ADA Compliance for Homebuilders
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was developed in 1990 and ensures people with disabilities have the same opportunities as anyone else. So businesses serving the public must make sure their physical locations accommodate people with disabilities.
Since the internet is so widely used, ADA compliance now applies to online businesses and stores. Compliance also means your website should be accessible to people with a wide range of disabilities. These disabilities range from auditory, physical, to cognitive disabilities and speech impairments.
Website accessibility assures all people can consume your content and engage with your business online. ADA compliance aids individuals with disabilities who could have trouble navigating and perceiving information on your website.
There are many benefits to offering ADA compliance:
- Taking a proactive approach now will provide protection from potential lawsuits down the road. You will be able to show documentation of the efforts you made to identify and correct issues.
- It will increase your target audience – roughly 19% of the population has a disability. Imagine widening your prospect pool by 19%.
- Accessibility guidelines focus on some areas such as meta-tagging, descriptive link text, and alternative image text, which all provide a boost to your SEO. Everyone benefits from this work including users, search engines, and screen readers.
- Improves your website as a whole. By making information easier to find, understand, and navigate, you provide benefits appealing to all users.
- It will benefit your reputation. Customers with disabilities will now know you value them and your business. This will increase your positive word-of-mouth and help set you apart from your competition.
Power Marketing works with ADA compliance software. Some industry to scan your website for issues on a regular basis. A developer will fix/correct them and provide documentation of your company’s efforts toward being compliant.
Compliance isn’t a one-time fix, but an ongoing process due to how rapidly technology evolves.