What is ADA Compliancy for Websites?
ADA compliance refers to the civil rights law Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which many of us are familiar with. Often, when we think of ADA compliance, what comes to mind is complying with guidelines such as ensuring accessible parking outside a business or providing reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities.
You may not realize that under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a business must also ensure its website is accessible. That's because your business website is considered public, which falls under the ADA umbrella.
Website accessibility includes optimizing for screen readers (i.e., images with alternative text), providing audio alternatives and ensuring the site can be navigated via a keyboard, among other features designed to aid those with disabilities. There is a set of standards developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) that offers guidelines.
If Your Website Isn’t Accessible
If your website isn’t ADA compliant, your business could become the target of a lawsuit.
When an attorney targets a company for ADA compliance, it starts with a demand letter. It’s important to review the letter with your legal counsel to ensure its validity.
If the demand letter proves valid, you’ll have an opportunity to audit your website and make necessary changes to bring it into ADA compliance. Typically, you’ll want to work with website accessibility specialists like Creative Eye Design who can perform the audit and either make the required changes for you or make recommendations.
If you haven’t received a demand letter, take a preemptive approach by working with Creative Eye Design to ensure your existing website, or one you are planning on launching, is accessible.
Web Accessibility Meets Tax Benefits
Investing in web accessibility and complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) now entitles businesses and agencies to a tax credit according to Section 44 of the IRS Code. This is great news for any business or agency that invests in an accessible website and offers an inclusive user experience to the population living with disabilities.
What is the ADA tax credit?
By working on accessibility and maintaining ADA compliance, you earn back the cost you invested in your accessibility efforts.
The government has decided to initiate The Disabled Access Tax Credit to incentivize investment into accessibility. To put it simply, they want to help you help others by reducing the financial burden.
Who's eligible?
Under Section 44 of the IRS Code, The Disabled Access Tax Credit is available to any business or agency with an accessible, compliant website and has a total revenue of $1,000,000 or less in the previous tax year or 30 or fewer full-time employees.
Get up to $5,000 back!
The Disabled Access Tax Credit can cover 50% of the business or agency's expenditures in a year, for up to $10,250. The first $250 of your expenditures is not covered, which means the maximum credit allotted is $5,000.
The credit received by the business or agency can be used for the removal of architectural barriers in facilities, and the purchase of assistive equipment or services such as sign-language interpreters, the production of accessible formats, or in some cases, the hiring of consulting services.
The simple application process
Once you have confirmed that you qualify for The Disabled Access Tax Credit, you can fill out the following form and apply for the benefit which requires an attached tax return.
For more information regarding The Disabled Access Tax Credit and an additional tax deduction, you can also visit the IRS Tax Credits and Deductions page on the Americans with Disabilities Act website.