Website Accessibility: It’s not just a good idea, it’s the law

Website Accessibility refers to the idea that people of all abilities and disabilities be able to access online content. These disabilities can impair vision, hearing, and movement.Since the early days of the web, accessibility focus in the US has been on government run, and government funded websites. This may soon change.During a 2010 speech, Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s civil rights division said “It is and has been the position of the Department of Justice since the late 1990s that Title III of the ADA applies to Web sites. We intend to issue regulations under our Title III authority in this regard to help companies comply with their obligations to provide equal access.”That time seems to has finally come with news reports of updated regulations by the DOJ this month (March 2015) spelling out exactly what an ADA-compliant site is and to clarify which websites would have to meet those standards.Companies including Target, Netflix and H&R Block are reported to have reached six to seven figure settlement agreements in the last few years. Learn about the mistakes they made, and how you can avoid them.Even if the new regulations don’t apply to your business, learn what is involved in making your website accessible to better serve your customers.