Website Accessibility & the Law: Why Your Website Must Be Compliant
The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 wrote into law the right of all persons to have access to public facilities, spaces, and resources regardless of visible or invisible disability. While this legislation has been very helpful in increasing physical accessibility through initiatives like ramp-building, TTY programs, designated parking areas, and more – the ADA was drafted before the internet became a mainstay of daily life, and does not provide clear guidance on how to adapt accessibility to the digital and virtual realms. Because general accessibility liabilities apply equally to your business’ physical store or office location and to your company website, it’s important to understand how the ADA applies to your digital presence. Learn more about accessibility law and how to be in compliance in this article.
Read the full article at: www.searchenginejournal.com
What is Digital Accessibility?
You’re probably familiar with the concept of accessibility – adding wheelchair ramps, reserving disability-friendly parking, including Braille on signage, providing automatic doors, and many other initiatives and adaptations that allow equal access to stores, facilities, and resources. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has enforced the right of all people to have equal opportunity regardless of ability status. This legislation has made sweeping improvements in physical accessibility, but did you realize that the ADA applies to the digital world as well?
Website accessibility is often overlooked, in part because the ADA legislation was drafted in 1990 – before the internet boom created a new set of virtual and digital accessibility issues. From a legal perspective, the gray area in the ADA regarding internet accessibility isn’t an excuse to forego the same standards on a company website or application. And of course, you could be missing out on customers if your website isn’t adaptable to different needs and accommodations – that’s about 25% of the population, according to the Centers for Disease Control!
Consider some of these situations:
- Can someone with a visual impairment still learn about your business from your website, or is all of your content directed at someone who can read your words and see your images? For instance, does your site design incorporate high contrast and legible font size?
- Can someone with limited physical mobility interact with your website? Is your site navigable without the ability to use a keyboard? Is it navigable without the use of a mouse?
- Can a screen reader access your site to properly translate it as needed? Are your pages dependent on a style sheet that might confuse a screen reader? Do you use an HTML table that cannot be parsed properly by a screen reader? Do your images have alt-text screen readers use to speak text aloud?
- Do your videos or other content negatively affect groups of users? Are there flashing elements on your site that might cause seizures? Are you using a color scheme that may be difficult to parse with color blindness?
If you’re not sure about any of these questions, you’re not alone – many businesses aren’t well acquainted with website accessibility yet. It also used to be much more expensive and difficult to implement accessibility features, often requiring highly specialized (and high-cost) consultancies to create a program, and though the ADA laws apply equally to all companies, many small businesses simply couldn’t afford the price tag.
Unfortunately, a lack of understanding or a smaller budget have not been shield enough against legal action, and the number of ADA claims are on the rise. The Wall Street Journal reported a 23% increase in web, app, and video accessibility lawsuits from 2019 to 2020, possibly linked to COVID shutdowns forcing greater scrutiny of virtual and digital accessibility for work-related purposes.
The first step towards making your digital content more accessible and meeting compliance guidelines is learning about web accessibility and how to apply it to your company’s sites, applications, and content. We recommend checking USAbility.gov’s Accessibility Basics for a quick snapshot of website accessibility. If you’re looking for a deeper dive, deque’s Beginner’s Guide to Web Accessibility offers a more robust set of discussions about different facets of accessibility.
Additionally, we at Sales Renewal offer accessibility packages to bring your business’ website into compliance, then continue to monitor and fix any issues that arise as your site evolves over time. If you’re interested in seeing how an accessibility solution can help ALL of your website visitors, not just the ones with disabilities, try clicking the universal accessibility icon at the bottom right part of your screen, available on any Sales Renewal webpage!
Let us know how we can bring accessibility to your business. Contact us today!
