Website Accessibility For Online Shoppers

The rising trend in online shopping is here to stay. It is undeniable that online shopping is becoming a preferred way to shop retail stores for buying customers. 

Accessing Your Store’s Website

For some disabled individuals, online shopping is the preferred way to buy products from any store. With some stores existing exclusively online, a customer’s ability to access your store’s website is more important than ever.

20% Of Your Potential Customer Base

Losing out on 20% of your potential customer base could be detrimental to some online stores in today’s competitive market.

Web accessibility isn’t only important to further your store’s profits. It’s also about giving everyone the chance to feel like they are wanted by your business. Many stores will at one stage receive a demand letter from a plaintiff’s attorney who feels otherwise.

Now, the U.S state and federal court systems are providing legal protection for disabled individuals digital accessibility rights. So, the trend we are seeing being played out in the courtrooms across the country, is judges are finding websites “places of public accommodation” as well. If your website is “public accommodation” then in order to be in compliance with the ADA, your website and its content must be accessible to all disabled persons.

Legal protections for individuals with disabilities through digital accessibility rights.

300 Lawsuits Since 2015

Since January 2015, more than 300 lawsuits have been filed in or removed to federal court relating to website accessibility, and that number continues to steadily grow. 

While it might be hard to envisage how to solve this issue, you do need to act upon it. If you receive a demand letter, it might be to claim that your organization is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). That’s a serious allegation.

Since a website can be considered a place of public accommodation, you need to achieve the levels and standards expected. If you would like to know more of the kind of changes that you may need to make, then the DOJ often refers to the World Wide Web Consortium’ Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

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Make Your Website Accessible to Everyone