no avail. Very little was known about this new legal
requirement. They fixed their website and settled the
lawsuit—several thousands of dollars later.
To determine if your website is compliant, there are
tools and plugins that can evaluate a few of the accessi-
bility factors, such as color contrast, alt-text, and page
headers. There are companies that will conduct a compli-
mentary scan of your website for a cursory evaluation.
other factors, like keyboard navigation and screen reader
compatibility, can only be tested manually.
Predatory lawyers are targeting hospitality and retail in
particular. your spa or resort should be proactive, both to
prevent a costly lawsuit and to make your website acces-
sible for those with disabilities. additionally, making your
website aDa-compliant will potentially open up your spa to
a wider range of customers.
in several years, it is likely that all websites for u.S.-
based companies will be created or modified to be aDa
“Your spa or resort should
be proactive, both to
prevent a costly lawsuit
and to make your website
accessible for those with
disabilities.”
compliant—just as newly constructed buildings are now
designed from the ground up to be accessible. But in the
meantime, if your website is not up to the aDa standards, you
run a very real risk of facing a lawsuit that you cannot win.
The age-old adage prevails: you can pay now, or pay later—
and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. n
WEBSITE FACTORS REQUIRING ADA COMPLIANCE
l Contrast Ratio l Screen Reader Compatibility l IFrames (Inline Frames)
l Alt-Text on Images l video Transcripts and Captions l Third-Party Images
l Keyboard Navigation l Font Size l Hyperlinks
l Page Headers l Downloadable Materials—PDFs, Forms and Tables due to the low contrast this blue background provides
between the gold background
and the white text, this website
would fail to meet recom-
mended contrast standards. a greater contrast than the
gold. its contrast ratio (5.75:1)
is great enough to meet the
recommended guidelines.
angela cortright is owner of Spa gregorie’s and principal at cnaExperts, a compliance and
accessibility consulting company that helps businesses make their websites aDa compliant in
order to satisfy current legal standards (WcaG 2.1), as well as defend against legal action.
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