July 26 2017 // Education

Website Accessibility - Is Your Site Compliant?

ADA Compliance is about more than just physical accessibility. It stretches into the online world as well.

Website Accessibility - Is Your Site Compliant?

 

What is Website Accessibility?

Website accessibility, also referred to as ADA compliance or WCAG 2.0, is the modern equivalent of the wheelchair ramp. Businesses are obligated to provide accessibility to all users and there has been a growing effort to regulate public websites in order to ensure ease of use for the impaired and disabled.

Does my website need to be compliant?

Good question. This is best answered by your legal counsel. Similar to a wheelchair ramp, each business has legal obligations specific to their industry and unique situation. The general rule of thumb is as follows: if your business is required to be ADA compliant, then you are also obligated to maintain your website similarly.

Since website accessibility is still in its infancy, most businesses have not had the chance to update their websites. It doesn’t help that the standards are still being finalized. The US government’s ADA compliance rules have a general stipulation that websites must be made accessible, but what that means exactly is left unspecified. A better guide to follow is a global standard known as WCAG 2.0. This is what most developers will use to determine conformity to the general ADA requirement.

How does it change my website?

For the most part, the changes to your website will not be noticeable to the general user. Most accessibility changes are made to optimize content for screen readers and other assistive hardware. These changes generally affect only the underlying code and metadata. For example, a sight-impaired visitor will be able to read through page content more easily using their unique software. Sometimes the visual design will need to be adjusted in order to meet color contrast requirements. For example, a color blind or visually impaired individual will benefit from colors that are easier to differentiate.

Development process.

Building a compliant website can be done in two ways. You can update your current website to make the current design accessible, or you can start anew. Sometimes doing a website overhaul/redesign is cost effective, since significant development time might be necessary regardless.

Does my site need an update?

You should determine two things: does your business's website need to be ADA compliant, and how bad is your current website. We can help with the latter. We offer free consultations to answer any website questions you may have. If necessary, we’ll scan and assess your website to determine the accessibility status of your site. Contact us now at 515.331.7400 or ideas@appliedart.com


 

Back To All Articles

Written By

Julian State

Published In

Custom Development Web Design Web Usability B2C Web Development

Share

Related Articles

HOW TO RANK YOUR VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE

Did you know you can reach thousands of ideal prospects a month for free - just by ranking your videos in search on Y... read more
4 WAYS AI IS TRANSFORMING MARKETING WITHOUT YOU KNOWING IT

Newsflash: Artificial Intelligence, or AI, isn’t what you think it is. It’s not evil computers taking over the world.... read more
OUR TOP 5 WAYS TO BUILD AN EFFECTIVE CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY THAT GETS ATTENTION

    Content marketing is a great way for businesses to connect with potential customers earlier in the cust... read more
VIMEO OR YOUTUBE...WHAT’S THE BEST VIDEO PLATFORM FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

YouTube or Vimeo? Which platform should your business use to share videos? The simple answer? Both.  ... read more
THE 10 BEST FILMS OF 2018

2018 has been a tumultuous year for cinema, to say the least.   The definition of film itself is becoming incre... read more
10 LESSONS IN TABLE MANNERS WE LEARNED AT THE MOVIES

Happy Turkey Day, everyone! It’s that special time of year — the time when it’s socially acceptable to gorge yo... read more
"NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD" TURNS 50: THE ZOMBIE EFFECT

Celebrating a Cult Classic   50 years ago this month, a then-unknown director of television commercials and indu... read more
BUILD YOUR BUSINESS SITE WITH MUST-CLICK WEB COPY

As a marketer or business owner, you already know how important it is to have the right messaging for your customers.... read more
CELEBRATING 25 YEARS: TOP 10 BEST (AND WORST) 90S FASHION TRENDS

Applied Art & Technology is turning 25 this month, and to celebrate, we're taking a look back at all things 90s! ... read more
CELEBRATING 25 YEARS: SIX FILMS FROM 1993 YOU NEED TO SEE AGAIN

This month, Applied Art & Technology turns 25! To help ring in our silver anniversary, we’re taking a look at so... read more
10 MUST-SEE FILMS FROM THE FIRST HALF OF 2018

While you’ve been strapped to your desk and bolted behind conference room doors all year, you’ve likely missed out on... read more
12 STEPS TO IMPROVING TRADE SHOW BOOTH TRAFFIC

In today’s ever-evolving business climate, trade show events still persist. Why? Because they work. Trade shows provi... read more
VIDEO FOR FUNDRAISING

If you’re one of the 1.5 million non-profits registered in the United States, you have a lot of competition for chari... read more
EXPLAINING EXPLAINER ANIMATIONS...WITH AN EXPLAINER ANIMATION

    Two minutes. That’s how long it takes for most animated explainer videos to fully communicate a main po... read more
THE 10 BEST EXPLOSIONS IN FILM HISTORY

It’s that magical time of year again. Hot dogs and hamburgers. Baseball and apple pie. Fireworks and noise ordina... read more
IGTV: WHAT YOU MUST KNOW AS A MARKETER

The Update On Friday, June 22, Instagram rolled out their newest mobile app update — creating some serious buzz... read more
SIX WAYS TO USE ANIMATED EXPLAINER VIDEOS

Animated explainer videos are everywhere. You know, those short, super engaging animations that visually present... read more
FOUR REASONS TO SCHEDULE YOUR OUTDOOR SHOOT NOW

Summer’s here and the livin’ is easy… camping, bonfires, and grill outs are all in full swing. It’s also the p... read more
FOUR VIDEO MARKETING TRENDS TO KEEP AN EYE ON

Fads and trends. Both are current. Both are popular. But one fades fast, while the other grows and evolves. Fads from... read more
ARKIT: THE FUTURE OF MARKETING

There has been plenty of buzz surrounding Apple’s iPhone 8, rumored for release in September. However, the most notew... read more
SHOULD YOUR WEBSITE HAVE A BLOG?

