What does ADA compliance entail?
ADA compliance for websites is ensuring that every piece of content and functionality of your website is usable by all individuals, including those who may be unable to use a mouse or are unable to visually see the content of your website.
ADA compliance typically includes designing your site in such a way that this content is navigable with the use of assistive devices like screenreaders and that content is presented in a way that is understandable to the user using this type of device.
Sites that are designed with accessibility in mind tend to be easier for all users to navigate, even those who do not require the assistance of screenreaders. Many accessibility features also improve SEO (Search Engine Optimization), as they make it easier for search engines to understand the content of your site.
Perceivable content
Information and user interface components must be possible to perceive for all users, not just those with typical abilities. For example, if you have an image on your website an alt tag should be presented alongside that image with a description of the visual. This alt-text provides context to users who are unable to visually see the image on your site.
Operable user interface
Most designers only consider how a website is used via a mouse, but for many users the mouse is not an appropriate input device. It should be possible for a user to traverse your website using a keyboard, touch or voice as well.
Understandable information and navigation
The WCAG guidelines use three main areas for determining whether information and navigation is considered ‘understandable’.
Robust functionality
Refers to the concept that user interface components should be designed in such a way that can be programmatically interpreted by a variety of user agents and assistive technologies. For example, the content should work with various web browsers, operating systems and versions of assistive technology.
Code should be well formed, using clean and semantic HTML with proper start and end tags and nested elements. This prevents display errors and ensures assisstive devices can parse the content without issue.
I recommend using a website accessibility checker like WAVE, this checker will pick up many common visual ADA issues like improper color contrast as well as pick up on issues related to ARIA text.
You should still consider having a developer check your site to ensure you’re also handling keyboard navigation properly, as these issues are not always picked up by accessibility checking software.
Absolutely, customers need to be able to use your site and it is your responsibility to ensure they can use your site without significant hurdles. However, keep in mind, ADA compliance also improves the usability of your website for all users.
After getting your website fully compliant, you should continue to review your site on a regular basis. Consider accessing your own site via an assistive technology like a screen reader to see what the experience is like.
It is also worth considering that with the growing use of AI agents, ADA compliance will also lead to easier navigation and site usability by these LLM’s, as they will be more easily able to parse your website content and functionality.