Making Sure Site is ADA Compliant?

If you go here

Is Your Site ADA-Compliant ... or a Lawsuit-in-Waiting?

There are a couple of links to try.

That page is 10 years old and says law firms with over 15 employees have to comply. What does that have to do with us?

Does anyone have current info?

Sorry, I should have been more specific: American Disabilities Act. We've got a couple sites with products targeting visually impaired.

I've found some info since I posted. If anyone's interested I copied and pasted below:

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Do you need to comply?

you can validate your site here: Welcome to the HiSoftware Cynthia Says Portal

UITest.com: Web Development Tools:
Site Check: Website Test ? UITest.com
Firstly though, I'd run your site through a Validator like this one, uitest, type your URL in and it'll let you know so many things about your site.

Over on the top right of that page you'll see a heading called "Validation" and a link called W3C, that's where I'd begin as this will let you know whether the code that makes up your site is written using web standards and suggest changes if it isn't. Don't be alarmed if it tells you that you have a zillion errors either.

But also on the UITest site you'll find links that check whether your site complies with Accessibility Standards also, you can run your site through a colorblind filter, check loading times, and much more.

A very basic (and probably arguable) list of checks would be:
1. Does the site make sense without images on?
2. Does the site make sense/work without Javascript on?
3. Does the site make sense when read out by a screen reader?
4. Can you navigate around the site without a mouse - just using the keyboard?
5. Do informational images have useful alt text? (non-informational images should have alt="" rather than no alt attribute).
6. Do forms have labels around the form text and inputs?
7. Is there enough contrast between the text and the background colour?
8. Do you have some alternative way of accessing content supplied in Flash or images or Javascript widgets?
9. Have you used semantic tags where possible? (e.g headings should be in heading tags - Search Engines like it and also screenreaders can jump between headings so you're aiding navigation)

ADA Home Page - ada.gov - Information and Technical Assistance on the Americans with Disabilities Act has the most current info.

Doesn't the EU have even tougher regs?

Some of the posts above indicate that there is a total lack of awareness of the legal responsibilities internet marketers have, just like offline marketers.

It may be harder for regulators to find IM'ers, but all it takes is one P.O.'d visitor to report you to the regulators, or an advocacy group with an active lawyer.

One lawyer I know hired someone to go around measuring curb height for restroom access at independent gasoline stations. His next step was to file lawsuits against each owner whose station did not meet the ADA requirements for access. He wasn't being an altruistic citizen, he was working to earn his fees, and only passing a remainder over to the "aggrieved"parties.

For a website, you have video and audio access considerations among the others. How would your website fare if some lawyer like that guy sat down at the computer and visited your website?

Have a nice day.

Kirk