What is web accessibility?
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the same law that requires wheelchair ramps, elevators, and accessible bathrooms, applies to the web as well. Web accessibility means making the information and tools on the website available to users with disabilities. Beyond that, accessibility requirements and web standards also support sustainable, user friendly, device agnostic displays. In English, these standards help our site be more mobile and tablet friendly. Not only is accessibility a requirement, it’s also working smarter.
The good news is that we handle most of the broader accessibility issues within the theme and content management system. Site managers only really need to understand basic accessibility as it applies to the content they’re adding to their site. Accessibility is relevant in how links and text content are formatted, how images are included and labeled, how and why tables are created, and how videos are formatted. It’s also applicable to non-web format files like Word documents and PDF files. In short, what you add, why you add it, and how it’s formatted are important. We’re working to provide more specific accessibility support materials on our web support knowledge base.
Additional Resources
- DOJ: Public Accommodations Have a “Pre-Existing” Obligation to Make Websites Accessible (Lexology)
- Introduction to Web Accessibility (W3C)
- Web Site Standards & Guidelines (Virginia.gov)
- Web Accessibility Required, Not Optional (University Business)
- Accessibility Basics (Usability.gov)