Key Points about Web Accessibility

Why are web accessibility lawsuits becoming such a threat? It’s a combination of factors:

1. Most websites (90%) don’t meet accessibility standards, with many domain owners unaware whether or not web accessibility applies to them.
2. A few lawyers representing some of the same plaintiffs send demand letters to settle with non-compliant sites.
3. Web accessibility demand letters are a profitable business for these lawyers, as litigation costs result in 90 percent of web accessibility lawsuits settling.

Basic steps to avoid web accessibility issues:

1. Use a free scanner to check for web accessibility issues.
2. If the scan shows accessibility issues, these issues need to be addressed to improve web accessibility. The easiest mitigation is a free or paid widget. Some sites may need a web developer or web accessibility company to manually mitigate the site on a regular basis.
3. On a monthly basis, save the accessibility reports or scans showing that the site is web accessible. Paid widgets can automate this process.
4. While no site is 100% web compliant 100% of the time, improving web accessibility and being able to demonstrate the steps taken to pursue web compliance are important steps to counter a web accessibility demand letter.