ADA Compliant Websites - Why Should I Care?
About 16% of the population live with a disability. And since all adults in the United States need to file taxes, your website and apps should be visible to all, including clients and prospects who are visually impaired, mentally impaired, and have motor restrictions. Even small accounting firms need to comply.
The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted in 1990. At the time, this legislation was mostly about preventing discrimination in the workplace. However, with the explosion of the internet, there was more definition in 2010 when the ADA spelled out standards for website accessibility. Essentially, all businesses need to provide website access. For example, a visually impaired person must be able to use a text reader to understand your content, and navigate sections of your website.
Why Should I Care?
ADA-compliant websites enable all prospects to engage with your business, are search engine friendly, and avoid legal expenses. In other words, opening your website to all makes search engine optimization easier for the search engines like Google, Apple and Duck Duck Go.
The financial consequences of not complying are:
- Legal fees
- Legal settlements
- Costs for redesigning your website to avoid stiffer fines (fines get more aggressive for secondary non-compliance)
The legal exposure can be the Department of Justice (DOJ) and/or class action lawsuits.
It appears that 16 law firms represent about 90% of lawsuits. Over the past four years, about 3,000-4,300 lawsuits were filed each year and law firms bringing these actions have developed a specialty in bringing these actions towards businesses.
Rather than dealing with this mess, the solution is to get started with a ADA Compliant Accounting website. Here is an ADA Compliant Accounting website that Build Your Firm designed.
Here are more examples of CPA accounting websites that are ADA compliant.
If you like it, call Build Your Firm at 888-999-9800 x1.
