Well-known companies like Brooks Brothers and Foot Locker are among the over 200 lawsuits filed against websites in violation of ADA accessibility compliance. With over 50 million people with disabilities in the United States alone, it is essential for online businesses to comply with the guidelines the law has put in place, not only to protect your business from possible litigation and potential revenue loss but also to ensure that all customers have access to a full online shopping experience.
There are several common obstacles that disabled individuals face when interacting with a website that does not support assistive features. Major accessibility concerns are:
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) act as a widely accepted standard for eCommerce enabled businesses to reference as they begin the process of becoming fully compliant. As a standard here at DotcomWeavers, our priorities in the process of making a site ADA compliant include addressing the items from the checklists of levels A & AA as well as verifying ADA compliance on a site using a popular tool like PowerMapper Accessibility Checker.
While these steps address some of the items presented by the WUHCAG checklists, our development and design team also makes it a priority to integrate tools to enhance the customer journey of all differently abled individuals. This is accomplished with the help of a widget like UserWay. DCW installs the tool onto a site such as Nemo Tile+Stone and Cutting Edge Stencils to provide the customers with the option to manipulate the page view in some areas like increase font size, make page two-tone colored, text to speech conversion, and much more.
The Magento 2 Platform can not only provide solutions to these accessibility concerns but it can do so without compromising on UX of the site. With Magento, a business can create a personalized customer journey that places an emphasis on equitable experiences that can benefit an entire customer base.
Such experiences include interaction with essential elements of your site such as the conversion funnel and common keyboard navigation techniques such as TAB Keys and HTML “taborder” for those who are unable to use a mouse. These aspects go beyond typical screen readers and assistive technologies. Adjustments to color contrast, font sizes, and replacing images or symbols with text instructions will improve the overall usability of the desktop and mobile versions of an online store and create a consistent experience of a brand or a store throughout.
Full ADA compliance of a site is also dependent on important accessibility technologies that may require the help of an expert development and design team like DotcomWeavers to integrate throughout your Magento site.
While taking steps toward full compliance is critical in protecting your business from potential litigation, it also has its economic benefits as well:
DotcomWeavers understands the importance of ADA compliance and how to integrate within the Magento ecosystem and will be your trusted partner in bringing ADA compliance to your website. We will work closely with you to bring your valuable content to customers of all backgrounds and abilities. We do not believe in making your site ADA compliant by just integrating with off the shelf third party systems but rather build upon a strong foundation that offers a long term solution while adhering closely to the essential WUHCAG guidelines.
Contact us today to protect your online store from legal disputes while elevating your business practices and relationships with a diverse customer base.
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