Does Your Law Firm Pass the ADA Compliance Check?
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in all areas of public life, including employment, education, transportation and public accommodations. In recent years, the act also applies to your law firm's website.
Many courts have ruled that commercial websites, including law firm websites, are considered "places of public accommodation" and therefore are subject to the requirements of the ADA. The bottom line is that law firm websites must be accessible. The Department of Justice (the DOJ) supports that websites are "places of public accommodation," and thus, websites must be ADA-compliant. Shockingly in 2021, over 11,400 people filed an ADA Title III lawsuit.
#DYK: If your website does not have an ADA compliance score of at least 85,
your law firm's website could be liable and unprotected from lawsuits and fines.
Our favorite tool to use with our client's website for ADA compliance is this accessibility checker. You can test your website score for free and also download a report that you can use to ensure your website is ADA-compliant. If your law firm's website score is less than 85 - keep reading to understand the importance of ADA compliance.
Note For Our Canadian Clients and Readers: The Accessible Canada Act requires Canadian websites to be ACA compliant.
How to make sure your law firm's website is ADA Compliant
To make your website ADA-compliant, you must ensure it is accessible to people with disabilities, which means that your website should be easy to use by people who are blind, deaf, have low vision, have mobility impairments, or have other disabilities.
There are several things you can do to make your website ADA-compliant. Here are some tips:
Use high-contrast text and backgrounds, making reading your website easier for people with low vision.
Avoid the use of blinking or flashing content.
Use clear and concise language. Avoid using jargon or technical terms that people with disabilities may not be familiar with.
Provide alternative text for images, which will allow people who are blind or have low vision to understand the content of your images.
Provide transcripts for audio and video content.
Make sure that your call to action (CTA) buttons are accessible.
Make sure your website is keyboard accessible, which means that people who cannot use a mouse can still navigate your website using only a keyboard.
Test your website with a screen reader. This will help you identify any accessibility issues that you may have missed.
Here are some additional tips for making your website ADA-compliant:
Use an easy-to-read font.
Make sure your text size on your website is at least a 12-point font.
Use headings and subheadings to break up your content.
Use a consistent layout throughout your website.
Why is ADA-Compliance so critical?
People with disabilities are a large and growing market, and making your website accessible shows that you are committed to serving all your customers.
Making your website ADA-compliant is essential for several reasons:
It is the law. The ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in all areas of public life, including websites.
Making your website ADA-compliant can improve your website's SEO. Search engines like Google rank websites accessible to people with disabilities higher in search results.
A website that is ADA-compliant can strengthen your brand image.
Available Resources for ADA-Compliance
Several resources are available to help you make your website ADA-compliant. The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has several resources on its website, including the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The WCAG is a set of international standards that define how to make websites accessible to people with disabilities.
If you are unsure how to make your website ADA-compliant, you can hire a website accessibility consultant. A consultant can help you assess your website and make recommendations for improvements.
Why is having an accessible lawyer website essential?
First, you care about your law firms and potential clients as an attorney.
Ensuring that your law firm's website is ADA-compliant is another way to show that you care about your clients.
By designing, maintaining and updating your law firm's website to be accessible, you indicate to your clients that you are dedicated to justice.
You also show current clients that you pay attention to them.
Second, ADA compliance is required by law and enforced by the Department of Justice. Without an ADA-compliant website, your law firm may be subject to a lawsuit, hefty fines and it doesn't look good to the public.
Third, an ADA-compliant website means more traffic.
More traffic means more people will see your law firm, increasing the potential for more leads.
ADA compliance is excellent for SEO and looks good in the eyes of Google.
You also provide a user experience (UX) that supports all abilities, especially if your law firm specializes in a practice area that supports those with disabilities - and Google puts a high priority on UX.
Do you need help with ADA compliance?
We are helping our clients and can help YOUR law firm, too, ensure their websites are ADA-compliant. If you have a website with a score below 85, sign up for our mailing list or contact us. We have an affordable ADA compliance solution for our clients and any law firm that needs help with ADA compliance to fix the issues causing their website to score below 85 on ADA compliance.
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