Solution

The Federal Courts have articulated a legal standard for website compliance with the ADA. The Federal Courts have held that that Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA are determined to be an appropriate standard to judge whether websites are in compliance with any accessibility requirements of the ADA.  This is the leading and only existing standard for visually impaired internet access.

WCAG is published by World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). WCAG 2.0 was published in 2008. It has been widely accepted as providing for full and equal access in accordance with federal law.

The WCAG 2.0 Level AA guideline is a stable, referenceable technical standard that is technology-neutral—i.e., it applies broadly to different web technologies now existing (such as phones, smart watches, and computers), and can also be implemented with future technologies. It is based upon four principles: a website must be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. The four principles are broken down into twelve guidelines, with “success criteria” for web developers to follow.

There are three “levels” of compliance within the WCAG Guidelines: A, AA, and AAA. It appears to be the consensus that the AA Level should be used by companies when bringing websites into compliance.

Please contact us to ensure your website is accessible to all users and avoid a possible lawsuit or government action by obtaining the certificate of ADA website compliance under WCAG 2.0 Level AA.

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