The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a 1990 law prohibiting discrimination based on disability. The revised standards version is a civil rights law that ensures the safety of people with disabilities and ensures that they are provided assistance at physical and online public locations.

The ADA requirements state that Title III entities (nonprofit organizations and businesses serving the public) and Title II entities (state and local governments) need to communicate with people with communication disabilities efficiently. As a business owner, your ultimate goal should be to build an inclusive workplace that allows everyone to feel respected – making sure that people with disabilities aren’t treated worse should be your top priority. However, you should remember to make not only your office buildings but also your website accessible to people with disabilities.

Trust us. You do not want to be a victim of ADA Compliance Law and penalties. That is why we have put together for you a list of 5 tips you can follow to meet ADA’s requirements in 2020.

Familiarize Yourself With The ADA Rules

The first step to meet the ADA’s requirement that you should take is to increase your knowledge of the ADA as it could have a huge impact on your business. The ADA rules and regulations might seem a bit complex, and you may find it difficult to comprehend them fully. However, to make things simpler, we would advise you to focus more on the sections that affect your business.

On the other hand, you could partner with an ADA compliance agency that could help you develop your company by following the ADA requirements for office buildings.

Use Alt-Text or Alt-Tags on Your Website

Those who are visually impaired, or people who use screen readers in accessing social media channels, online platforms, websites, and apps often use alt-tags or alt-text for short. Not using alt-text or alt-tags on an image or graphic on your website can be frustrating for such people.

Avoid displaying important information in the form of an image or using images with text. Or better still, make sure the text on the image is added as alt-text or described on the website. Ensure that images used to initiate actions, such as a logo linking to your homepage have alt-text.

Check out the comprehensive review of WCAG 2.0 checklist to further understand the best way to ensure web accessibility.

Perform an Audit of Your Building

After properly understanding the ADA requirements, you should audit your office or another type of building for noncompliance issues. The audit will help you discover all the elements which do not meet accessibility standards for ADA’s compliance. Follow the following steps to implement an audit of your building.

• Get a grasp of potential non-compliance issues by reviewing the floor plan.
• Identify and take note of areas with the problem by conducting a walk-through of your building.

Update Your Website

You should know that meeting ADA requirements doesn’t end at making your workplace accessible. It is 2020 already, and most of us spend many hours each day on the internet, which is why you should pay attention to your website as well. Now it is time to resolve the ADA problems you have identified. Your developer should start working on the highlighted compliances and communication issues. All your visitors should have an equal opportunity while on your website.

Continue Updating The Compliance Standard

ADA Compliance standards are not constant, they keep changing as new technologies continue to emerge, and they must be followed accordingly. Make sure that you keep track of the recent changes and development and continue updating the standards on your website as the accessibility standards change.

Conclusion

Adhering to ADA requirements in commercial facilities or office buildings not only does protect your brand and improve your company’s culture but it also increases your reputation. Most importantly, it could help you avoid future problems that could arise and even lead to fines. However, apart from that, ADA is also essential even if you don’t have a physical office, but only a website. People with disabilities shouldn’t encounter any problems when they visit your website, which is why you need to make sure that it is ADA-compliant as well.

ADA website compliance has several benefits. It allows your website to reach a wider audience, gives you a competitive advantage, improves search engine results, and may lead to higher profits. Although learning about ADA might not be an easy process, it is definitely worth it, especially when we take the potential consequences into consideration.