TL;DR: On April 24, 2024, the Federal Register published the updated guidelines for Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), requiring state and local governments to follow WCAG 2.1 AA standards for their websites and mobile applications. While there are specific requirements, the updates also include exceptions for archived content and certain social media posts. This isn’t a heavy-handed mandate but a necessary step toward ensuring digital accessibility for everyone.
In the fast-paced digital landscape of today, ensuring accessibility for all users is not just a competitive aspect of the market but a legal necessity. With the rise in lawsuits related to website accessibility, businesses and website owners are increasingly finding themselves under scrutiny for non-compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). However, navigating the complexities of ADA compliance can be daunting and time-consuming, often diverting attention from core business activities. Enter EqualWeb`s automatic AI-powered accessibility software – a game-changer in simplifying the process and alleviating one major worry for businessmen and website owners alike.
In 2004, Italy introduced a groundbreaking piece of legislation known as the Legge Stanca, or Law 4/2004. This legislation, also referred to as the Stanca Act, established a set of guidelines for ensuring the accessibility of websites and mobile applications for people with disabilities. Italy has recently expanded its accessibility law to apply to large private entities, which establishes the Stanca Law even more as a significant force in promoting digital inclusion in the boot-shaped peninsula.
What are the new guidelines of WCAG 2.2? How can you ensure your website is still accessible and compliant with the new updates? What does EqualWeb cover from the WCAG 2.2 requirements and what it does not? What has changed from WCAG 2.2 and what remained the same? We compiled all the answers in the following article.
From now on, users can access accessibility functions like Voice Navigation, Color Adjustments, and Image Descriptors, among others. The Fnac website is now more accessible for users with different types of disabilities, including seniors.
Closed captions for videos and audio content enable people with hearing impairments to understand the content. EqualWeb has become the first web accessibility vendor to provide a video and audio closed captions option for people with disabilities as part of its automatic services.
The unique benefit of the function is that it’s entirely automatic. Moreover, as the website owner, you can modify the automatic generic text if you find a mismatch between the video and the text (the AI may miss a few words here and there), using the Captions Editor in your dashboard.
The closed captions function includes a simple on-and-off activation button, a rating vote for feedback purposes, a new transcription window over the video or audio element, and a captions download option. The captions’ font conforms to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 standards for easily accessible fonts.
TL;DR- Accessible design ensures that websites are
usable and understandable for people with disabilities. This includes visual,
auditory, physical, cognitive, and neurological impairments. Key features
include alternative text for images, keyboard accessibility, proper color
contrast, and clear navigation. Ensuring compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG) is essential. Businesses can implement accessibility best practices
or work with vendors like EqualWeb for expert solutions.
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TL;DR - Assistive technology enables people with disabilities to interact with digital content, while web accessibility ensures that content is designed to be inclusive. Both are essential for digital inclusion. Businesses must ensure their websites are compatible with assistive tools like screen readers, voice recognition software, and alternative input devices to provide an equal user experience.
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TL;DR - Web accessibility laws exist worldwide, requiring businesses and public sector organizations to ensure their digital content is accessible to people with disabilities. Countries like the United States (ADA), Canada (AODA, ACA), the European Union (EU Web Accessibility Directive), Australia (DDA), and the UK (Equality Act) enforce legal requirements based on WCAG standards. Digital accessibility has evolved through key milestones, from the launch of WCAG in 1999 to recent legal precedents confirming that websites and apps must comply. Ensuring accessibility is not only a legal obligation but also a step toward full digital inclusion.
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TL;DR: Web accessibility isn’t just about compliance - it’s a smart business move. An accessible website reduces legal risks, improves user experience, increases conversions, and enhances brand reputation. Companies that prioritize accessibility reach a larger audience and demonstrate corporate responsibility. Relying solely on auto widgets can be risky and may not provide full compliance. Investing in a hybrid accessibility solution ensures both legal protection and better user experience. Learn more about ADA compliance for small businesses here.
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After lagging behind the United States and other countries in regard to web accessibility legislation, the European Union (EU) is catching up and by June 28, 2025, all private companies will be required to make their websites accessible to people who live with disabilities, according to the European Accessibility Act.
