It's not only about vision impairments which include: low vision or color blindness, difficulty reading text, seeing images, or distinguishing between colors on business websites, it also includes these accessibility issues:

A.    Mobility impairment – using a mousepad or trackpad  to navigate or interact with certain elements of a website can be challenging.

B.    Repetitive strain injury – those with carpel tunnel syndrome may have difficulty using a mouse or keyboard for extended periods.

C.   Hearing impairment – ADA digital content includes audio. Those with deaf or hard of hearing may have a difficult time accessing audio content such as videos without captions, podcasts without captions or transcripts.

D.   Cognitive Impairment – those with dyslexia or ADHD may have a difficult time processing certain information on a website. 

ADHD – Is that you?

As I better understood the issues, I then realized they were also talking to so many people just like me.

As I learned more about the blue circle, ADHD was a surprising

issue. I had never even considered that regarding ADA compliant websites. 

Regarding the blue circle on this site, when you click on it, you’ll see an ADHD option on the tool I’ve installed.

Each tool on that panel serves a unique purpose in addressing ADA issues.

2.  Lost Sales  (the practical business reason)

This is THE very practical reason tied directly to the very name of this site – CloseTheDeal.Com. We consistently talk about preventing lost sales and converting more sales.

Using the restaurant analogy again, it’s like a restaurant not providing

wheelchair accessibility.

Not only is that restaurant avoiding ADA regulations and risking hefty fines, they lose sales turning away potential customers.

Sales benefits embracing inclusion:

Brand building with the blue circle

• Your website is your public-facing brand.
• Disability inclusion is a business differentiator.
• Your business will stand out in a sea of exclusion. 

Inclusive websites open channels to connect with 50 million Americans with disabilities. That's just a good idea creating equal access to all.

With the blue circle, you're educating your website visitor. You're letting them know you're looking out for their best interest regarding ADA accessibility. This builds your brand.

The SEO bonus of inclusion

Search engines reward ADA compliant websites with better search engine optimization (SEO) results which equals more sales.

3. Costly and avoidable legal fees (the “I wish this didn’t happen” reason)

No one wants to face the U.S. Department of Justice. No one wants to be dragged into a lawsuit.

The awareness of ADA compliant websites with blue circles

continues to rise significantly.  The number of ADA compliance lawsuits has skyrocketed.

In 2021, there were:

•  11,452 federal lawsuits
• 265,000 demand letters sent to businesses that operated inaccessible websites
• The average ADA lawsuit settled for $35,000 + legal expenses

Even Queen B, Beyonce was hit with a class action lawsuit in 2019. The burger restaurant Five Guys is another high-profile example among others. 

Thousands of settlements in the tens of thousands of dollars (as high as $75,000 plus legal expenses) are common despite the fact they don’t make the news.  With our practical hospitality approach, those risks are mitigated as website accessibility lawsuits will only escalate for the foreseeable future. 

Note- The cost of negative publicity a business faces due to an ADA lawsuit is rarely factored in.  It' s best to avoid the lawsuit.

At the end of the day...

...looking at this through the lens of the practical hospitality mindset of CloseTheDeal.Com, we advocate an inclusive customer-focused approach that improves sales and mitigates risks for any business owner. 

At the very core, when we look at this as building valued relationships, we fulfill a moral obligation by our fellow man to do the best we can. It’s the right thing. 

Avoid the federal courts and grow your business. 

With our partner accessiBe,  you can have your own blue circle to better protect your business and brand your business as inclusive.  Over 174,076  websites trust their blue circle below.

We're proud to serve as an advocate for ADA compliant websites. 

Ewell

P.S. If you have any questions, I'm happy to help out. Click here.

Best Practices for having an ADA-compliant website

The blue circle is your tool to better address ADA standards. That tool also informs the user your site is ADA accessible.

Any business needs to consider the list below towards making their website   ADA compliant.

1.     Review ADA guidelines

2.    Use descriptive Alt text for images – this enables screen readers to

        understand the image

3.     Use descriptive tags for forms and PDFs

4.     Use descriptive anchor text for links so the reader knows what to

         expect after they click

5.     Add "skip navigation" options

6.     Use proper header tagging (H2, H3, H4, etc.) to improve keyboard only

          consumption

7.     Make videos and audio accessible with captions

8.     Use accessible fonts

9.     Use headers, identifiers, and information in HTML tables

10.   Add accessible labels to CTA buttons

11.    Ensure keyboard navigation

12.   Have an accessibility policy

13.   Provide contact info for accessibility requests

14.   Test website accessibility

15.   Automate checks for ADA compliance