Understand the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements for digital accessibility and how they apply to your website.
The Americans with Disabilities Act is a civil rights law enacted in 1990. The Department of Justice says it applies to the websites and apps of public businesses and of state and local governments. The Title II web rule names WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard for government sites. See ADA.gov web guidance.
Comprehensive civil rights legislation
People with various types of disabilities
Websites, apps, and digital services
Title III of the ADA requires places of public accommodation to be accessible to people with disabilities. This includes:
ADA compliance requirements vary by business type and size
Businesses open to the public must provide equal access to their services, including digital services.
All government websites and digital services must be accessible under Section 508 and ADA requirements.
Employers with 15+ employees must provide reasonable accommodations, including accessible digital tools.
While the ADA doesn't specify technical standards, courts often reference WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines
Information must be presentable in ways users can perceive, regardless of their abilities.
User interface components must be operable by all users, including those using assistive technologies.
Information and UI operation must be understandable to all users.
ADA violations can result in significant legal and financial consequences
Over 4,600 ADA website lawsuits filed in 2023, with numbers increasing annually.
Settlement costs typically range from $25,000 to $75,000, plus attorney fees.
Reputation damage, lost customers, and ongoing legal costs can severely impact business.
The ADA is the civil rights law. WCAG is the technical standard teams use to test a website. For state and local governments, the DOJ Title II web rule names WCAG 2.1 Level AA. WCAG 2.2 is the current W3C Recommendation and includes every 2.1 Level AA criterion.
Level AA is the level named in the Title II rule and the level most policies cite. Level AA includes the Level A criteria. Level AAA is not required by the Title II rule.
The W3C Recommendation is at https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/. The Department of Justice explanation of how the ADA applies to websites is at https://www.ada.gov/resources/web-guidance/.
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