Your business will benefit from having a WCAG Compliant site or a website with disabled access capacity. In the United States they have mandated the WCAG Compliance with the ADA.
Firstly what is WCAG (or ADA)?
WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is a set of international standards and specifications to promote and encourage inclusivity, equality and minimise exclusion because of disability. It is produced by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) It is primarily concerned with digital access to online content.
ADA stands for American Disability Act and legislates for all aspects of anti discrimination. Physical as well as digital, including websites. So stores without disabled access to their buildings are being sued under the ADA. As well as individuals like Beyonce, and businesses, like Dominos, the pizza franchise. Who have both been sued for having inaccessible websites and online stores.
Although the terms ADA and WCAG are sometimes being used interchangeably. Both fall under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). But may have different legal repercussions, depending upon your location. And the location you are doing business in.
Human Rights cases and class action lawsuits aside. Globally, any countries which are signatories of the UNCRPD, specifically Article 9, have a responsibility to comply. As such these countries have legislation and policies mandating accessibility to digital content.
Benefits of WCAG Compliance
- Most important is to not discriminate or deliberately exclude the up to 1 in 5 disabled customers, or clients, your business already has. Up to 20% of the population consider themselves to be permanently disabled. This is rumoured to be a six hundred fifty billion dollar market. Excluding even a small percentage can loose your business a serious opportunity for profit.
- Another benefit is better Search Engine Results rankings. Google tends to favour sites that cater to the accessible market. So your business website will show higher, in searches, than competitors whose websites are not WCAG compliant.
- Claiming to be ignorant of these laws still won’t stop you being sued. Some legal experts are actually preying on unsuspecting individuals like yourself. Unfortunately, it’s cost thousands of businesses an average of fifty five thousand dollars, in legal fines. Before they engage their web developers to fix the issues.
That’s why it makes sense to comply today. It’s like bug repellent for annoying lawyers. The final benefit of WCAG Compliance. Sadly, I think, if you’re a government organisation, franchise, major business or restaurant chain, you’re more at risk of legal actions from ADA or WCAG non-compliance.
About WCAG Compliance Services for Websites
It makes no difference how much, if anything, you pay for your web development. There are still many cases where website creators don’t know about WCAG compliance issues. Especially those who are graphics designers and coders who haven’t experienced disability access issues in a personal way.
I’m offering a solution so you won’t have to wade through tons of information. Or learn the technical jargon to try and interpret all the different compliance requirements. To try to work out how your website will comply to the WCAG.
Contact me to arrange an audit today. Get peace of mind, as well as the benefit of a written report. Highlighting what recommended actions to take. Can your business afford not to take action today?