A website design that can be accessed by everyone, including those with disabilities, is a necessary tool that every business owner needs in their marketing toolbox.
You may be aware the basics of ADA compliant, user friendly website design; however, have you considered the media on your site too?
For any site to be completely useable by everyone, including those who are disabled, even your images, videos, and audio must be user-friendly as well.
ADA Compliance and Website Design
If users can’t actually use your website, they won’t get the message you’re trying to tell them, see the benefit of what you want to sell them, or accomplish what they need to do.
As internet technology has advanced, so has its ability to reach more people including those with disabilities, at least when ADA compliance is worked into a professional website design.
User-friendly design must be intuitive, taking into account how those who have visual, hearing, and even motor difficulties must operate your site.
Without these considerations especially on websites that cater to audiences with higher numbers of disabled individuals, it’s like cutting your audience in half.
Website Media Often Overlooked
In creating a user friendly web design, businesses must strive to provide things like easy and obvious navigation, compliant type styles and sizes, and intuitive usability that simplifies and reduces the number of steps a disabled person must take to use the site.
Yet one area that commonly gets overlooked is website media, which if anything should be viewed as important elements that can make a site even more ADA compliant so long as it’s handled in the right way.
Compliant media that can be used by almost anyone, regardless of their disability status, means greater website success, happier customers, and a positive reputation as being a company that cares.
Ensure Your Website Has ADA Compliant Media
ADA compliant, user friendly website media is such that provides visuals to substitute for hearing, sound to substitute for vision, and recognizes that any user may need alternate ways to read the information on the website.
You can very easily be certain that all media included in your website design is useful for those with disabilities by incorporating these details into your media:
- Images - All images should be easy to understand in relation to the text, and include explanatory, descriptive alt text that can be read by screen readers that convert text to audio for the vision-impaired. In addition, avoid using images of text as these cannot be interpreted by screen readers.
- Video - Similarly, all videos embedded on your website or posted to your company’s channel should have the option to turn on accurate closed captioning plus a transcript of the video that can be read by those who have hearing impairment.
- Audio - If you post audio files of any kind to your website, be sure to include with them a full transcript of that audio so like the videos, those with hearing impairment can still read what is being said.
- Avoid Auto-Play - Neither videos or audio files should automatically play when a user reaches a page. ADA compliance requires that the user must actually push Play to see or hear these files.
How Does Your Media Stack Up?
If your website design includes images, video, or audio, is it all ADA compliant?
Fortunately, making it so is really easy to do.
Working with an experienced professional web designer, making your entire site ADA compliant that includes all media only takes a few extra steps but goes a very long way toward having a better, more user-friendly website!