AEIT & Sec 508 Accessibility
The bottom line is that there is no reason that a website should be a barrier to your users who depend on assistive technologies. We understand the requirements, and can make maintaining an accessible website something you do without even knowing it.
What is accessibility?
Simply put, it means that the code of your website is written so that it can be interpreted by more than just Internet Explorer 6. Screen readers, user stylesheets, non-javascript-enabled browsers, mobility-impaired users, colorblind users, and many others need to be considered while building and maintaining your web content.
AEIT and Florida Law
From AbilityForum: On June 23, 2006, Governor Bush signed HB1503: Relating to Agency for Persons with Disabilities. Part III of HB 1503 titled Accessibility of Information and Technology (AEIT) relates to making government electronic information and information technology accessible to people with disabilities.
This bill adds technology accessibility requirements to Florida Law, and requires compliance from all State technology initiatives, including agency websites.
Section 508 and Federal Law
On a national scale, Section 508 serves as the legal foundation for Florida's AEIT laws. These rules have governed websites of federal agencies and organizations receiving federal funding for some time.
Your website: A Place of Public Accommodation
Courts are ruling that websites are, in fact, places of public accommodation, and subject to the ADA compliance rules the govern them. Lawsuits currently being pursued by disability advocates will further strengthen the justification for being proactive about being in compliance.
What if no blind people use my site?
Not only are there important legal reasons to make your content available to everyone, it is just the right thing to do. And it is not that hard or especially expensive to do it. Accessibility is not just about the sight-impaired user. There are many more considerations, including low-vision, users with limited range of motion, some who cannot use a mouse to navigate, and those who may not speak the primary language of your website.
It is wrong to discriminate against these users, and the accommodations that make viewing your site easier for them will improve it for everyone.
The foundation for recent advances in accessibility are driven by federal and state laws that govern the public websites under these jurisdictions. But, private companies need to be mindful of lawsuits and other liabilities that are changing the landscape of compliance.
Consider the benefits
In addition to being in compliance with the law, reducing liability, and doing the right thing, accessibility provides additional benefits:
- search engines read your site just like a blind user might, and can index the site better if it is accessible
- mobile and PDA users benefit from the optimized code used in accessible websites
- the separation of design and content instrumental in accessible sites makes future site redesigns easy
- maintaining the content of a well-built accessible site is much easier than old-style designs
How do I get started?
Creating an accessible website is typically part of website redesign effort. Building a new site from the ground up is the best way to ensure modern standards are adhered to. However, legacy systems and web applications are often test for and brought into compliance without building an entirely new application.
Give us a ring to find out more about accessible solutions, including:
- compliance reviews/analysis
- comprehensive compliance audit
- compliance monitoring
- building accessible websites
- creating accessible templates for existing websites
- updating existing websites for compliance
- large volume PDF accessibility remediation
Reduce liability, improve search engine rankings, comply with the law, and just do the right thing. Consider an accessibility solution today.