics that he enjoys. His grandchildren set up a photo-sharing website that his family uses to post pictures and videos, and he enjoys seeing family members who are far away and that he otherwise can not see as frequently.

Mr. Yunus has difficulty reading small text and clicking on small links and form elements. His daughter gave him a specialized mouse that compensates hand trembling and showed him how to enlarge the text on websites using the web browser settings, since enlarging makes reading texts and clicking links easier. His web browser has a zoom function that enlarges the entire page and a text enlarging setting that only increases the text size. He prefers to enlarge the text only rather than the whole web page since zooming the entire web page on his browser distorts the images and forces him to scroll horizontally to read some of the text. Besides the difficulty in using a mouse, it is also difficult for him to concentrate on scrolling and reading at the same time.

Unfortunately, Mr. Yunus discovered that many websites are not designed to support text enlarging. For instance, sometimes the text can not be resized, or the text on the web pages starts to overlap each other as he increases the text size. Another barrier that he encounters is CAPTCHA images that he finds on several social networking websites. These distorted images of text are intended to tell computers and humans apart, but Mr. Yunus cannot read the small and distorted text, even if he enlarges the image. Only a few websites provide alternatives to CAPTCHA images that are more accessible to him.

Mr. Yunus has gradually found and bookmarked websites that work well for him. He also found a web browser that helps him organize these bookmarks, and that shows him pictures of his favorite websites so that he does not need to remember their web address or name.

Sections related to Mr. Yunus
Diversity of web users: Diversity in web use: Accessibility principles: back to page contents
Mr. Sands has worked for the past year bagging groceries for customers at a supermarket. He has Down syndrome and has difficulty with abstract concepts, reading, and doing mathematical calculations.

More about Mr. Sands

Mr. Sands usually buys his groceries at the supermarket where he works because he is familiar with it. He sometimes becomes confused because there are so many product choices, and he finds it difficult to keep track of how much he is spending. He has difficulty re-learning where his favorite products are each time the supermarket changes the layout of its products.

Recently, he downloaded an app on his mobile phone for an online grocery store. He explored the app the first few times with a friend. He found that he could use the app without much difficulty because of clearly indicated items and easy to understand information and instructions in simple language. The navigation was consistent and easy to use. The app also provided a search functionality that helped him find items when the navigation did not show them immediately.

His friend also showed him accessibility features on his mobile phone that help him complete the order and checkout forms. These functions include word prediction which highlights a selection of possible words based on the first few characters that he can quickly select. Mr. Sands uses this feature frequently when he is entering text, for example when he is writing comments and product reviews. He is happy that the app provides an opportunity for him to review and correct entries before they are sent.

The app also offers an option that lets him select from a list of products that he has ordered in the past or that he chose as his favorites. Once he decides what he wants to buy, he selects the item and puts it into his virtual shopping basket. The app gives him an updated total each time he adds an item, helping him make sure that he does not overspend his budget.

Mr. Sands now shops on the online grocery store a few times a month, and just buys a few fresh items each day at the supermarket where he works. He is one of the many happy customers of this usable app.

Sections related to Mr. Sands
Diversity of web users: Diversity in web use: Accessibility principles: back to page contents
Ms. Kaseem uses the Web to find new restaurants to go to with friends and classmates. She is deaf and recently became legally blind too. In her case, this means she can see small portions of a screen, which allows her to read text when it is enlarged.

More about Ms. Kaseem

At home, Ms. Kaseem uses the following combination of hardware and software to use the Web:

screen magnification software to enlarge the text on websites to a suitable font size;

screen reader software that displays text on the screen on a refreshable Braille device;

large computer screen with high resolution and high luminosity (brightness).

She uses screen magnification to enlarge small portions of a web page on the entire screen. The magnifier also enlarges the mouse pointer on the display so that she can see it. When screen magnification is not sufficient, she uses a screen reader to drive the refreshable Braille display, which she reads slowly because she started to learn Braille only recently.

Ms. Kaseem also uses a portable electronic Braille notetaker when she is not at home. It is a small hand-held device with a refreshable Braille display that provides basic functionality such as note taking, calendar, e-mail, and web browsing. She has a device which also offers GPS, which she uses for orientation and to navigate around the city.

She often uses the website of her local public transportation service to plan her trips. However, the bus schedules get distorted when she enlarges the font because the text does not wrap and reflow properly. The schedules for the local train are in a different format that allows better enlarging. The local trains website also uses proper markup to indicate the page headings, column and row headings in tables, list items, links, form controls, and more. Her friend told her that this website was easier to use by others using a mobile phone too.

