What is ADA compliance and what does it mean for your website?
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards were established in September of 2010 and require all electronic information and online technology to be accessible to people with disabilities.
Creating an ADA compliant website may seem intimidating, but it doesn’t have to mean sacrificing your site design or endless hours spent writing ADA-specific code and content.
Additionally, when it comes to compliance, the benefits of having an ADA-compliant website far outweigh the potential consequences of being non-compliant. Still need convincing? Here are the top 4 reasons to make your site ADA compliant.
Save Money
Small businesses may take an annual tax credit for making their businesses accessible to persons with disabilities. A website compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act can save you up to $5000. When you upgrade your site, you can claim a 50% tax credit. By investing in an ADA compliant site, you are eligible to deduct the cost as a business expense. This means more money in your pocket come tax season.
Improve SEO
Focusing on your search-engine optimization (SEO) is an important way to reach new patients in the digital age. An unexpected benefit of this is that an ADA compliant website will send reports to identify both website issues that affect ADA compliance, but also the ability for search engines to index your site effectively. An unsafe site means less hits across all search engines, which translates to less digitally driven business for your practice.
Complying with ADA and routinely reviewing your site to ensure compliance will mean more visibility for your site, and as result, more traffic. As an added bonus, your pay per click (PPC) ad costs will drop as your SEO improves.
Grow business
An obvious, but often overlooked benefit of developing an ADA compliant site is that it will be more accessible to potential patients. Once your site is up and running, many disabled individuals who previously could not navigate your site will now have the ability to do so. Having an accessible site can mean increased traffic and more appointments. By making a legitimate effort to be inclusive, you will develop a loyal revenue stream from patients that may be ostracized by your competition’s site.
Avoid lawsuits
While increased revenue is a great added bonus of ADA compliance, keeping your practice safe from a pricey lawsuit is equally as important. When you proactively protect your site and keep it up to ADA standards you avoid potentially getting hit with lawsuits and demand letters. Get ahead of expensive attorney and court fees by making sure your site (and any accompanying PDFs) are up to snuff.
Millions of people across the country have physical limitations or other impairments that hinder them from traditional web browsing. Creating an ADA compliant site is not only beneficial for your business, but also a great way to show your patients right out the gate that your practice is inclusive.
Interested in updating your website? Give us a call at (888) 348-3113.
