How does RAMP help my organization reach compliance?
We’ve designed Accessible Web RAMP from the ground up to support your company in achieving and maintaining law compliance. Here's how to broadly use our tools.
Regional law requirements overlap greatly. The International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) and other World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) members have established best practices for web accessibility. Accessible Web follows their guidelines.
Here is our list of recommendations and solutions that your organization should implement as part of your web accessibility compliance strategy. We’re not lawyers, and this isn’t legal advice. Please consult with your attorney or have them call us with any questions.
WCAG Conformance
The first step that we recommend in achieving WCAG 2.2 AA conformance is using the automated accessibility scanning tools built into our Accessible Web Helper browser extension and RAMP’s page monitoring to identify failures on your website or application. Follow our remediation recommendations, and you should be able to achieve a 100/100 automated score.
Automated tools can’t test for every WCAG success criterion. You’ll need to do manual audits to achieve full conformance. If you’re getting started with web accessibility, we’d recommend signing up for our WCAG Audit service. If you’re experienced with WCAG, consider using our Guided Manual Audit Tool.
Once you’ve upgraded your website or application, make sure you deliberate about maintaining accessibility in your designs, content, and code as it evolves over time. RAMP accessibility monitoring and ongoing support are useful tools in ongoing maintenance.
Accessibility Statement
Websites covered by AODA and other laws must include an accessibility statement. The statement should outline the organization’s commitment to accessibility and provide information on how users can request accessible formats or accommodations if needed. Learn more about what should be included in your accessibility statement with Tips on Writing an Accessibility Statement.
Don’t have an existing accessibility statement page? Quickly and easily add an accessibility statement to your website with help from the Compliance Center, included with all RAMP accounts. Utilize and customize the default statement provided in the Compliance Center, or start fresh with a fully customized accessibility statement.
Check out our free Accessibility Statement Generator for help developing a custom accessibility statement for your website or application.
Feedback Mechanism
Websites should provide a feedback mechanism to allow users to report any accessibility issues they encounter while using the website. Organizations must respond to feedback and take necessary actions to address accessibility barriers.
Following the personalized roadmap via the Compliance Center will lead you to establish an accessibility page on your site with an accessibility advocate, and built in user feedback form.
Training
Organizations must train employees and volunteers who create or update website content on accessibility standards and how to conform to WCAG 2.0 Level AA. Many laws require this training, which is an important part of any comprehensive organizational accessibility policy. Proper accessibility training can benefit everyone in your organization, from leadership to content creators to developers.
Accessible Web Academy offers accessibility courses and role-specific course bundles designed to educate everyone on accessibility best practices as they apply to specific organizational roles.
Investing in accessibility training has additional benefits beyond compliance, including reduced rework, easier accessibility maintenance, and more cohesive team buy-in around accessibility initiatives.
Exception Reporting
If accessibility requirements are unmet, organizations must document why compliance is impossible for specific elements and provide an explanation in an accessible format upon request. Ideally, exceptions are only for third-party code that can’t be controlled by the website owner.
The best practice is identifying any exceptions within or below your organization’s accessibility statement. Include a note outlining the actions your organization is taking to remove the third-party code in the future or mention that you’ve alerted the third-party developer and are waiting on a fix.
If expectations exist on your website or application, it is especially important to provide an issue reporting form – like the Report an Issue form in the Compliance Center – so users can request accommodations when necessary. The Compliance Center also helps facilitate support for reasonable accommodations by prompting your organization to assign an Accessibility Advocate, who can respond quickly to requests for reasonable accommodations from users whom third-party accessibility barriers and other exceptions may impact.
Accessible Format Requests
Organizations must ensure that upon request, they provide accessible formats or communication supports for individuals with disabilities. This applies to publicly available information on the website.