Ms. Kaseem found advice on Contacting Organizations about Inaccessible Websites and notified the web team of the public buses website about the accessibility barriers she encounters on the website. She also explained how the website of the public trains works better for her and other mobile phone users and hopes she will soon get a response.

Sections related to Ms. Kaseem
Diversity of web users: Diversity in web use: Accessibility principles: back to page contents

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Stories of Web Users - How People with Disabilities Use the Web ◦ Web Accessibility Initiative ◦ W3C

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Mr. Lee wants to buy some new clothes, appliances, and music. As he frequently does, he is spending an evening shopping online with his tablet computer. He has one of the most common visual disabilities for men: color blindness, which in his case means an inability to distinguish between green and red.

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Disabled on the Go - The site where contributors review accessibility of fitness, restaurant, hotel and entertaiment venues.

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The site where contributors review accessibility of fitness, restaurant, hotel and entertaiment venues.

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Web Accessibility - Test Your Site for Accessibility

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Date: Information on specific evaluation tools is updated frequently, as we receive it. In the "Detailed Information" for each tool, there is an "Information updated:" date. This user interface was updated in March 2016. The list was first published in March 2006.

Developers/Editors: Eric Eggert and Shadi Abou-Zahra. Current Content Maintainer: José Ramón Hilera González. User Interface developed with the Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG). Database maintained by the Evaluation and Repair Tools Working Group (ERT WG). Acknowledgements lists contributors and previous editors. Developed with support from the WAI-TIES Project in 2006, and updated with support from the WAI-ACT Project in 2014.

See Important Disclaimer above.

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Date: Information on specific evaluation tools is updated frequently, as we receive it. In the "Detailed Information" for each tool, there is an "Information updated:" date. This user interface was updated in March 2016. The list was first published in March 2006. Developers/Editors: Eric Eggert and Shadi Abou-Zahra.

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Providing website accessibility may become law...

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Providing website accessibility may become law...

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In 2010, the Dept of Justice released a Notice of Advance Rulemaking - stating that they were "considering revising the regulations implementing Title III of the ADA in order to establish requirements for making the goods and services offered by public accommodations via the internet, specifically the sites on the World Wide Web, accessible to individuals with disabilities"

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Last spring, I was approached by my local chapter of the Legal Marketing Association about presenting alongside attorney . The presentation was fun and informative, and I was honored shortly thereafter the opportunity to expand the focus for an audience of litigators at the 2017 Dana Hoffman of Young Moore on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and its application to law firm website design Amy Richardson of Harris Wiltshire & Grannis . Amy has worked on both the litigation and government enforcement sides of this issue and we're both looking forward to talking with attorneys representing clients across the business spectrum on this interesting topic. Defense Research Institute 's Retail and Hospitality Conference in Chicago. I'll be presenting on this topic this Friday alongside

To that end, I wanted to share a short post on the history of the ADA and websites, an update of where things stand from a legal perspective in the United States, and then review a few guidelines and resources that you should keep in mind if you are a person managing a website for a public facing business or organization.

The Legal Perspective: ADA Compliance for Websites

As I've dug into this topic over the last year, I have to say I've been most fascinated by watching the process of a law originally intended for physical spaces be considered for interpretation in the digital space.

For a bit of background, Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 deals directly with places of public accommodation -- think hotels, restaurants, office buildings, schools, etc. -- and has set forth extremely clear guidelines on physical locations and the standards they should meet to serve disabled populations.

All of that was well and good in 1990, when the then-nascent Internet was not the ubiquitous presence in the lives of Americans that it is today. For example, retail shopping in-person at a mall in 1990 was booming, unlike today where online shopping has completely changed the game for retailers. As time and technologies evolved however, the Department of Justice (DOJ), the entity charged with enforcing the ADA, hinted but never definitively stated that Title III may indeed be applicable to websites.

Upon first recognizing this possible application of Title III of the ADA in 2003, the DOJ laid out a Voluntary Action Plan for government agencies and private entities, and later followed that up with a short list of recommendations in 2007. In 2010, the DOJ seemed to be picking up steam on this topic when they released a Notice of Advance Rulemaking -- stating that they were "considering revising the regulations implementing Title III of the ADA in order to establish requirements for making the goods, services...offered by public accommodations via the Internet, specifically at sites on the World Wide Web, accessible to individuals with disabilities."

From this statement, it was forecasted by those in the accessibility community that formal guidelines would come down from the DOJ in 2015 -- a date which was later pushed out to 2017 for government agencies and 2018 for private businesses and entities.

