Risk mitigation
While building accessible applications is the right thing to do to meet the needs of all users, many developers do not realize that there are legal implications for not doing so. Early accessibility laws focused on elements in buildings and facilities such as ramps, elevators, and Braille signage. But the evolution of digital accessibility.
With websites and applications becoming the de facto way to interact with businesses, consumers need accommodations to have an equivalent virtual experience. This need became even more critical when the global pandemic hit.
Developers must consider the following factors to mitigate risk for web accessibility:
- Global laws
- US laws
- Violation implications
- Guidelines
Global laws
According to the United Nations, over 140 countries worldwide have specific laws related to discrimination against persons with disabilities, and over 170 countries have signed or ratified their Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The following figure highlights these countries and their current status:
Some of the more prominent legislation globally include:
- European Accessibility Act. Based on EN 301 549 directive to establish common guidelines for adherence to accessibility laws for member countries, to reduce barriers to trade across borders. This directive includes digital accessibility.
- German Act on Equal Opportunities for Disabled Persons of 2022.
- United Kingdom Equality Act.
- Canadian Human Rights Act.
United States laws
In the US, the main legislation for accessibility is the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, also known as the ADA. The purpose of the ADA was to "provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities." The ADA is an "equal opportunity" law for people with disabilities. Although originally designed and implemented with regard to physical buildings and access, the definition has expanded significantly due to the growth of digital places of public accommodation.
For more information, go to the ADA website.
Another US government law is Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 USC § 794d). This law requires that Federal agencies' electronic and information technology is accessible to people with disabilities, including employees and members of the public.
For more information, see the Section 508 website.
Violation implications
According to law firm Seyforth Shaw LLP, which annually tracks disability lawsuits, website accessibility lawsuits are on the rise in the US. A total of 2895 lawsuits were filed in 2021, and US businesses received 265,000 website accessibility demand letters in 2020.
For more information about these statistics, see the Accessibility.com website.
Lawsuits can lead to costly impacts for organizations. One known retailer paid USD6 billion in a settlement versus the National Federation of the Blind for an inaccessible website. Another well-known streaming media site paid over USD750,000 to settle a lawsuit with the National Association of the Deaf for their inaccessible content. These dollar amounts do not reflect the negative impact on their reputation in the market for such violations. These suits occur in various industries, including retail, finance, healthcare, academic, and government websites.
The following figure shows the increase in the number the ADA federal lawsuits year over year according to the law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP, beginning with 2013:
In most other countries with laws around equal access, there are associated penalties and fines. In most of these cases, according to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the parties involved meet in mediation to resolve before formally addressing them in court. Therefore settlements are not as public as in the United States, where regulation and compliance definition is less clear.
Between government oversight and regulation and increased legal action, the legal landscape is rapidly changing in favor of equal access. Smart businesses, especially those operating globally, are recognizing the environment and creating accessibility programs to mitigate risk and protect their assets and reputations.
Guidelines
Regarding laws relating to web or digital accessibility, the majority point to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) of W3C.
WCAG is a specific set of standards and best practices for providing an accessible web experience against which organizations are measured. These guidelines are respected globally, and most legal entities point to them for adherence.
A universal assessment tool for measuring an application's level of accessibility is the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) created by the ITIC (Industry Technology Industry Council). Most organizations serious about accessibility publicly post their VPAT or alternative conformance document on their website.
Check your knowledge with the following interaction:
This Topic is available in the following Module:
If you are having problems with your training, please review the Pega Academy Support FAQs.
Want to help us improve this content?