Making Your Website Accessible & Avoiding Lawsuits

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At Blue Tangerine, we understand the importance of website accessibility as we are constantly trying to improve our own website to help all users. We hope this blog post helps you recognize the importance of making your website more accessible to help others and prevent lawsuits.

When developing a website, it’s important to give thought to the needs of individuals with disabilities. Lack of consideration makes it difficult and often impossible for people with disabilities to use a website,  resulting in frustration and a lost opportunity for a customer that was interested in your product or service. For your website to be accessible, there should be no obstacles that prevent access to or interaction with your site by individuals with and without disabilities.

Some of these obstacles include

     √   Missing alternative text from images

     √   Missing alternative text from image maps

     √   Missing labels in forms

     √   Improper table markup

     √   Missing closed captions and text transcripts in videos

     √   Poor color contrast

You may have heard of notable web accessibility lawsuits like Gil v. Winn-Dixie Supermarket or Markett v. Five Guys Enterprises and may be thinking that your business is relatively small so your website’s inaccessibility will go unnoticed, but this is not the case. In fact, between 2017-2018, there was a 177% increase in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III website accessibility lawsuits. So, if your website is not accessible, you are at a great risk for getting sued.

We know that website accessibility lawsuits are serious and hard to recover from, so at Blue Tangerine, we provide in-depth accessibility reviews that explain your website’s issues and guides you in the right direction to fix these problems. Reviewing the accessibility of your site is an essential step in working towards improving your website’s accessibility.

Save yourself the money, time, and inconvenience that a lawsuit would cost by acting now to get our in-depth accessibility review services.

LEARN HOW TO MAKE YOUR WEBSITE ACCESSIBLE

*Legal Disclaimer: Blue Tangerine is a digital marketing agency and not a law firm. Thus, the material regarding the legal aspects of accessibility is for general education and should only be used for informational purposes. It should not be constructed as personal or professional legal advice. We are not responsible for any website accessibility issues or litigations on your behalf. If you need legal advice, please consult a lawyer. *