The first step in making your website compliant with Section 508 or ADA is to perform a WCAG audit. While organizations can use automated WCAG testing tools as an initial test, WCAG testing software will detect less than 30% of problems. It's very important not to rely solely on automated testing and auditing tools, because the Web Content Accessibility Guide is just that, it's a guide. It is nuanced and interpretive, and requires human evaluation.
Performs an ADA compliance audit, also known as a web accessibility audit. This can be part of a digital audit or of your own independent thing. The overall goal is to make your website accessible, not only adhere to all the guidelines, but give your users a better overall experience. A manual audit involves evaluating the accessibility of each page of your site using the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
The WCAG includes a massive checklist, but it is the basis for ADA compliance. Even if you use a tool like WAVE, it will evaluate and rate your site based on WCAG. Simply, adhering to the ADA compliance guidelines means you're going to achieve a better user experience for everyone. To learn more about ADA compliance for websites, read the Website Accessibility Best Practices Toolkit from Making sure your website is ADA compliant means you don't have to worry about any lawsuits or legal issues.
ADA website audits can be done manually, but they are time-consuming, difficult, and a low-skilled person can make mistakes. If your company has the resources and talent, you could set up a design and development team to audit your site and ensure compliance with ADA regulations. An ADA compliance audit report can be quite extensive, depending on the number of violations or problems found on your website. If the ADA applies to your business and you operate a site for your company, you must make your website accessible to everyone.
Keep reading to learn more about how the ADA can affect your business and how you can test compliance with your website. To ensure that your website complies with ADA and WCAG standards, a combination of automated and manual testing is best. Businesses can choose from many free ADA compliance verification tools, such as WAVE and Lighthouse, which analyze their site's color contrast, text size, image alternative text, and more. Take a multifaceted approach to ensure your website is accessible and maintain it in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 508 Standards, and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
For those who have a website (which should be from every business), you've probably heard of ADA compliance. To protect yourself from other issues, a strong report will include all necessary training or suggestions on how you can maintain ADA compliance in the future.
