How to Stay Compliant When the Rules Are Always Changing

The world of compliance moves quickly and is constantly changing. But not everyone may be aware of how fast it evolves, which is why we at Third and Grove are no strangers to talking about privacy changes, accessibility, and page experience ranking factors. We’re all about wanting to make sure everyone (clients or not) has access to valuable information that will inevitably affect their site. 

A recent site audit for a client unveiled valuable ADA compliance tidbits we felt compelled to share. Here’s what you should know.

A few quick wins right off the bat

• Add an accessibility statement to the site footer. Something similar to Nomensa’s accessibility statement or the one from Chase.
• Address issues that automated tools pick up. For example, color contrast links not having proper names/labels, unique IDs, etc.
• Ensure all elements of the site can be tabbed and that there aren’t any keyboard/modal traps.

Three robust tools we recommend that can assist you with identifying the above quick wins:
WAVE
Deque - axe
How to Meet WCAG 

ADA monitoring tools
We recommend incorporating a monitoring tool that consistently monitors your site and provides assistance because its sole purpose is to keep you up-to-date and then some. Having built-in reporting and status updates when things change allows everyone to do their primary job efficiently without splitting time and worrying whether the site is ADA-compliant. 
 
Our current recommendations:
eSSENTIAL Accessibility (one of the most full-service options; it does both automated and manual monitoring)
EqualWeb
Deque - axe Monitor 
Siteimprove
UsableNet

Our ADA specialist weighs in
An automated testing and remediation tool will identify about 30 percent of the issues you need to fix. You will need an accessibility vendor to audit your site manually with a screen reader to cover the other 70 percent.

As a development partner, Third and Grove can remediate all of the issues your accessibility vendor reports. We can also audit your site every quarter and report on the recommendations to remediate.

The bottom line is no one tool will protect your site 100 percent. An ADA strategy that leverages different tools that both automate and manually test processes is your best bet to maintain compliance without penalties. 

To talk more about your website accessibility compliance strategy, reach out to us at any time. We’re here and happy to help.