12 Tips to Make Your WordPress Site Accessible

Students sitting at a desk

Now that a company as well-known as Winn-Dixie has caught the attention of consumers and the courts, who do you think will be next?

Seeing as how the ADA clearly defined which businesses they target with the Title III regulation, the corresponding websites for those types of establishments would be the first place to start. Though you would argue that any website that provides services or sells products online should aim to be fully accessible.

In terms of what you can do to make your sites accessible, there’s obviously a lot to think about. For starters, acquaint yourself with WCAG 2.0. That is now the de facto standard everyone should follow.

Here are some other best practices to keep in mind when designing an accessible website:

Use text alternatives and descriptions for images, video, and other media.

Used closed captioning for video.

Make your site keyboard-friendly so a mouse or finger is not required to move around it.

Simplify the navigation. You may also want to think about adding breadcrumbs.

Create a consistent layout.

Design with sharp color contrasts between the text and background.

Use symbols to clarify the purpose of key elements if color blindness or other visual impairments prevent color signals from directing users to where you want them to go.

Use header tags for clearer organization of text.

Use clear labels for all form fields.

Include text resizing capabilities.

Enable voice search.

Allow users to disable JavaScript.

Web accessibility is important, and there are two reasons why you should care. First: All people should have equal access to digital content regardless of their physical or mental abilities. Secondly: You could get sued if you don’t. Both, I believe, warrant your attention.

At ADA Site Compliance, we’ve had clients come to us, scary-looking legal document in hand, and ask for assistance with “ADA compliance.” The documents often speak vaguely about the ways in which a site fails to be accessible, but they contain little context regarding the exact standards by which compliance is being measured. Where did the scary document come from? It was potentially served by someone with too much time on their hands looking for a quick way to make some cash (Surf by Lawsuit). However, let us be clear: Although not everyone’s motivations for enforcing these guidelines are fully pure, the subject of their fixation is very real in the daily lives of many people.

 Looking for more tips on how to make sure your site is accessible? ADA Site Compliance is the expert in the guidelines and intricacies of ADA Compliance. Our goal is to help businesses mitigate and avoid compliance lawsuits. Worried about your site legal exposure? Scan it for free We will help you make sure your site is accessible and usable by all potential visitors.

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