On July 26, 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law to protect people with disabilities from employment discrimination and improve their access to services, goods, and communications. In honor of the anniversary of this important law, we recognize July 26 as National Disability Independence Day (#NationalDisabilityIndependenceDay).
Title II of the ADA outlines the steps that state and local government agencies need to take to make sure websites, apps, and other forms of information and communication technology (ICT) are accessible to people with disabilities. You also might be familiar with Section 508 standards, which require federal agencies to make their ICT (including technology, online training, and website) accessible to everyone.
We encourage all of our clients to comply with ADA accessibility standards. Why? Because these standards help you connect to a wider audience, including people with vision, hearing, and physical challenges such as color blindness, aging eyes, limited hand dexterity, hearing loss, and more. Accessibility is good for your business and for your brand.
At LMD, we use tools like WAVE to check websites, online forms, and promotional items for 508 compliance. Here are a few things you can do to make sure your communications are compliant:
- Add text to describe photos, images, logos, and closed captioning for someone using a screen-reader to read a webpage.
- Ensure high contrast between information and background photos or color to make reading easier for aging eyes and for those with limited vision.
- When using color to identify or distinguish information, make sure that information is also available without color for those who are colorblind.
- Forms should be able to be filled out without the need of a mouse for those who can’t use a mouse because of limited hand dexterity.
LMD has helped many of our clients create materials and websites that meet 508 Standards. Let us know if we can help your business too. And if you’d like to honor National Disability Independence Day, use the following hashtags on your social posts: #NationalDisabilityIndependenceDay, #DisabilityAwareness, #TheBarriersWeFace, #DisabilityRights
