Category: Legal issues in marketing

There is a Federal law in the United States called The Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires businesses and other organizations to provide handicap accessibility. That way the disabled public also has access to the same services as other people. Most people think that the ADA only pertains to physical locations. In reality, it also includes websites and electronic media.

According to the law, web design must be as accessible as terminals, elevators, ATMs, and other user interfaces. The site must be accessible on all devices that include the desktop, smartphones, and tablets. The website that fails to comply with ADA creates a bad user experience for people with disabilities. Through ADA compliance, the website becomes accessible to everyone.

When creating the web design graphics, it is important to note that not everyone utilizes Google Chrome and other standard browsers. There are users that don’t update their browsers. There are also people who use different devices to access websites, such as audio scanners and text readers. These devices require special code to translate information on the page.

Typeface

The typeface is the main element of any website. It targets a specific audience and conveys a certain personality. When developing the graphics for a website, you should choose a font that’s practical and not stylistic.

To make it ADA compliant, choose a typeface that is easy to read. The font size must also be large enough to make the text readable on both small screened and large screened devices. The designer can choose to provide options to adjust the font setting that includes the decreasing or increasing the font size and changing the background.

Images

Most websites today rely on images to engage visitors. However, if the some of the target audience is composed of visually impaired individuals, having many images will not be good for their user experience.

To improve the handicap accessibility of the website, it should not rely on images to convey its message. Instead, the website should use images to complement the text and not be the main source of information. Images used on the website must have a descriptive context.

HTML Markup

The website must use the right markup for headings, page titles, and other elements to ensure screen readers give out the right information. This is also required to ensure the screen reader understands the structure of the page.

The programmer, SEO professional, and copywriter are responsible for structuring the content of the page. They must use titles and headings to organize the copy and make them easy to read by screen readers and humans.

Screen readers can’t read images, and that’s why images should have the correct ALT tags. ALT tags must be descriptive and give information that the image wants to convey. Search engines also use ALT tags to index images, which makes it more SEO-friendly.

These are just some of the things to consider when creating a web design that complies with ADA. It is important to find a designer or developer who has experience with handicap accessibility of websites.