iPage: How to make a website ADA Compliant

What is ADA?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in all areas, from jobs and schools to transportation and public/private places that are open to the public. It protects the rights of individuals with disabilities, ensuring they have the same opportunities as those without. In 2010, ADA also extended to the digital world, requiring website owners to provide reasonable access for people with disabilities. This web accessibility refers to a set of rules, behaviors, code standards, and design guidelines that are meant to allow people with disabilities to use websites effectively.

Advantages of having an ADA compliant/Accessible Website:

• Avoid lawsuits
• Increases Target Audience
• Rank higher on search engines.
• Improves User Experience
• Helps web reputation

How to develop an ADA-compliant website?

• Put alt tags to all media files. - For those who cannot access video, image, and audio, creating alt tags will help them determine the content of a specific media file.
• Write Transcripts for all video and audio content. - Having a text transcript to go along with all audiovisual web content will help visitors with a disability read and understand the content that would otherwise be inaccessible to them.
• Create organized and consistent navigation. - Give your visitors options to adjust the size of the text on each page. In addition, buttons, menus, and links should be clear and easily navigated throughout the entire site. 
• Identify the site's language in the header code. - Minimize jargon and acronyms, be clear on what language your site should be read to help text readers identify codes and functions accordingly. 
• Provide help options when visitors come up with errors. - Your site should provide suggestions and recommendations when your visitor encounters input errors due to the inability to navigate your website to help them better guide to the content they need.