Meanwhile, the tech community and our courts system were forced to deal with the issue on their own. First, the tech community coalesced around a set of standards via the World Wide Web Consortium, establishing the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines in 2008 and later updating them in 2012 (WCAG 2.0), when they were also adopted as an ISO standard . Today, web designers and developers across the world use WCAG 2.0 to guide their design and development, typically aiming to meet all of the standards under

On the legal side, ambiguity in the law and the speed at which technology and dependence on the Internet has developed created an opportunity for litigation all over our nation. As these cases have moved through our system, the courts have been nearly split -- with the 1st, 3rd and 7th Circuits ruling that the ADA does apply to websites, while the 6th, 9th and 11th Circuits have ruled that it does not. These latter rulings have all been based on the interpretation that the ADA is focused on physical location and requires a nexus test. Other circuit courts in the United States have yet to rule on the topic.

A Look Ahead

In January of 2017 the federal government moved forward with the adoption of WCAG 2.0 AA as the standard for federal agency sites , leading many in the accessibility community to believe that a full adoption of the WCAG 2.0 Level AA standards by the DOJ for websites both public and private would be forthcoming. As of the writing of this post, that has neither occurred nor been added to the DOJ's agenda, likely due to the installation of a new administration and other legislative priorities.

Without a crystal ball, it's difficult to gauge where the Trump administration will direct the DOJ on ADA regulations in relation to websites moving forward, if they do at all. The administration has already emphasized a desire to move away from regulation and those with a vested interest in the application of the ADA to websites have taken that as a signal that the already thrice delayed process will continue to be pushed down the list of priorities.

Why Accessibility?

So, you may ask, if the courts are divided and the DOJ doesn't currently have standards set -- or a timeline in place for setting standards -- around accessibility for private entities, why should you worry with having an accessible website for your business or organization?

Great question. From where I sit, here's why:

1. Your company's website is your primary communications tool and a vital part of your infrastructure. Your clients and customers -- both current and potential -- are coming to you from a wide range of backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. It makes good business sense to have a site that is accessible to as many people as possible to demonstrate to your users and clients that you understand their needs and want to meet them where they are in order to best serve them.

2. If you work to have a fully accessible website, you will already be up to standard when the ADA compliance regulations eventually evolve -- whether that's in this administration or the next.

3. Google and the government are already making asks around their expectations of accessibility as a cornerstone of website development. Google already rewards sites that check many accessibility boxes with higher rankings and the government has signaled that web accessibility standards will be required for government contractors . By building a more accessible website now, you may significantly impact your SEO and ranking potential, not to mention open the doors to possible work as a government contractor.

4. Your site will also be intrinsically stronger in both design and content because you and your web team will have taken the time to think through accessibility standards -- often seen as best practice guidelines in our industry -- thus ensuring a more robust and user-friendly web presence for all populations.

5. As long as this issue remains unclear and without set guidelines from the DOJ, companies like yours who do business on the web can expect that not bringing your site up to ADA standards could leave you open to the possibility of litigation.

Making Your Website Accessible

So, how do you start working toward a more accessible website for your business or organization?

1. Start by deploying the WAVE Chrome Extension to help you identify ways to improve on your site.

2. Review and frequently refer back to and for regulations and best practices, as set forth by the tech community.

3. Make a plan for your site that includes the mission of working towards accessibility in your next website redesign -- likely in the next 1-3 years max.

4. Keep compliance in mind when writing an RFP for your website and hiring vendors. Be sure to ask every web design or full-service digital marketing company you contract with about their experience building to WCAG 2.0 standards.

5. Keep an eye on mobile -- pay attention to your site on mobile and be sure that any updates you make to create a more engaging web presence still strives for accessibility for all.

The Quick Jumpstart -- What to Look for Today

1. Keep contrast in mind -- do headers and text stand out against the background of the site? Are they easy to read?

2. Deploy alt tags and descriptions for videos, animation and photography.

3. Write clear, concise copy -- don't forget translations if your business offers international services.

4. Think like a screen reader: does your site work without CSS?

The Bottom Line

Accessibility is important and should be a part of your company or organization's long-term digital presence strategy. As the web grows ever more refined and personalized, it will no longer be just other entities like the government, Google and the DOJ that expect your site to function with all possible populations in mind. Individual users of all backgrounds, abilities and experience will expect and demand that your site be clear, easy to use and accessible to all.

Further Reading

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Website Accessibility and the Law - ADA Compliance and WCAG 2.0

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Last spring, I was approached by my local chapter of the Legal Marketing Association about presenting alongside attorney . The presentation was fun and informative, and I was honored shortly thereafter the opportunity to expand the focus for an audience of litigators at the 2017 Dana Hoffman of Young Moore on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and its application to law firm website design Amy Richardson of Harris Wiltshire & Grannis .