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Great article, Nicole! I am currently studying the lengthy ADA compliance documentation (still have volumes to go!), and your article provides volumes of useful information in a nutshell. Now, intranet and all HR regulations that come with it aside... What's your opinion on "15 employees" rule when it comes to the internet websites? Shouldn't the rules flex based on volume of traffic/bandwidth (indicating actual use of the website) and/or nature of the business, rather then plain math of just having 15 or more employees? There may be a business with 3 employees (or one super successful blogger), that generates thousands of visits a day - and a company with 20 employees with so-called "credibility" website that nobody ever visits or uses? What's your take on it? Thanks!
First, thank you all for the kind words. During my research, I found a lot of places where people were asking for help with meeting ADA compliance for web sites. I'm glad this article is able to fill a gap. Thanks also for sharing tips and other tools!
In response to Dina's great discussion point-- I think that the people writing the law simply rolled everything under the 15 employee rule, and didn't alter the specs for most portions of the law. My personal opinion is that legislators need more input from people who work in the fields they legislate and less input from corporate lobbyists (education is another great example). *I* think that it could be done in such a way as to retain the 15 employee rule, but add a site volume/ business type rule as well that would include the type of small business with a lot of web traffic that Dina describes.
That said-- ADA compliance offers all web site owners (whether personal, corporate, public, whatever) an opportunity to reach a sizable, and often overlooked, readership/ customer base. The wise web developer makes all pages accessible to the largest possible audience, regardless of regulations. With the right tools and best practices, it doesn't have to be expensive or difficult to do.
In response to Dina's great discussion point-- I think that the people writing the law simply rolled everything under the 15 employee rule, and didn't alter the specs for most portions of the law. My personal opinion is that legislators need more input from people who work in the fields they legislate and less input from corporate lobbyists (education is another great example). *I* think that it could be done in such a way as to retain the 15 employee rule, but add a site volume/ business type rule as well that would include the type of small business with a lot of web traffic that Dina describes.
That said-- ADA compliance offers all web site owners (whether personal, corporate, public, whatever) an opportunity to reach a sizable, and often overlooked, readership/ customer base. The wise web developer makes all pages accessible to the largest possible audience, regardless of regulations. With the right tools and best practices, it doesn't have to be expensive or difficult to do.
Thank you for writing this wonderful article Nicole. Personally, I think everyone should be concerned about accessibility even without the ADA-compliance aspect.
There's a great add-in for Microsoft Office products called FireEyes by Deque (http://www.deque.com/deque-fireeyes). The add-ins allow users to check accessibility issues while they're still in the development phases. Since it's an add-in, you can test it before it actually gets published to a live website.
There's a great add-in for Microsoft Office products called FireEyes by Deque (http://www.deque.com/deque-fireeyes). The add-ins allow users to check accessibility issues while they're still in the development phases. Since it's an add-in, you can test it before it actually gets published to a live website.
I am the IT manager for a non profit in Florida the protects and advocates for people with disabilities, so accessibility is extremely important in all aspects of our work. It's nice to see "mainstream" IT sites address accessibility with articles like this one.
By the way, a great online website analysis tool is at http://fae.cita.illinois.edu. I find it extremely helpful when analyzing a site. Just remember that there is only so much an online tool can accomplish, and learning to objectively review a website for accessibility issues by hand is still a necessity.
By the way, a great online website analysis tool is at http://fae.cita.illinois.edu. I find it extremely helpful when analyzing a site. Just remember that there is only so much an online tool can accomplish, and learning to objectively review a website for accessibility issues by hand is still a necessity.
Another good resource - http://www.nib.org/content/section-508-assurance-service
Why is it nobody ever mentions or thinks about the keyboard? I've got, compared to many others, a relatively minor handicap - I'm missing part of my hand. I've learned to type damn well with the fingers I have left on my hand, and I can tab as much as I needed, but trying to hold onto and control and manipulate a mouse or roller ball is an exercise in blood-boiling frustration. However, so many features on so many websites today can't be reached via any kind of keyboard navigation or shortcut, and even on many of the websites where tabbing does work well, the developers are oblivious to the Tab Order feature, with obvious results. Very very frustrating.
I agree with you 100% lunchbeast. From a technical standpoint, that's one of the easiest issues to fix, yet very few people pause long enough while creating websites to think of these types of roadblocks.
That is a very, very good point. I think better keyboard navigation would benefit all users. Thank you for bringing this up 
- Keyboard Shortcuts:
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