  Many business websites are focused on providing information, much of which doesn’t actually change that much. ... read more
8 TYPES OF CONTENT YOU SHOULD BE CREATING

We all experience information overload. Studies show we consume 34 GB of information or 100,500 words outside of ... read more
VR, AR OR MR...WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE & WHY SHOULD I CARE?

  If you’re up to speed on VR (Virtual Reality), then you’ve probably heard about AR (Augmented Reality), and if... read more
WHAT TO WEAR FOR THE VR REVOLUTION

Henry Ford said “You can have any color you want as long as it’s black.” There is one huge problem with the coming V... read more
SHOOTING DRONE FOOTAGE AND KEEPING IT LEGAL

Drones are everywhere. Martha Stewart uses one to survey her massive estate for areas to improve. In the near future,... read more
IMMERSIVE VIDEO; CREATING AN EXPERIENCE IN 360°

You stand on your surfboard off the coast of Tahiti. You look back to see the wave begin to swell behind you. You ste... read more
IS TIME-LAPSE PHOTOGRAPHY THE NEXT BIG THING IN MARKETING AND ADVERTISING?

How to get and keep your audience's attention. This is the ultimate goal of marketers and advertisers. Over the... read more
THE SECRET ADVANTAGE FOR CREATING PERFECT PRE-ROLL

You have 5 seconds You know what pre-roll is. Hopefully you’ve figured out who you want to target and how much you... read more
WHY CREATING PRE-ROLL VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE MAKES GREAT SENSE

What Is Pre-roll? You’re having a rough day, so you head to YouTube to find a little happiness in the “cat who rides ... read more
KEEPING YOUR NEW YEAR’S "RESOLUTION"

  By "resolution," we mean VIDEO resolution. In our world of ever-changing technology, it is easy to get lost i... read more
HOW LONG SHOULD MY VIDEO BE?

The answer is always: “it depends.” It depends on several things. Some of the most important questions we ... read more
5 COMMON WEBSITE CONTENT PITFALLS

We really enjoy making websites. We geek out about sleek hover effects and surprising transitions. It’s our own nerdy... read more
5 BEST USES FOR EXPLAINER ANIMATIONS

Explainer animations are short videos, usually used for marketing, that help explain a company's product or service. ... read more
3 REASONS TO USE A DRONE

We’ve all seen awesome towering high shots and adrenaline packed extreme sports footage captured by drones. People ar... read more
BEWARE STATS THAT END IN ZERO

Psychiatrist William Glasser’s research about how we retain information says that we remember: 10% of what we read ... read more
PLANNING A MULTI-GENERATIONAL INTERACTIVE

We recently shared the stage with one of our clients, The National 19th Amendment Society, at the annual Iowa Mu... read more
USING VIDEO FOR YOUR HOLIDAY GREETINGS

Well, it's that time of year again, chestnut roasting, tree trimming and holiday greeting season. Working with ARAG ... read more
YOUR NEXT SALES TOOL

Our interactive team recently built a sale iPad app for the Danish dairy company Arla Foods. Their eDetailing, or med... read more
53 USES FOR VIDEO

As bandwidth increases and video production methods become more efficient, businesses are using video as a primary me... read more
LET'S TALK PAGE FOLD

What is the page fold? Page fold is a term carried into the web from the print newspaper industry. It is the area of ... read more
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE? SINGLE, DUAL AND MULTI TOUCH MONITORS

This blog is an overview about the differences, best uses and relative costs of the various touch monitors. Single To... read more
GOOGLE+ FIELD TRIAL AND REVIEW

I've been testing the new Google+ social media site this week and so far I really dig it. I like the clean look and i... read more
THREE C'S FOR GOOD SEO

While designing and developing websites for our clients we are often asked about search engine optimization (SEO) bes... read more
VIDEO ON THE WEB - STREAMING VS PROGRESSIVE DOWNLOAD

ProsVideo on the web is becoming increasingly more important. Video has endless potential and offers an intimacy beyo... read more
IOWA HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION SOCIAL MEDIA CONFERENCE

After attending a great conference this past week - I felt the need to blog about my top ten takeaways. There's ... read more
LED DISPLAY COMPARISON

I just returned from another tradeshow in Las Vegas, Exhibitor2009, where we had an opportunity to partner with AV Di... read more
HOW TO SHOOT BETTER BLOG VIDEO

Here are three quick tips for shooting better blog video: First and most important - get yourself a good microphone. ... read more