{"id":38048,"date":"2021-01-11T10:00:26","date_gmt":"2021-01-11T15:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simpleprogrammer.com\/?p=38048"},"modified":"2021-01-11T09:04:11","modified_gmt":"2021-01-11T14:04:11","slug":"ada-compliant-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simpleprogrammer.com\/ada-compliant-website\/","title":{"rendered":"Simple Ways to Make Your Website ADA Compliant"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"ADA\"I take most websites for granted. I can see and navigate most websites without much struggle because I\u2019ve grown up using the web and don\u2019t struggle with my sight or hearing. Unfortunately, not everyone can say the same.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

ADA compliance is something that most Americans are familiar with. When considering ADA compliance as a concept, we typically think about accessible doorways, adequate elevators and wheelchair ramps, and distance between retail displays.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

However, businesses who have a website are expected to also make sure that their website is accessible to all who view it including those with disabilities. Maintaining an ADA compliant website means that patrons who are disabled in a variety of ways can easily access my business, ordering products or services along with non-disabled individuals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In recent years, many businesses and celebrities have discovered how vital an ADA compliant website is, and their pocketbooks took the brunt of the failure. The\u00a0Americans with Disabilities Act<\/a>\u00a0was written into law before the internet became a mainstay resource, but has since been updated to include websites as regularly used business resources.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

While reading the ADA has issued a guideline that answers the question of\u00a0what is an ADA compliant website<\/a>\u00a0and giving some general directions on how to better build websites to be accessible to people with disabilities, as is often the case with governmental agencies, the language is needlessly complicated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I believe that making your\u00a0WordPress<\/a>\u00a0or other website accessible for people living with disabilities doesn\u2019t have to be complicated. Moreover, I believe that ADA compliance can be used to enhance user experience for everyone making your websites better for all of your visitors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

While you can easily make a\u00a0WordPress website like a rockstar<\/a>, it will take some extra thought to be a rockstar web developer and make those websites compliant to the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, I don\u2019t believe that it is hard to do so, I\u2019ve compiled some information to help you build websites that are more accessible to everyone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

How Does an ADA Compliant Website Help People?<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n

When I visit a website to buy a product, I can see the products offered. Adding alt descriptions to that product photo allows third-party assistive programs to communicate the visual into words to help blind customers understand what they\u2019re ordering.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

If I visit a website with a video that shows how a product is used, I can choose to listen to the audio, or turn on subtitles and read them instead. Someone who is hearing impaired doesn\u2019t have the choice and must rely on the subtitles. If a site chooses not to offer subtitles, they\u2019re creating an unnecessary roadblock to hard-of-hearing customers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Similarly, I can view most texts on my phone or computer without much difficulty. However, those who are vision-impaired may need to zoom in on the fonts or view them in different colors to read them. If your website cannot zoom or has overly fine print, or the colors are hard to see, people won\u2019t spend the time trying to adapt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

How Can I Adapt to ADA Regulations<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Some of the steps to ADA compliance are simple shifts in how you do the things you\u2019re already doing. Consider the difficulties a patron with a disability might have in a physical location and then adapt your website in similar ways.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Review Requirements<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Knowledge is power. Once you\u2019ve reviewed the\u00a0requirements of an ADA compliant website<\/a>, you\u2019ll notice features on other sites that you didn\u2019t see before.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A case of the\u00a0Baader-Meinhof phenomenon<\/a>. will follow you to your site. When I work on sites, I\u2019ve noticed it\u2019s become second nature to make little subconscious adjustments to my coding to make that site more user friendly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Science says that you\u2019re more likely to see a new word more frequently if you\u2019ve recently learned it and use it in context. Writing web content and building sites follows the same trend. If you\u2019ve recently discovered a new tool or resource, you\u2019ll use it and identify it in other works more efficiently.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Some of the key requirements for an accessible website are:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n