The Ultimate Guide to Achieving ADA Compliance

WCAG and the ADA

More than 20 years ago, the DOJ interpreted the ADA’s Title III to apply to public websites. Although the ADA’s Title III doesn’t name a specific technical standard for determining accessibility, the most consistently cited standards for upholding compliance in court rulings are versions 2.0 and 2.1 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), WCAG provides a roadmap for how businesses and organizations can make their web content more accessible to people with the following disabilities:

• Visual
• Auditory
• Physical
• Speech
• Cognitive
• Language
• Learning
• Neurological

The lack of an official standard has been a sticking point in many court cases, most notably the Domino’s accessibility case (Robles versus Domino’s Pizza LLC). In 2017, the case was dismissed, citing the fact that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) doesn’t recognize any formal web accessibility regulations. However, in January 2019, the decision was reversed and sent back to the lower court—a monumental decision.

After the 2019 reversal in the Domino’s case, a group of senators, led by Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General William Barr, asking the DOJ to clarify once and for all how the ADA applies to websites. Previously, in 2018, 103 congressional representatives sent a similar letter urging the DOJ to clarify whether the ADA applies to websites.

Although the DOJ hasn’t released specific regulations for ensuring ADA compliance, this doesn’t excuse businesses from having to make their websites and apps accessible to people with disabilities. In the Domino's case, Circuit Judge John B. Owens wrote in the court’s opinion:

The Risks of Not Achieving ADA Compliance

According to Quartz, year-over-year retail foot traffic dropped 97.6 percent in March 2020, largely because of retailers closing in order to slow the spread of COVID-19. For many people with disabilities, especially those with compromised immune systems or underlying health conditions, online shopping became the only viable option during the pandemic. As brick-and-mortar locations closed, many businesses—especially small, local mom-and-pop shops—quickly set up websites in order to inform customers about adjusted hours, changes in services, and more.

Although these websites allowed businesses to serve customers better, they also made businesses vulnerable to lawsuits, because, in the mad rush to get products online, many likely didn’t consider whether they were ensuring accessibility.

Unfortunately, an ADA web accessibility defense and settlement can cost businesses tens of thousands of dollars, which does not include the cost of fixing the website or app. In 2019, web accessibility lawsuits were filed at a staggering rate of one per hour, with at least 20 percent of ADA-related cases targeted at mobile sites and apps.

Among the digital accessibility lawsuits filed in the United States:

• 66 percent were aimed at top retailers
• 60 percent were aimed at top restaurants
• 21 percent were aimed at businesses that had already been sued for the same issue

In the first weeks of March 2020, accessibility lawsuits in the United States continued to be filed at the same rate as 2019—with 40 to 50 per week primarily in New York and Florida—but that rate slowed in April as everyone adjusted to lockdown and shelter-in-place orders. Now, however, cases have picked back up because, even while social distancing, it’s easy to file a federal complaint or issue a demand letter.

Speaking during a May 2020 UsableNet webinar, Melissa Daugherty, chair of Lewis Brisbois’ ADA Compliance & Defense Practice, a vice-chair of the Labor & Employment Practice, and a partner at Lewis Brisbois, shared some insights on the current environment for web accessibility in California:

WCAG versions 2.0 and 2.1, as well as the forthcoming version 2.2, are built upon four foundational principles that describe functional accessibility and are known as POUR:

1. Perceivable: Information and user interface (UI) components must be presented in a way that is easily processed by all users.
2. Operable: UI components and navigation must be operable by all users, such as those using a keyboard instead of a mouse.
3. Understandable: Users must be able to perceive and use a website, but they also must be able to understand it (i.e., the content and navigation cannot be beyond understanding).
4. Robust: Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted not only by a variety of platforms, browsers, and devices, but also by assistive technologies.

According to WCAG, there are specific success criteria for testing your content based on three levels of conformance. Each level includes the standards from the prior level(s), comes with an increased effort to remediate and maintain, and can have an increased effect on the visual design.

WCAG 2.0 was adopted in 2008 and includes the following three levels of conformance:

1. Level A: You must meet 25 success criteria. For example, at this level, you can’t identify something by color, as in “Push the red arrow to go back.”
2. Level AA: In addition to meeting the 25 success criteria from Level A, you must meet 13 additional success criteria, such as color contrast standards.
3. Level AAA: In addition to meeting the 38 success criteria from Level A and Level AA, you must meet 24 additional success criteria (for a total of 62). For example, at this level, you would need to remove any element that could cause a user to have a seizure, such as an element that blinks or flashes three times per second.

