ADA Compliance: How Often Does It Change?

How often does ADA compliance change? Find out how the people with disabilities act impacts websites and how often it’s updated.

Image Source: ADA.gov

The ADA supports people with disabilities by drafting laws and regulations that create a more inclusive world. Click here to learn what it is and how often it changes.

How Often Does ADA Compliance Change?

ADA stands for Americans Disability Act. It’s a civil rights legislation created by President George H.W. Bush and signed into law in 1990. At the time, the idea behind it was to make everyday life more accessible to people living with a disability. That included everything from accessing public transport to enabling fair employment opportunities. The civil law has since been updated in 2010 and has yet to change since then, but similar laws like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines should soon be updated – sparking rumors that the ADA might soon update too. 

Below, we’ll look at what the ADA entails, what it mainly focuses on in the digital era we’re currently in, and how often it updates.

What Does The ADA Outline?

The ADA, in a nutshell, prohibits discrimination against those with a disability. The full ADA civil rights law can be viewed here – a document that goes into immense detail about what organizations must do. You’ll notice that the ADA covers a range of situations relating to the fair treatment of those with a disability. In everyday life, you’ll notice these changes in shops and theme parks that have disabled access or at ATMs that support touch-free withdrawals for those with visual impairments. All the changes we see in everyday life originated from the guidance of the ADA. 

What is The Main Focus?

The ADA is extensive, and one of the main focuses in the modern-day is how people with disabilities access the internet and navigate through websites – something many would have found difficult before the crackdown on accessibility issues. Companies like accessiBe can tackle lawsuit potential issues with an overlay product that makes websites more accessible. That’s great news for risk managers and business owners alike. Numerous brands dished out millions in compensation over accessibility issues. Even big brands like Wendy’s, Nike, and even eCommerce giant Amazon had to deal with lawsuits related to accessibility issues. 

At times, these brands came under scrutiny because they had what some people call sales tunnel vision – they focused on the end goal of products rather than the people who might struggle to access those products. 

How Often Does It Update?

The ADA was initially released in 1990 and has only been updated once on September 15, 2010. It has been 32 years since the original guidance, and it can be hard to estimate when new regulations might come into play. Instead, brands can look at other laws and regulations relating to or existing within the ADA. 

For example, in March 2022, the Department of Justice released a press release stating they were releasing new guidance about how the state and local governments can ensure their websites are accessible to those with disabilities. As mentioned above, the new WACG guidance is also soon to be released. These two new releases fall under the ADA – it’s more likely that updates such as those will occur more regularly than a full ADA update. 

In Parting

The ADA was created to protect people with disabilities and empower businesses to support them. It’s a massive umbrella of regulations encompassing nearly everything in everyday life to enable inclusive living. Although the focus on helping people with a disability in day-to-day life still remains, the focus now seems to be on the digital world and how brands can make themselves more accessible online. Every business should have at minimum a basic understanding of what ADA compliance is and how it can impact their online operations. Hopefully, this post has provided you with good insight to answer the question, how often does ADA compliance change? If you’re interested on learning more about how to make your website more accessible, read the following post.