Healthcare companies should be at the forefront of providing better services to people with disabilities. However, this doesn't seem to be the case especially when it comes to their online services. A number of healthcare websites have already found to be non-compliant with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). This should not be surprising considering that very few websites actually pass with full compliance according to a study by web accessibility venture accessiBe which scanned 10,000,000 web pages.
The percentage of failure to comply with the WCAG AA, according to site functionality; taken from accessiBe's 10,000,000 web page study.
People with disabilities often need assistive technologies such as screen readers and special input devices to use the internet. But if a website doesn't apply the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), these devices may have difficulty properly processing the information and even render them useless.
Healthcare providers must be particularly conscious of how their own digital channels perform. Not only is it hypocritical to fail in providing such conveniences available to people with disabilities, but it can also expose them to legal action. Brands like Domino's Pizza and even music artist Beyonce's Parkwood Entertainment have already been sued for ADA non-compliance. The number of ADA lawsuits being filed against healthcare institutions in particular is also rising with companies like Tenet Healthcare and WellPoint among the first that got served.
As such, healthcare organizations should review their own websites and remedy all aspects that fall short of WCAG and ADA compliance. Here are four ways healthcare websites can become more accessible according to the various disabilities and impairments users may have.
1 - Customizable Elements for Those with Visual Impairments
Visually impaired users could benefit from features that would allow visual customization. Sites can integrate options that would enable users to change the text's font size and tweak the colors in order to provide better contrast.
People may suffer from different types of vision deficiencies such as the various types of color blindness. For example, certain color combinations like green and red and blue and purple, while appealing based on basic color theory, are among the trickier colors for color blind people to distinguish. So, having flexible options on size and color customizations can greatly benefit a wider array of users.
2 - Proper Tagging of Content for the Blind and Deaf
Web content must also be properly tagged and formatted to allow screen readers to properly process the information. For example, sites that rely heavily on visual content such as pictures and images may be impossible to make sense of if these media do not have the proper "alt texts" that screen readers can use to describe them.
Many healthcare websites now also feature videos to inform and educate users. These must also be accessible to people with disabilities. These videos must have consistent and decipherable audio for the visually-impaired and have transcripts and closed captions that would allow those with hearing impairments to understand the content. Even media players that are used to play the videos must have volume controls and allow the text of closed captions to be resized.
3 - Improved Navigability for Users with Physical Disabilities
Healthcare websites also often have features that allow customers and patients to perform transactions such as accessing records, searching for healthcare providers, and contacting support. Often, these services are the reason why users visit such websites in the first place. Unfortunately, web pages that contain fields and forms may be impossible for assistive devices to process if they aren't formatted and coded properly for navigation.
Users with certain physical and motor functional limitations may find these sites unusable as it would be difficult for them to navigate pages even with special input devices. Web content must be properly segmented into sections using the proper tags, headings, and lists. Users must be able to cycle through elements using the Tab key or its equivalent for certain input devices.
4 - Easier Comprehensibility for People with Cognitive Impairments
Users may also have cognitive impairments so it is important for websites to feature content that are easy to understand. Healthcare sites often contain technical terms and sophisticated language that can make them difficult for users to understand.
Transactions must also be easy to perform. However, web forms (or forms in general, for that matter), are often confusing. To improve comprehensibility, fields must have the proper label and field tags. Related information should be grouped together in the same fieldsets. Forms must also contain clear instructions on what information is needed. Even error messages must be made apparent with specific reasons why entries have to be corrected.
Taking on the Effort
The key challenge for site owners is to properly and comprehensively implement these changes and features. Achieving WCAG and ADA compliance is no easy feat.
To start, performing a comprehensive audit that covers all WCAG provisions takes both time and expertise to accomplish since each line of code and every page of content must be meticulously reviewed. Websites which already have hundreds or thousands of pages of content may be looking at an effort that could take weeks or even months to fully accomplish. Implementing new features also demand expertise, requiring significant investment.
Fortunately, there are now web accessibility platforms that site owners can use to easily make their websites accessible. Advanced solutions now use artificial intelligence (AI) to comprehensively scan websites for issues and automatically apply the necessary fixes. Even images can be scanned and, using image recognition, insert the necessary alt texts to describe the images.
Conclusion
Healthcare companies must lead the charge in creating an inclusive internet. The conveniences that their websites and online portals bring should benefit all users including people with disabilities. Achieving web accessibility and ADA compliance is possible. They just have to commit to the effort and make the necessary changes to their websites.
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