WCAG 2.1, which was adopted in 2018 and is backwards compatible with version 2.0, added more success criteria as follows:

• Level A: Five additional success criteria
• Level AA: Seven additional success criteria
• Level AAA: Five additional success criteria

Among the additions in WCAG 2.1 are guidelines for improving web accessibility on mobile devices and for achieving accessibility for people with low vision and cognitive disabilities.

Although WCAG 2.2 hasn’t been released yet, some success criteria will be moving from Level AA to Level A, and there will likely be up to 12 additional success criteria to address people with cognitive and learning disabilities, as well as those who use mobile devices and read e-books.

 

Pro tip: As a general rule, most organizations should aim to achieve Level AA standards, because these are the most widely adopted standards by laws such as Section 508, the U.S. Air Carrier Access Act, and Canada’s Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. 

Step 1: Plan

Start by establishing company goals for digital accessibility, including the channels you must address, the standards you’ll abide by, and the timeline for achieving these. This step should involve nearly every department because achieving accessibility starts with a company-wide culture shift.

Key stakeholders to include:

• UX and design
• Development
• QA
• Management
• Compliance and legal
• Marketing

Step 2: Implement

Next, create an accessibility policy and statement. The policy should explain why accessibility is crucial to your company’s operations and speak to your executives, employees, volunteers, board members, and other internal stakeholders, while also clarifying each team’s role in the process. The accessibility statement should speak to your customers, partners, vendors, and the general public, providing a transparent look into company operations and explaining your vision, mission, and priorities.

Key stakeholders to include:

• UX and design
• Development
• Management
• Compliance and legal
• Marketing

Step 3: Test

Next, you need to actively evaluate your current level of accessibility in order to determine how much work is ahead. To get an initial gauge of where you’re at, use a free, automated online testing tool to evaluate your site for WCAG conformance. These free testing tools can determine whether your site has coding, design, content, or other elements that could prevent a person with a disability from using your site in the way it’s intended to be used.

However, automated testing isn’t enough. Automated tools only test for a portion of WCAG success criteria (i.e., the low-hanging fruit), which is why you need to do manual testing and user testing, too. It’s important to work with an accessibility expert to audit your entire user experience in order to better understand the most highly trafficked pages and common user paths. Finally, to round out your battery of accessibility testing, do user testing with people who use assistive technology, such as a screen reader.

Key stakeholders to include:

• Development
• Project management
• Management
• Marketing
• User testers

Step 4: Review and Remediate

With testing complete, do a deep dive into the findings, evaluate options, and plan for remediation. Due to the resources and expertise needed to fix website or app accessibility issues—and verify conformance—third-party support is typically required and highly recommended.

Key stakeholders to include:

• UX and design
• Development
• QA
• Management
• Project management
• User testers

Step 5: Maintenance

Achieving web and app accessibility isn’t a one-off project. Because many apps are updated weekly and websites change constantly, accessibility is an ongoing commitment and must be treated as such. Whenever you update your website or app, it’s imperative to ensure that you’re conforming to WCAG.

• How urgent is your need for an accessible website?
• Does your team have the time and resources for this project?
• Do you have the right skills and processes in place?
• Do you have sufficient legal awareness to make your website accessible?
• Do you have a plan to maintain accessibility as your site and content change?
• How complex is your website (e.g., e-commerce would be complex, whereas a corporate site would be simple)?
• Do you use any third-party integrations (e.g., live chat, ratings, payments) that will need to be brought onboard?
• How often do you make changes to your website (e.g., weekly, monthly, annually)
• Have you previously tested your website for accessibility?
• Is your website built and maintained in-house or by an outside partner?

