BritishAmerican Business ADA Compliance Report Page

What is the ADA?

The Americans with Disabilities Act.  This act, from 1996, put into law the most  comprehensive federal civil-rights statute protecting the rights of people with disabilities. It affects access to employment; state and local government programs and services; access to places of public accommodation such as businesses, transportation, and non-profit service providers; and telecommunications.

A great article excerpt on ADA compliance and what it all means.

How does the ADA impact my website?

The ADA requires accessibility to the widest range of persons possible on all forms of telecommunication, including the internet.  As such, websites must be designed to be compliant with the act and associated standards so that those with disabilities may utilize the site.  This will require the possibility of additional effort or work that may not have been considered in designing, implementing, or structuring your website.

Basic Site Considerations to be ADA Compliant:

• Images & animations. Use the alt attribute to describe the function of each visual.
• Image maps. Use client-side MAP and text for hotspots. 
• Multimedia. Provide captioning and transcripts of audio, and descriptions of video. 
• Hypertext links. Use text that makes sense when read out of context. For example, avoid "click here." 
• Page organization. Use headings, lists, and consistent structure. 
• Use CSS for layout and style where possible. 
• Graphs & charts. Summarize or use the longdesc attribute. 
• Scripts, applets, & plug-ins. Provide alternative content in case active features are inaccessible or unsupported. 
• Frames. Use NOFRAMES and meaningful titles. 
• Tables. Make line by line reading sensible. Summarize. 
• Check your work. Validate. Use tools, checklist, and guidelines at www.w3.org/TR/WCAG. 

How Compliant is BritishAmerican Businessnc.org?

7/11/02 Assessment

• Images & animations. Over half of the images and animations on the BritishAmerican Businessnc.org website are currently tagged using ALT. Certain images, such as graphical representations of bullets, are purposely not tagged as they should be ignored.  This is an actionable item.
   
• Image maps. BritishAmerican Businessnc.org currently does not use image maps in any form to avoid conflicts with ADA standards. Not actionable.
   
• Multimedia. Streaming multimedia, Flash/Shockwave media, etc... are currently not in use on the BritishAmerican Businessnc.org website.  Not actionable.
   
• Hypertext links. BritishAmerican Businessnc.org is about 80% compliant with the ADA and W3C standards for hyper linking.  This is an actionable item.
   
• Page organization. The site is very consistently organized and structured through out. Pages use headings, consistent navigation, and exactly the same layout through out thanks in part to the control provided by CSS. BritishAmerican Businessnc.org is about 95% CSS compliant. This is an actionable item.
   
• Graphs & charts. As with most websites, it is difficult or even impossible to provide alternate representations. BritishAmerican Businessnc.org uses them sparingly, and alternate descriptions or summaries are provided to ensure compliance.
   
• Scripts, applets, & plug-ins. BritishAmerican Businessnc.org is very compliant with ADA standards in most cases.
  
  The majority of our pages use a minimum of scripting, and where HTML is rendered by a Java or CGI script every attempt is made to ensure that graphics and links are properly formatted for ADA compliance.  The main exception is the navigation system itself.  Alternatives are being researched so that this site can meet ADA requirements.
   
  Applets are use sparingly, and alternate representations are available or built into the pages. Plug ins, with the exception of PDF readers, are not needed for this site; pages where PDF files are linked are annotated and compliant with notification rules under the WC3 standards. This is an actionable item.
   
• Frames. Frames are not used on the BritishAmerican Businessnc.org website.  _-frames are used on one page and labeled correctly.  Not actionable.
   
• Tables. As with the majority of websites on the internet, tables are rarely summarized due to their use as a layout and design element.  Alternative representations of tables are only possible when a table is used as an organizational element for information.  Of the organizational tables in use on the BritishAmerican Businessnc.org website, most still require alternative tags and other ADA compliance measures.  This is an actionable item.