What You Need to Know About the Legality of ADA-Compliant Veterinary Websites

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities, was signed in 1990—the purpose of this regulation is to ensure that individuals with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else. This act pertains to all areas of public life, which includes (but is not limited to):

• Transportation
• Schools
• Jobs
• Public and private places that are open to the general public

However, since this act was signed almost 30 years ago, before the advent of the internet, clarification of how it affects websites has been open to interpretation. In the veterinary industry, there has been much discussion regarding this matter—the bottom line is, having an ADA-compliant website is an absolute necessity for any practice to have, not just to follow the letter of the law, but more importantly, to make sure that your site is user-friendly for persons with disabilities. At iVET360, part of our mission is to educate veterinary hospitals and their staff regarding ongoing digital changes, with the ultimate goal being to help more companion animals. Along with providing expert analytics and HR and training assistance to clients, we also specialize in marketing for veterinary hospitals. These marketing services include building modern and individually customized websites that are user-friendly for all types of people, including those with disabilities. Features of our ADA-compliant pages include:

• Text alternative fields for non-text elements
• Any information that is conveyed with color can also be understood without color
• High-contrast colors for easy readability and legible fonts
• Keyboard accessibility, where all functionality is available through the use of a keyboard and without the use of a mouse
• Mechanism for users to pause, stop or hide moving or scrolling information that starts automatically, lasts more than five seconds and is presented in parallel with other content
• Online forms that are designed to allow assistive technology to access the information, field elements and functionality required for completion and submission of said form
• Availability for page content to be orally read to users
• Ability to control cursor size and text size to make link-clicking easier

As an industry-leading veterinary services provider, we are proud to say that 100 percent of our clients’ websites are ADA compliant. We have worked hard to incorporate the aforementioned elements in our designs, in order to provide access for all patients to get quality veterinary care. For more information on these web pages, or if you’d like to contact iVET360 for any marketing, analytics or HR and training services, please reach out to us at 503-765-6360 or through our online form.