As a website owner you are responsible for ensuring that content you put on your site is available to everyone – regardless of ability.

Websites that do not meet WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards can be fined up to $50,000 for a first violation, $100,000 for a second, and even more for compensation of damages.

Over 2250 website accessibility violation lawsuits were filed in 2018 and double that in 2019. That number is expected to triple this year.

You need to act fast to ensure compliance with the ADA.

Remember, an accessible site will also allow nearly 20% of the population that has some form of disability to access your site’s content without any barriers or limitations.

Handling Accessibility Complaints

If you receive a legal complaint or demand letter regarding your website’s lack of accessibility, you need to take it seriously.

Failure to comply with Section 508 of the Department of Justice’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design could expose your company to hefty fines, the risk of expensive criminal and civil litigation as well as a reputation for being unfriendly to people with disabilities.

Accessibility violations that prevent people with disabilities from accessing your digital content are rampant among websites, and are serious violations of federal ADA laws.

While you likely did not intend to violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, there’s a strong likelihood that the claimant who sent you the demand letter, complaint or lawsuit had been directly adversely affected by accessibility barriers on your site.

Act Fast to Mitigate Your Risk of Further Legal Exposure

Your business’ accessibility effort should be undertaken to ensure your site is made fully accessible for any individual that requires accessibility functions, and to demonstrate your goodwill and real effort towards achieving such compliance.

The ultimate goal is to ensure your site is made fully accessible for individuals who rely on assistive technologies and other accessibility enhancements as well as to provide your business with a protective legal framework that is necessary in today’s business environment.

Web accessibility can seem complex and overwhelming if you don’t know where to start. Our approach: start small, one step at a time.

The Answer – Our Accessibility Widget

You can try out the ADA Widget above in the upper right-hand corner of our website. See for yourself how effective and easy to use it is.

Over a dozen states have proposed or already are implementing privacy laws to protect the Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of its citizens.

Each of these laws has unique requirements as well as unique penalties for not complying. Some states are proposing businesses be fined over $5,000 per infringement (per website visitor).

Some states are proposing private right of action (meaning citizens of that state can sue businesses anywhere in the US).

These laws do not care where the business is located. The laws are only out to protect its citizens.

Websites that ask for a ‘name’ and ’email’ address on a contact form are collecting Personally Identifiable Information and need to not only have a compliant Privacy Policy, but also need a strategy to keep their policy up to date when these laws are added or changed.

Having a complete and up-to-date Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions pages ensure that you:

1. Avoid massive fines and lawsuits
2. Limit your liability
3. Keep control of your website
4. Protect your intellectual-property
5. Ensure legitimacy to your website visitors

DigitalWires has partnered with Termageddon® to embed a Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions page onto your website.

Your site  will automatically be updated by Termageddon® whenever the law changes.

Termageddon® employs a full-time legal staff to monitor state privacy laws throughout the United States and is the only Privacy Policy generator listed as a trusted privacy technology vendor by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP.org)

Currently, there are four laws in the United States and the European Union that require most websites that collect personal information to have a Privacy Policy:

1. European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
2. The California Online Privacy Protection Act (CalOPPA)
3. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
4. Nevada’s Revised Statutes Chapter 603A and SB220

These laws were created to protect the consumers of those states and countries, not the businesses. This means that these laws can apply to businesses outside of those states and countries and may apply to you if you collect the personal information of or enter into transactions
with consumers from the European Union, California or Nevada.