Accessibility Frequently Asked Questions

Web accessibility means designing and developing websites and digital content so they can be perceived, understood, navigated, and interacted with by people with disabilities. This includes people with visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities.

A truly accessible website works for everyone, regardless of their abilities or the methods they use to access the web, such as screen readers, voice recognition software, screen magnifiers, or specialized keyboards.

Web accessibility is important for several reasons:

• Inclusion: It ensures that everyone, including people with disabilities, can access and use web content.
• Equal opportunity: It provides equal access to information, services, and opportunities online.
• Legal compliance: It helps meet legal requirements under laws like the ADA.
• Better user experience: Many accessibility features improve usability for all users.
• Larger audience: Accessible websites can reach a wider audience, including the estimated 15% of the global population with disabilities.

Web accessibility benefits:

• People with disabilities: Including visual, hearing, motor, and cognitive disabilities.
• Older adults: Who may experience age-related impairments.
• Mobile device users: Accessibility features often improve mobile experiences.
• People with temporary limitations: Such as a broken arm or lost glasses.
• People in challenging environments: Like bright sunlight or noisy settings.
• People with slow internet connections: Accessible sites often load faster and work better on low bandwidth.
• All users: Many accessibility features improve usability for everyone.

WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. These guidelines are developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) through their Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). WCAG provides a set of recommendations for making web content more accessible to people with disabilities.

The current versions are WCAG 2.1 (published in 2018) and WCAG 2.2 (published in 2023). They build upon the foundation established by WCAG 2.0 (published in 2008). WCAG 3.0 is in development as a future standard.

WCAG is organized around four main principles, often referred to as POUR:

• Perceivable: Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive. This means that users must be able to perceive the information being presented (it can't be invisible to all of their senses).
• Operable: User interface components and navigation must be operable. This means that users must be able to operate the interface (the interface cannot require interaction that a user cannot perform).
• Understandable: Information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable. This means that users must be able to understand the information as well as the operation of the user interface.
• Robust: Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. This means that users must be able to access the content as technologies advance.

WCAG defines three levels of conformance:

• Level A: The most basic level of accessibility, addressing the most critical barriers for users with disabilities. This level represents the minimum acceptable level of accessibility.
• Level AA: Addresses the major and common barriers for users with disabilities. Level AA is considered the standard target for most websites and is referenced in many regulations and legal requirements worldwide.
• Level AAA: The highest level of accessibility, providing enhanced accessibility features. While ideal, Level AAA may not be achievable for all content types and may require significant resources to implement.

Most organizations aim for WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance, which provides good accessibility for most users while being practically achievable.

Yes, in many jurisdictions website accessibility is required by law, though the specific requirements vary by country and region.

In the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been interpreted by courts to apply to websites as "places of public accommodation." While the ADA does not explicitly mention websites, the Department of Justice and numerous court rulings have established that websites must be accessible to people with disabilities.

Other countries have their own accessibility laws and regulations, many of which specifically reference WCAG standards as benchmarks for compliance.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public.

Title III of the ADA specifically prohibits discrimination in "places of public accommodation." Courts have increasingly interpreted this to include websites and digital services, especially when they are connected to physical business locations. This means that businesses open to the public must ensure their websites are accessible to people with disabilities.

While the ADA itself doesn't specify technical standards for web accessibility, legal cases and Department of Justice settlements have frequently referenced WCAG 2.0 or 2.1 Level AA as the benchmark for compliance.

If your website isn't accessible, you may face several consequences:

• Legal action: You could be subject to lawsuits under the ADA or other accessibility laws. The number of website accessibility lawsuits has increased significantly in recent years.
• Financial penalties: Legal action can result in significant costs, including legal fees, settlements, and remediation expenses.
• Damaged reputation: Accessibility issues can harm your brand's image and reputation for inclusivity.
• Lost customers: Inaccessible websites exclude potential customers with disabilities, reducing your market reach.
• Remediation requirements: You may be required to make your website accessible within a specified timeframe.

Prevention is typically less expensive than remediation after a lawsuit, which is why proactive accessibility testing and compliance is recommended.

