You want your online presence to be as welcoming and accessible as possible. But if your website isn’t ADA compliant, you may be throwing up unintended roadblocks for users with disabilities.
For example, if an individual with a vision impairment wants to schedule an online appointment at your healthcare facility, a lack of alt-text or a poorly coded menu could make your website both incomprehensible and impossible to use. That’s because screen readers specially designed for blind users can get easily confused when websites don’t follow standard semantic guidelines.
When your website is ADA compliant, however, you’ll be able to welcome everyone through your virtual doors. As a result, most healthcare organizations see the value–both financially and ethically–in ensuring accessibility.
What is ADA Compliance?
When you think of the Americans with Disabilities Act, you probably consider how it applies to physical spaces–the presence of ramps and elevator access, for example. Or maybe you’re more familiar with how the ADA works in human resources settings, ensuring that those with disabilities are not excluded from hiring or career advancement opportunities.
In 2010, roughly twenty years after the original ADA was signed into law, the Department of Justice published the ADA Standards for Accessible Design. The signal was clear: websites are public spaces and the ADA applies.
In order to help facilitate accessibility, the WordWide Web Consortium (W3C) developed a set of guidelines known as Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (or WCAG). Currently, WCAG 2.1 is seen as the gold standard of accessibility. Websites that implement all WCAG suggestions are generally recognized as being fully accessible. Meeting WCAG 2.1 guidelines is likewise typically regarded as “de facto” meeting ADA compliance requirements.
With PatientX, implementing WCAG updates is easier than ever. We follow a simple, extremely affordable process to make your website accessible.
How Does Compliance Work?
If you’re a small clinic, it’s unlikely anyone from the Department of Justice is going to knock on your door (or website) to check for ADA compliance. But, non-compliance means that you might unintentionally turn some patients away–simply because they can’t access your services.
These patients could lodge complaints or even file lawsuits. The best way to avoid all that is to ensure patients with disabilities have full and easy access to your website.
Is There An Easy Way to Follow Accessibility Guidelines?
Many individuals with disabilities will have special devices and strategies designed to help them navigate the web. Accessibility standards are designed to ensure those devices and strategies are usable on your website.
WCAG 2.1 lays out how your website should function in order to be considered accessible. These guidelines will tell you how to format your navigation, when to include alt text and meta tags, correct semantic page structure, minimums and maximums for text contrast, and more. In general, WCAG 2.1 guidelines are considered quite comprehensive.
But if you’re a practice manager or healthcare marketer–and not an accessibility expert–this could feel like an overwhelming challenge. That’s why PatientX is here to help! Our process looks something like this:
- We perform a full audit on your website’s accessibility.
- We add one line of code to your website.
- You’ll gain access to a wide range of accessibility features.
- A powerful artificial intelligence engine starts analyzing your website.
- In as little as 48 hours, your website becomes ADA compliant!
As a marketing manager or healthcare administrator, you have to do almost nothing! With the PatientX approach, your patients get the benefit of an accessible and easy to use website that is ADA compliant.
You want your website to be completely ADA compliant. But you’re just not sure where to start.
Our downloadable resource can help!
The Benefits of a Compliant Website
For individuals living with disabilities, the benefits of an ADA compliant website are pretty clear: they get to easily and effectively use your website. If they want to find information about your health services, now they can! If they want to book an appointment, they can do that too–and it’s all easy.
But there are also benefits for you as a business. Some of those benefits include:
- The prevention of litigation – When your website is compliant, you’ll know you’re doing your part to ensure accessibility for all. As a result, you’ll be much less likely to encounter ADA compliance-related legal challenges concerning your website.
- You’ll boost your brand perception – These days, patients are very discerning when it comes to choosing brands and organizations to support. They want to know your organization is doing the right things. Ensuring your website is ADA compliant can help consumers feel good about supporting your company–boosting your brand perception in the process.
- Expanding your market reach – Why wouldn’t you want to make it easier for more people to use your website?! When your online presence is WCAG compatible and ADA compliant, you’ll be more effectively opening your doors to additional patients.
Get Started Today
Most facility administrators and office managers understand that ADA compliance is the right thing to do–but knowing where (and how) to begin can feel challenging. But with PatientX here to walk you through the process, you may find that becoming ADA compliant is easier–and much more affordable–than you thought.
Contact PatientX today to set up a full ADA compliance audit. Ensuring your website is accessible can protect your organization and improve the patient experience. The sooner you start the better.