The MuniExpo conference was held in Tel Aviv on its sixth anniversary and was successfully executed with thousands of participants and visitors. More than 150 Israeli and International leading companies, municipal leaders, prominent international guests, Israeli lawmakers, ministers, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and some 12,000 visitors have graced the fairground complex of Expo Tel Aviv.
As a freelancer or agency, it’s important to stay up-to-date on the latest technologies and trends in your industry. One trend that`s gaining a lot of traction is web accessibility. Web accessibility refers to the practice of making websites and web applications usable by people with disabilities.
Big news has arrived at the web accessibility field. As you may well know, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) enacted in 1990 has yet to establish clear and enforceable specifications for web accessibility.
EqualWeb offers a slew of web accessibility evaluation tools for its users and clients, and will soon launch a game-changing tool into the market—so there is much to be excited about. But first, what are web accessibility evaluation tools?
In preparation for the release of WCAG 2.2 in December 2022, EqualWeb has already updated its web accessibility technology to meet the new guidelines, ensuring its clients are ready in advance for future requirements and regulations.
Web accessibility certification is used for internal legal purposes to expound on the remediation process the website has undergone.
In a web accessibility certificate, also known as a certificate of performance, you will receive verification of the standards the website was remediated against, a list of the accessibility modifications that the web accessibility solution provider performed on the website, and the accessibility functions that exist on the website and may be used by visitors.
Note: a web accessibility certification should not be confused with an accessibility statement, which is required to feature on a website in accordance with the law. While similar, the accessibility statement is more of a general summary of the accessibility enhancements that feature on the website, although there are some functions that overlap between the two.
When discussing web accessibility standards, we could be referring to two main sources. The first is legislative, i.e., the standards set by lawmakers across the globe; the second is the international web accessibility standard established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
And as we shall learn further ahead, the standards set by governments mostly align in accordance with the W3C.
The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) is a domain within the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) that was launched in 1997 with the aim of optimizing accessibility online.
The term “web accessibility” has popped into our lives and exploded onto the scene in recent years. But what does it actually mean? And how did it start? Let’s take a deep dive into the digital accessibility field and learn all about it.
Unlike many of our competitors, EqualWeb offers a unique feature that can save you time, money, worries, and energy. This is our technological cherry on the cake: the ADA accessibility checker.
The accessibility checker, which you can add as an extension to your Google Chrome browser, is an automated auditing tool for WCAG 2.1 conformance.
The Checker analyzes the website and provides a comprehensive report about accessibility issues, including instructions and guidance on how to fix them.
It also automatically scans for Web content that meets legal and government regulations to accessibility.
And get this, it’s completely free.
Yes, this is a service we provide free of charge that you can use for your own benefit, monitoring your website for accessibility issues and ADA violations.
ACA, AODA, AMA, NSAA, Quebec’s Act, and ABCA compliance. Canada is making big strides toward ensuring web accessibility across the nation, as the provinces are following in the footsteps of Ontario, currently leading the way in digital accessibility compliance. Let us examine the legal framework in each and every Canadian province for web accessibility requirements.
Web accessibility tools have taken up the market by storm. More and more people understand the need for such a solution. Some get the product/service because of legislation and compliance requirements exclusively, while others go a step further, aiming to treat all people equally with or without disabilities.
TEL AVIV, Israel, January 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CIOReview nominates
leading digital accessibility development company EqualWeb as one of the
top compliance technology solution companies of 2021. CIOReview is a
technology magazine read by C-suite executives, industry experts,
technology buyers, and other top-ranking business decision-makers.
TEL AVIV, Israel, Nov. 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- EqualWeb, the leading digital accessibility development company, has opened its new offices in Tel Aviv on Monday. With offices already in New York City and Kfar Yona, EqualWeb expands its operations into Israel’s tech hub, joining the thousands of innovative startups located in the prominent metropolitan.
