As a business or company you may have heard the term “ADA compliant,” but do you really know what it means and how to properly implement it?
The U.S. Department of Justice published the Standards of Accessible Design in September 2010. These standards stated that all electronic information and online technology be accessible to people with disabilities, including computer hardware program software and documentation.
Interactive Accessibility said, “The ADA standards apply to commercial and public entities that have ‘places of public accommodation’ which includes the internet.”
Essentially, the law affects:
Basically, the ADA provides people with disabilities “equal opportunity.” (Introduction to the ADA)
President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law July 26, 1990. The ADA prohibits discrimination of people with disabilities and guarantees the same opportunities as everyone else. These opportunities include employment possibilities, purchasing of goods and services and the ability to participate in State and local government programs.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits race, color, religion, sex, or national origin discrimination, was a starting guide for the ADA, as well as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Accessible Technology is broken down into the following categories on the ADA website:
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) established the main international standards and accessibility for the World Wide Web. The WCAG is created by the W3C to provide a standard for web content accessibility that can be shared around the world. The WCAG is meant to accompany organizations as a sort of blueprint on how to make their websites ADA compliant.
The Web Accessibility Initiative said, “Web ‘content’ generally refers to the information in a web page or web application, including natural information such as text, images, and sounds and code or markup that defines structure, presentation, etc.”
Businesses and companies can comply with the ADA by performing self-regulations of the accessibility standards on their websites. The ADA encourages the use of the WCAG to help your website become accessible for people with disabilities. (Interactive Accessibility)
Here are a few additional resources to help your business or company be ADA compliant:
Monica is the creative force and founder of MayeCreate. She has a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with an emphasis in Economics, Education and Plant Science from the University of Missouri. Monica possesses a rare combination of design savvy and technological know-how. Her clients know this quite well. Her passion for making friends and helping businesses grow gives her the skills she needs to make sure that each client, or friend, gets the attention and service he or she deserves.
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