Depending on your answers, you may need to find a partner to help you achieve compliance and work with you on an ongoing basis to maintain conformance. As you begin investigating potential accessibility partners, here’s what to look out for:

What to Look for in an Accessibility Partner

What to Avoid

What to Prioritize

Companies that use widgets Companies that use overlays Inexperienced agencies/developers Agencies that can’t or won’t provide case studies or past client testimonials Companies that use automated tools only Companies that don’t offer user testing Companies that use a one-size-fits-all approach to achieving compliance

A partner with experience (ask for relevant case studies and to speak to current clients) A partner that involves real people with disabilities in the process A partner that uses a proven methodology and processes that are comprehensive and go beyond just automated tools A partner who is going to put you and your customers first A partner who has a transparent, efficient, and customized process for your company and customers

 

If you’re concerned about costs, there is a way that your business could offset some ADA accessibility compliance costs: the Disabled Access Tax Credit. Businesses with up to 30 employees or revenues of $1 million or less can qualify for the Disabled Access Credit, which provides financial support for accessibility-related costs, such as hiring additional staff, converting files or documents to new formats, and any other initiatives that will make your site accessible to customers or employees.

Whether you’re pursuing accessibility because it’s the right thing to do or because you’ve been ordered by a court, it’s important to get an accurate estimate of the approximate cost to make your website or app accessible, as well as the cost to maintain it through changes over the course of at least a year.

Also, it’s important to remember that if you’re beholden to a settlement agreement, you should remediate as early as possible so the deadline and costs don’t sneak up on you. Doing web and app accessibility right the first time means that you don’t have to go back and fix things that could have been caught during the initial remediation phase.

Misconception #1: Achieving Accessibility Only Involves the Development and Design Teams

If your goal is to achieve ADA compliance, then everyone at your organization has to share the same commitment to accessibility because everyone has a role to play—including customer support, content creators, testers, in-store associates, HR, and so on. When everyone is onboard with the same target of compliance, not only does your company culture change to one driven by accessibility, but it can also help reduce ADA compliance costs because every digital asset and corner of your digital footprint will be taken into consideration.

Misconception #2: Achieving Compliance Is a One-Time Project

Similar to how accessibility isn't only a problem for development or design to solve, accessibility also isn’t a one-off project. The initial accessibility remediation is a small piece of a larger, long-term process that requires company-wide buy-in, ongoing commitment, and a budget in perpetuity. Companies that take a project-based approach typically slip out of compliance later as digital assets evolve, resulting in lost time, money, and potential lawsuits.

Misconception #3: The Business Benefits of Ensuring Accessibility Aren’t Worth the Cost

Achieving accessibility not only improves usability for people with disabilities, but viewing accessibility as an innovation can have far-reaching benefits for all users. Did you know that the typewriter, telephone, punch cards, text-to-speech technology, email, and voice controls were originally created to benefit those with a disability? These innovative technologies ended up having much broader applications, but their origins were founded in delivering accessible experiences.

Accessibility improvements can help your website’s SEO and improve usability for all users. Furthermore, committing to accessibility will help your company avoid costly lawsuits and lost customers because your website has barriers to people with disabilities. When you’re proactive about accessibility and not reactive, you can save your company time, money, legal fees, and hassle.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, achieving accessibility shows your customers and users that you care about them and that you want them to have access to the same experiences as everyone else.

Misconception #4: Becoming Compliant Will Slow Us Down

With the right training, tools, resources, processes, and partners, you can include accessibility in your software or product development lifecycles—instead of treating accessibility as something extra to tackle, it will simply be part of the process.

With a technology platform like UsableNet Assistive, you can have a fully accessible website within weeks—not months. By using an accessibility management platform like UsableNet AQA, you can help your team scale and keep pace with rapid code and content changes.

Misconception #5: Compliance Can’t Be Achieved in a Cost-Effective Manner

If achieving accessibility is a priority for your business, you can budget for it. The important thing to remember about accessibility is that the value of having a website or app that is in compliance with the ADA is priceless for people with disabilities.

The right partner will help you find a solution that ensures your site is accessible in the most cost- and time-effective way possible, while also delivering the best technology and services so you can scale when you need to. An option like UsableNet Assistive can deliver ADA compliance fast and for far less than hiring or training internal teams.

If you’re ready to make sure that your websites, apps, and other digital assets are fully accessible to users with disabilities, then you need a partner with unmatched expertise in technology and knowledge of industry best practices. No matter what level of assistance you need to achieve ADA compliance, we can reduce your costs by establishing a streamlined process that includes:

• Conducting automated, manual, and user testing—plus, training your team members to do testing themselves
• Implementing a scalable automated testing technology to help with remediation and maintaining accessibility
• Testing for usability
• Providing regular reports that accelerate remediation and improve oversight
• Integrating seamlessly into your current processes and technology investments

We recognize the complexity of the task at hand, and we’re here to provide a steady, helpful hand to guide you through it.