The $242 Billion Business Of Corporate Gifting Pivoted From A Routine To A Priority In The Pandemic
Somewhere between the gratitude of Thanksgiving and the gift-giving of December traditions lies the industry of corporate gifting. Companies can deepen connections, build loyalty, and increase a sense of mutual value with both clients and employees through thoughtful, intentional tokens of appreciation. Here’s an inside look at this rapidly growing business as we head into the business gift giving season.
Read the full article at: www.forbes.com
9 Thank You Page Ideas to Boost Conversions in 2021
Thank-you pages are an essential part of your business’ website. Directing your customers to good thank-you pages after they interact with your site, such as making a purchase, filling out a form, or signing up for your newsletter, is an opportunity for more than just expressing your gratitude.
Does your website or sign up form make good use of “thank-you pages”? Are those pages optimized? You could be missing out on the many benefits of a well-crafted and thoughtful thank-you page, which when done correctly can be a huge driver of traffic, loyalty, feedback, and new clients. Check out these nine tips for creating better thank-you pages to boost revenue.
Read the full article at: sleeknote.com
The Power of Gratitude in Marketing
Saying “thank you” goes a long way in every type of relationship, and that is especially true in business relationships. Appreciate your employees, your clients, your customers, your suppliers, and anyone else who makes your company successful! Here are three ways to infuse gratitude into your business’ marketing and communications.
Read the full article at: ducttapemarketing.com
Seminar: Sales vs. Marketing, Making 1+1=3
Though sales and marketing have a long history of being at odds in many companies, they’re actually two very important sides of the same coin. Identifying the differences between sales and marketing, then finding ways to bridge the gap between them, can create a strong, consistent revenue stream that is greater than the sum of its parts – effectively making 1 + 1 = 3.
Sales Renewal CEO Keith Loris recently presented a seminar to a Vistage group outlining the differences between the two departments, including how those distinctions can be fused to augment each other. The long-term revenue generation focus of marketing keeps the short-term revenue generation pipeline of sales full, while successful sales’ rich data steers the marketing department’s targeting, tactics, and approaches. With clear communication and well-defined crossovers, sales and marketing departments join forces to become a powerful revenue generation machine.
Learn more from Mr Loris as he takes you through tactics, strategies, and case studies to renew YOUR company’s sales numbers through stronger sales-marketing collaboration.
5 Steps to Carve Out a Niche for Your Business in a Crowded Marketplace »
There’s a lot of noise out there in the marketplace! Regardless of your product or service, your company likely has many competitors targeting the same market, offering similar solutions for similar pain points. Positioning yourself in a lucrative, distinct segment for your business in a crowded market is key to long-term revenue growth and business success. Here are five ways to better define your segment, courtesy of Business Success.
Read the full article at: businesssuccess.com
The Death of Marketing. Marketing is spiraling to its death… | by Bray Brockbank
Despite the ominous title, Brockbrand makes an excellent point in this article: marketing is the primary revenue generator for businesses, but “marketing” itself is a catch-all term that oversimplifies the highly customized mix of strategy, tactics, and expertise that makes up a company’s marketing approach. Brockbrand suggests that marketing “rebrand” itself to take more credit for the diversity within the generic term.
Read the full article at: medium.com
Ending the War Between Sales and Marketing
Competition between sales departments and marketing departments has been common over the years, despite each side having the same goal of increasing revenue for the company. Bridge the disconnect between your sales and marketing teams to create a more powerful, unified machine to drive your business forward! Create positions to liaise between the two teams, generate assignments that foster an integrated work environment, hone communication to maximize benefit while reducing conflict opportunities – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Read the full article at: hbr.org
Sales vs. Marketing — Marketing Always Changes
It’s a long-standing battle in the business world: which is more important, sales or marketing? At Sales Renewal, we know that they’re two sides of the same coin, but there are some key differences that distinguish one from the other. Perhaps chief among them is the ever-changing nature of marketing. While sales tactics often stay the same over time, marketing tactics constantly evolve. Learn more about how marketing tactics shift in this article from Forbes.
Read the full article at: www.forbes.com