Legal Risk
What are the Risks of Inaccessible Digital Content?
Inaccessible public-facing digital assets can be an anchor dragging on a high-flying company. Not only do they open you up to lawsuits, but your brand image will take a beating if you become the target of a lawsuit. Corporate social responsibility is an important factor that influences many shopper and client decisions. Does your company really want to be known as one that denies people with disabilities the right to become a customer?
Below are some resources you can use to learn more about the history of digital accessibility lawsuits and how to avoid them.
Resources on the Legal Risks of Inaccessibility
What should I do if my organization becomes the target of a lawsuit?
If you are hit with a digital accessibility lawsuit, you’ve come to the right place for help! TPGi has partnered with hundreds of organizations that were all in your position at one point. We’ll help you assess the magnitude of your accessibility failures, strategize for how to resolve them, and monitor them to ensure they’re getting better over time, not worse. Contact us right now if you’ve been hit with a lawsuit.
How do I Determine my Organization’s Risk Level for a Lawsuit?
While there is no sure way to determine if your company will eventually be hit with a digital accessibility lawsuit, there are ways to see if you are a high risk for one. One such way is looking at your user journeys. Most people with disabilities are unfortunately accustomed to encountering accessibility challenges both online and off. Therefore, small accessibility failures like missing alt text or having to scroll horizontally if the screen is significantly magnified are not likely to incite frustration that will lead to a lawsuit. However, if a user is unable to perform critical actions on your website or app, like making a purchase, setting an appointment, submitting a form, etc., your company will be more vulnerable to lawsuits.
Not all overlays are created equal. Some actually degrade the user experience for people with disabilities rather than enhancing it. Furthermore, accessibility overlays are not a silver bullet; they will not magically turn a completely inaccessible site into an accessible one. Relying solely on an overlay as a crutch may gloss over serious failures rather than solving them at the source, leading to a poor user experience in the areas where the overlay did not help.
Many content management systems are known for being highly inaccessible. If your company uses one for your website you could have many failures that you’re not even aware of.
TPGi offers a free automated website accessibility test that will give you a better idea of the depth of accessibility concerns on your website as well as prioritized suggestions for what to remediate first. Get your free scan today.
Many people who are blind or who have low vision use screen readers to access websites. These individuals instigate a significant number of digital accessibility lawsuits. You can use tools like TPGi’s JAWS Inspect to test your site’s compatibility with the popular screen reader, JAWS.