Merchants Beware: Websites MUST be ADA compliant if Selling to the U.S
April 24, 2024
This week we are taking a little break from reporting about the regularly scheduled fraud, credit card fees or other Fintech terms discussion to bring awareness to a growing problem for merchants who sell their products to the U.S: potential lawsuits related to ADA compliance.
Merchants who sell to or from the U.S need to make sure their websites follow US accessibility laws.
The Americans with Disabilities Act became law in 1990, prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in various aspects of life, including jobs, transporation, schools, and even websites, too.
These violations include According to Payments Cards and Mobile, these violations include lack of keyboard navigation, missing alt-text for images, unclear form inputs, poor colour contrast, uncaptioned video, and ambiguous link text.
In H1 2022 alone, 414 federal ADA cases were filed against websites that did comply with web accessibility guidelines, this is a 100 more cases than the same period in 2022.
Some law firms such as Mars Khaimov Law and Stein Saks handle 82% of digital accessibility lawsuits, and they are not going for e-commerce giants only: 77% of 2022 cases involved smaller merchants who make under £20 million in annual renevue.
E-commerce businesses based outside of the US could “face the full force” of an ADA lawsuit, even if their website only sells one product to the US.
So, UK merchants should get on board with accessibility in their websites if they want to protect their business.
E-commerce companies must implement a comprehensive digital accessibility strategy combining manual testing, coding fixes, and expert consultation. The risks of ignoring web accessibility are severe – but getting it right boosts your brand while delivering a superior user experience.
Want to learn more? Check out Payments Cards & Mobile’s full write-up here.
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