Accessibility
“Accessibility,” as it relates to the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), is about providing equal access to individuals with disabilities. Usually, we tend to think of accessibility in terms of ramps and rails. Many think of the physical world and the accommodations required for people experiencing barriers to access due to vision, hearing, or mobility disabilities.
Compliance
In general, “compliance” as it relates to digital accessibility refers to compliance with regulations and laws. As it relates to legal demand letters, “compliance” refers to the actions a company is taking to address or comply with the demands.
Conformance
As it relates to digital accessibility, “conformance” refers to the conformance of digital materials with ADA-related digital accessibility requirements. The level of conformance required is dependent on the company and industry. For example, places of public accommodation such as banks, grocery stores, and amusement parks, must make their digital content fully accessible. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2 Level AA is used as the standard.
Representation on Your Website
Companies can represent compliance by marketing their commitment to compliance for all who visit the site. To achieve this, use the following:
Accessibility Statement
Certification
Partnering with AudioEye is a great way to show this commitment to both customers and auditors. Our certification statement includes phrases like: “The AudioEye Certification seal represents a commitment to accessibility and inclusion. The certification process involves automatic and manual testing with the goal of WCAG 2 Level AA Standards. By focusing on web accessibility best practices, this website has been optimized for use with third-party assistive technology”.
When companies choose to make compliance a part of their business, they want to highlight this pledge.
Compliance is also represented through usability; having a site that is accessible and usable means considering the use case of individuals with varying abilities.
Discrimination
Title III of the ADA prohibits “discrimination based on disability in the activities of places of public accommodations.” Today, that includes the Internet. This means “accessibility” poses a much bigger issue, and, like the Internet itself, impacts a much bigger population. As much as 15% of the world’s population has a disability that may prevent them from equal access to digital content.
AudioEye focuses on digital accessibility and provides the “ramps and rails” needed for access to the digital world.