A world leader and a pioneer in web accessibility, focused on helping people with disabilities to access digital information: EqualWeb. In the physical world, access for people with disabilities must be ensured. The same goes for the digital world – especially in the times of COVID. People with disabilities and the elderly must be allowed the same access, information, and ability to perform actions on stores and websites as anyone else. With over a quarter of the US population having some sort of disability, this is a market that cannot be ignored. This is the market that EqualWeb is addressing through its groundbreaking accessibility technology, which offers advanced functionalities that enable individuals living with various disabilities to browse the web in a secure way.
Making websites accessible. "We integrate our widget solutions into websites to create a digitally inclusive channel for media consumption". Why is it important for every website to be accessible? In the physical world, it goes without saying that access for people with disabilities must be ensured, such as entrance ramps, accessible restrooms, and so on. The same goes for the digital world – morally, legally, and economically. People with disabilities must be allowed the same access to information, and the ability to perform actions on stores and websites as anyone else can. The idea is to make it an Equal Web – and this is very easy to do with EqualWeb.
Mélange is an organization that organize workshops, conferences and tradeshows in the Caribbean in the area of accessibility. EqualWeb is proud to co-operate and present at Mélange accessibility for all Magazine. Mélange is an organization that set up workshops, conferences and tradeshows in the Caribbean in the area of accessibility. Our shared goal is to raise awareness to the importance of inclusion people with disabilities in the Physical space and especially now also in the Digital space by using Equalweb’s Unique technology to turn any website fully usable to people with disabilities with a simple line of code.
About 45 million people have some limitation on internet access —and the problem is not in the lack of broadband. They are people with some disability, especially visual or auditory, who need some help to surf the internet. But although Brazilian legislation requires websites to be inclusive, 99% of sites in Brazil have some barrier that makes navigation difficult, according to a study by the Web for All movement.
B2B Marketing Expo 2019, the only marketing event you need to attend in California! An incredible 300 suppliers providing all the latest technologies, strategies and breakthroughs that are transforming our performance as marketers, while also gaining invaluable advice from the teams behind some of the world’s biggest and most successful brands!
A blind man is taking 50 colleges to court, alleging their websites are inaccessible to people with disabilities.Jason Camacho, a blind resident of Brooklyn, N.Y., is suing 50 colleges over the accessibility of their websites. The 50 lawsuits, filed in November, say the colleges are in violation of
the Americans With Disabilities Act, as their websites are not
accessible to people with disabilities. Camacho uses a screen reader and
said he experienced barriers when trying to access the colleges`
websites.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Blind Navy veteran Joel Price has filed more than
120 lawsuits against city and county governments and businesses, saying
their websites aren’t accessible to the visually impaired.
You might ask: what does the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) have to do with selling wine? Plenty, is the answer from Barbara Snider, at Hinman & Carmichael, LLP.
Not only will ADA compliance reduce the risk of litigation, but it’s
also the right thing to do and has the added benefit of expanding a
business’s consumer base.
This post is the first in a series on web accessibility. Remember the bumper stickers that read, If You Can Read This, You’re Too Close? Yeah, danger ahead.
Over the last decade, the number of lawsuits filed against companies for having a non-compliant ADA website has increased significantly. Initially, when the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) was enforced in 1990, the internet was not as widely used as it is today.
Yoocan, TOM, Access Israel Host Showcase & Competition for Assistive Technologies Startups TEL AVIV, ISRAEL: On April 29, 2018 at the Access Israel innovation conference in Tel Aviv, seven companies (Freewill, User Accessibility, Right-Hear, Equal Web, Project Ray, Make Sense & Step Hear) competed for the “best presentation.” The winner was Right-Hear, an accessibility solution for people who are blind or visually impaired that enables them to acquire a better orientation in indoor spaces.
Yit, which develops and maintains over 50 huge websites including Ynet, Calcalist, Bigdeal and other, made all the websites accessible to all people with disabilities through a dedicated widget developed by Equalweb
EqualWeb is one of the 55 startups chosen from 500 to participate in the MassChallenge JERUSALEM - MassChallenge, a global network of zero-equity startup accelerators, today announced that 55 of the world’s highest impact, highest potential early-stage startups will join its 2018 program in Israel. The selected startups work across a range of industries – including medtech, future mobility, visual technology, and medtech – and 33% of the cohort comes from countries outside of Israel including India, US, Poland, and Kenya.