Common accessibility barriers include:

• Missing alternative text: Images without descriptive alt text cannot be understood by screen reader users.
• Poor color contrast: Text that doesn't contrast sufficiently with its background is difficult for low-vision users to read.
• Keyboard inaccessibility: Content or functions that require a mouse and cannot be operated with a keyboard alone.
• Missing form labels: Form fields without proper labels are difficult for screen reader users to understand.
• Inaccessible multimedia: Videos without captions or audio descriptions exclude deaf or blind users.
• Complex navigation: Websites without clear navigation structures or skip links create barriers for many users.
• Time-limited content: Content that disappears or changes automatically can be problematic for users who read or navigate more slowly.
• Non-responsive design: Websites that don't adapt to different screen sizes and zoom levels.

Making your website accessible involves several steps:

1. Audit your website: Conduct an accessibility audit to identify existing barriers. This can involve automated testing tools, manual testing, and testing with actual users with disabilities.
2. Develop an accessibility plan: Create a plan to address the identified issues, prioritizing the most critical barriers.
3. Implement accessibility features: Make the necessary changes to your website, following WCAG guidelines. This might include adding alt text to images, ensuring proper color contrast, making forms accessible, etc.
4. Test regularly: Accessibility should be an ongoing process, not a one-time fix. Regularly test your website as you make updates or add new content.
5. Train your team: Ensure that everyone involved in creating and maintaining your website understands accessibility requirements.
6. Create an accessibility statement: Document your commitment to accessibility and provide information about the accessibility features of your site.
7. Provide feedback channels: Allow users to report accessibility issues and respond to those reports promptly.

No, automated testing tools cannot catch all accessibility issues. While they are useful for identifying certain technical problems, they can only detect approximately 30-40% of potential accessibility issues.

Many accessibility requirements involve subjective evaluation or context-dependent assessment that automated tools cannot perform. For instance, automated tools can check if an image has alt text, but they cannot determine if that alt text accurately and appropriately describes the image.

A comprehensive accessibility evaluation requires a combination of:

• Automated testing: To quickly identify certain technical issues
• Manual expert review: To evaluate aspects requiring human judgment
• Assistive technology testing: To verify compatibility with screen readers and other assistive technologies
• User testing: Ideally involving people with disabilities to identify real-world barriers

a11yscan.xyz provides comprehensive web accessibility services focused on helping users who believe they have experienced discrimination due to inaccessible websites. Our services include:

• Accessibility Audits: Thorough scanning of websites to identify WCAG violations and accessibility barriers.
• Technical Documentation: Detailed reports suitable for legal proceedings, documenting all accessibility issues found.
• Expert Testimony: Professional testimony explaining technical accessibility barriers in legal contexts.
• Contingency-Based Billing: We only bill upon settlement, meaning there's no upfront cost to you.

Our contingency billing model means you don't pay any upfront costs for our accessibility audit and documentation services. We only bill when your case settles successfully.

Here's how it works:

1. We conduct a preliminary review of your case to determine if there are likely accessibility violations.
2. If we proceed, we perform a comprehensive audit of the website in question.
3. We prepare detailed technical documentation and reports for you and your legal team.
4. You only pay for our services after your case settles successfully.
5. The complete dataset of accessibility issues is released upon settlement.

This model ensures that there's no financial risk to you while seeking redress for accessibility discrimination.

No, we specialize in accessibility auditing and documentation for legal proceedings, not in remediation services. Our focus is on helping individuals who have experienced discrimination get the documentation they need for legal action.

However, our detailed reports do include specific information about the accessibility issues found, which can be used by developers to guide remediation efforts after a settlement is reached.

If you're looking for remediation services, we recommend working with specialized web accessibility consultants or agencies that focus on fixing accessibility issues.

Getting started with a11yscan.xyz is simple:

1. Complete the contact form on our website with information about the website accessibility issues you've encountered.
2. Our team will review your submission and contact you to discuss your case in more detail.
3. If we determine that there are likely accessibility violations, we'll proceed with a comprehensive audit.
4. We'll provide you with professional documentation of the accessibility issues found, which you can share with your legal representation.
5. You only pay for our services after your case settles successfully.

If you have any questions or need more information, please don't hesitate to contact us.