In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed to ensure that individuals with disabilities have access to the same opportunities as everyone else. Since then, public-serving businesses have been legally obligated to guarantee that their buildings and websites are accessible to people with disabilities.
It’s, therefore, important for all business owners, including medical professionals, to prioritize making their website ADA compliant, as failure to do so could potentially result in a costly lawsuit.
ADA Compliance for Websites
People with vision, hearing, or other disabilities may not be able to access a website. This includes not being able to read the content, hear audio or video files, or navigate through the website with a mouse or keyboard.
In response, a ruling was passed declaring that websites must be accessible to people with all types of disabilities. Title III of the ADA in the official standard of website accessibility for businesses states, “Places of public accommodation are required by law to remove access barriers that would inhibit a person with disabilities from accessing the business’ goods or services.”
According to the World Wide Web Consortium, an international organization that develops web standards, all pages on a website must be at least grade-A compliant. Due to the recent ADA extension to websites, the organization created the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). These guidelines grade websites based on four categories:
- Perceivable — Users can process the information on the site.
- Operable — How well visitors can operate and navigate the site’s content.
- Understandable — Visitors’ ability to comprehend the information on the site.
- Robust — The site’s ability to adapt to the changing needs of users.
Websites receive a grade of A, AA, or AAA. Websites receiving less than an A are considered ADA non-compliant.
The Risks of Non-Compliance
The ADA has filed lawsuits against many well-known companies in recent years, including:
The above brands’ websites were inaccessible to people who were visually or hearing impaired. For example, Antoinette Suchenko, who has been blind for 20 years, filed a suit against Kylie Jenner’s business, Kylie Inc., as the text-reading software Suchenko uses was unable to read Jenner’s website.
Risks to Medical Websites
In 2018, the Department of Justice specifically stated that “the ADA applies to public accommodations’ websites” and is “consistent with the ADA's title III requirements that goods, services, privileges, or activities provided by places of public accommodation be equally accessible to people with disabilities.”
In other words, a website is a public accommodation, and medical professionals serve the public with their services. A medical website that is not ADA compliant is at risk of being sued by not only individuals with disabilities visiting the site but also the ADA.
Every part of a medical website must have the capability to be translated in any way needed for someone who may not be able to see or hear. This includes text on a page, images, sound, and videos.
Benefits of an ADA-Compliant Website
Preventing a lawsuit isn’t the only reason medical professionals should ensure their site is ADA-compliant. An ADA compliant website can also help with marketing efforts.
- An ADA compliant website can reach a much broader audience, including those with disabilities. This is incredibly important for healthcare businesses.
- Google may rank your site higher. Google’s algorithm identifies high-quality sites that provide users with valuable information, and a website that is ADA compliant is much more valuable than one that isn’t.
- It builds the credibility and reputation of medical professionals by demonstrating consideration for everyone's needs.
How to Ensure a Website Complies with the Guidelines
Medical professionals must make sure their site meets the following criteria:
- Provide text alternatives for non-text content.
- Descriptive captions should be available for multimedia.
- Content must be presented in multiple ways without losing its meaning.
- All functionality has to be available on a keyboard.
- All users need to have enough time to read and use the content.
- Avoid content that can cause a seizure.
- Incorporate simple navigation that helps users find content quickly and easily.
- Is compatible with tools and software people with disabilities use.
- The text should be readable and understandable.
- Content should appear in predictable ways.
- The site should make it possible for users to avoid and correct mistakes.
Thinking about how someone who is blind or deaf will use the information on the site is part of the process of creating an accessible website. If every part of the site takes this into account, then the website is deemed accessible to everyone.
Update Your Website Before It’s Too Late
Healthcare businesses have been sued in the past, and more lawsuits will be filed in the future. Don’t think it won’t happen to you because you’re a small medical practice or your website doesn’t have much traffic. It can happen to anyone.
There are no warnings when it comes to being sued for non-compliance and it’s certainly no fun. Scrambling to make a site compliant after receiving a subpoena will not stop a lawsuit. That’s why it’s important to update your website and make it ADA compliant as soon as possible to safeguard your business.
Complying with so many guidelines that require implementing high-tech features into your website is no easy task. Building a website from scratch to be ADA compliant is also extremely expensive. At Digital Standout, we can give you peace of mind by offering an easy and inexpensive option to make your website fully compliant and accessible to everyone.
