If you think about the time, money, and effort that is put into making your company’s website look and perform great, you’re probably pretty proud of the end results. Creating an engaging and professional website that is on-brand and makes it clear what your products and services are is something that companies pour a lot of resources in. But here’s a question to also ask yourself – is your website ADA compliant? If you don’t know what ADA compliance is, there’s a good chance your website isn’t meeting the guidelines.
Let’s dig in a little deeper with the experts at accessiBe, who are blazing the trail when it comes to web accessibility solutions and WCAG and ADA compliance. They are here to discuss what it means to be website compliant and why exactly it’s so important.
What Does It Mean to Have an Accessible Website?
For accessible, this is a question that customers are constantly asking. So, what does it even mean to have an accessible website? It comes down to a very basic principle – which is that your website needs to be accessible by all. All too often those with disabilities end up having issues trying to access websites thanks to mobility, hearing, or visual impairments. They end up having a very different experience online in comparison to those without any sort of disability.
Some of the features and tools that may not be accessible to all include the forms, images, pop-up menus, menus in general, links, icons, and buttons. These are all features that play a pivotal role in how the website works and how visitors can navigate through the content.
Why Is It So Important?
So, why exactly do you need to focus on making your website accessible to all? The fact is that if you’re ignoring a significant segment of the market, you are actually missing out on potential revenue, and you’re sending a negative message to visitors that their business isn’t important enough to make the website accessible to them. As a business owner, there is nothing more important than the brand image and making sure you appeal to as many markets as possible. The last thing you want to do is frustrate an entire population.
It Goes Deeper than Frustration
Now here’s something else you may not realize: not having an accessible website is poor planning on your part and will end up frustrating people, but did you also know that it can lead to you being sued? This is where compliance comes into effect, and as a business owner, it’s your responsibility to ensure you’re following all the regulations and guidelines. This is exactly why accessiBe has perfected an automatic solution for its customers. It uses cutting-edge AI in order to go through all your content and search for any accessibility issues that need fixing and can even go ahead and fix those issues.
Making sure your website is accessible for all not only puts the right message out to the public; it also protects your business from potentially being sued.
