As of 2010, one in every five Americans, or approximately 56.7 million, lives with a disability. So it’s not uncommon for people with disabilities to struggle with adapting to and using cutting-edge gadgetry. In addition, as more people look for legal professionals online, it has become more critical than ever to develop accessible websites for law firms.
So as a lawyer, your duties involve making technological resources accessible to people of all abilities and understanding what ADA for websites entails. Before reaching out to an ADA Compliance Company, learning all about it is a wise idea. To help you understand why web accessibility for law firms is critical, we will share everything there is to know about it.
What Exactly Is Web Content Accessibility?
People living with different disabilities process and interpret information differently. When a website is accessible, users with impairments can navigate it the same way as those who utilize keyboard-based or point-and-click methods.
It is vital to provide content that appeals to all the senses to make your website accessible to people with disabilities. All of your site’s features, including consultation requests and invoice payments, must be accessible to all users, with no exception. Web accessibility remediation may include –
- Use “alt” text on photos or image files to help the visually impaired navigate your site.
- Use of descriptive anchor text to facilitate site navigation.
- Captions that appear in time with the audio in a video for the deaf and hard of hearing.
5 Reasons Why Web Content Accessibility Matters For Your Law Firm
When you become an attorney, you are responsible for representing individuals who cannot defend themselves in court. To offer equal service to everyone, you must also assist customers who may have disabilities by providing them with accessible, user-friendly technology.
There are numerous other reasons why the importance of web accessibility for your law firm is immeasurable. These include –
- Web Accessibility Helps You Reach More People
Accessible websites increase your potential customer base. For example, the United States is home to 40 million disabled people. In addition, research by Pew Research reveals that twenty-five percent of American adults consider themselves disabled.
All of these people in the United States will need legal assistance at some point in their lives. Whether it’s to create a will, defend themselves against criminal charges, or file a lawsuit due to an injury. Put another way, almost everyone using Google may look for a lawyer someday in their lives. So why not expand your law firm’s reach?
- Reduced Risk Of legal action
Legal action is something no company wants to deal with, and no company wants to chance to have to pay for legal bills. One accessibility complaint investigation can cost up to $10,000, while a lawsuit defense and settlement can cost up to $350,000. Additionally, The number of lawsuits involving disabilities has climbed by almost 1,100% since 2016.
This number should continue to rise in the future as well. Therefore, if you fail to comply with accessibility regulations, it could significantly harm your company.
- Improve Your Brand’s Strength
Making your web content accessible to people with disabilities can only help your brand. A website may be the best way to demonstrate how much your company values and respects all of its clients. Making your web content accessible to people with disabilities also suggests you’ve done some research into industry standards.
Companies with solid ethical cultures tend to attract more loyal customers and reliable business allies. However, your company’s image may suffer if your website is challenging to use for people with disabilities.
- Boost Your Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Websites that are easy for people to use will also improve your site’s visibility in search engine results. Why? Because accessibility is directly related to SEO (SEO).
Both search engine optimization and user-friendliness are interrelated. For example, websites that are easy to use and understand by individuals of all abilities have lower bounce rates.
- Boost Usability
The goal of web content accessibility is to ensure that people with physical or mental impairments can fully take advantage of available resources. Therefore, it is reasonable to consider accessibility directly linked with usability, as it contributes to a positive user experience.
People who have issues using a mouse or keyboard will significantly benefit from this standard, but everyone will enjoy its advantages. By organizing your site’s navigational elements per this standard, visitors will have a simpler time finding the information they need.
Conclusion
Web accessibility remediation is a hot issue for law firms nowadays. If you don’t have a clear idea about what ADA for websites entails, web accessibility development for your law firm can become difficult. So we share the topic of accessible website development in this article.
We hope you understand how critical web accessibility for law firms is. Thanks for reading till now.
