Is Your Dental Practice’s Digital “Front Door” Accessible To People With Disabilities?
Why Your Website Must Comply With The ADA And How To Do So
As a dentist and a practice owner, you are likely aware that you have a legal obligation to make your offices and services accessible and available to people with disabilities under Title III of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). That is why you have a ramp to your front door, a wheelchair-accessible restroom, designated parking spaces, and other physical modifications to ensure that all current and prospective patients can avail themselves of the dental care you provide.
But the ADA’s accessibility requirements are not limited to your practice’s physical facilities and presence. Your virtual front door – your practice’s website – must also be accessible to people with disabilities especially if you are providing services through your website, such as a scheduling feature or other informational videos. Your website should accommodate visitors who are blind or have limited vision, are deaf or have hearing loss, or have limited movement, speech disabilities, photosensitivity, and other conditions that impact their ability to view, navigate, and interact with a site.
Failure to have an ADA-compliant website could subject you and your practice to the same potential lawsuits and liability you would face if a patient in a wheelchair rolled up to your offices and looked up at a flight of stairs that prevented them from getting the dental care they needed. And the risk of your practice becoming the target of such a suit is far from theoretical. In 2022, plaintiffs filed 3,255 web accessibility lawsuits in federal court, a 12% increase from 2021.
That is why dental practice owners who may not have been aware of their website accessibility obligations need to understand those imperatives and take the steps necessary to ensure compliance. But the odds of even the most web-savvy dentists knowing how to do that on their own are slim to none.
DIY On ADA Compliance Is Ill-Advised
Like most business owners, dental practice owners have little or no clue about the inner workings of website design generally, much less the technical steps and requirements involved in making a website ADA-compliant. That is why they hire web designers and digital marketing specialists to create and manage their online presence. And if you entrust your website’s appearance, user-friendliness, and effectiveness to such a company without ensuring that they are doing what needs to be done to comply with the law, you leave your practice exposed to unnecessary and avoidable risk – and leave behind patients who want and need your services.
“Many, if not most, of our clients aren’t even aware that the ADA applies to their website or that they need to factor accessibility into its design,” says Nat Rosasco, Principal and Chief Marketing Officer of Villa Park-based digital marketing firm Olive Street Design.* “But we certainly are, which is why we make it a core part of our services, integrating fully compliant accessibility features into our sites as a matter of course.”
Why Dental Practice Websites Must Be Accessible And What That Means
Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by places of public accommodation, which includes any business open to the public. Businesses open to the public must take steps to provide appropriate communication aids and services where necessary to make sure they effectively communicate with individuals with disabilities.
When the ADA was signed into law in 1990, the internet was in its infancy and commercial websites were non-existent. Legislators did not and could not conceive how much the internet would come to dominate so much of our commerce, business, and lives. Because a website with inaccessible features can limit the ability of people with disabilities to access a public accommodation’s goods, services, and privileges, the Department of Justice (DOJ), which enforces the ADA, has taken the position that Title III’s accessibility requirements apply to business websites. However, to the frustration of businesses and disability activists alike, the DOJ has never issued regulations specifying exactly what must be done for a website to comply with the ADA.
In March 2022, however, the DOJ issued its long-awaited guidance on website accessibility under the ADA. While emphasizing that businesses still “have flexibility in how they comply with the ADA’s general requirements of nondiscrimination and effective communication,” the guidance recommended that businesses use existing standards like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the Section 508 Standards, which the federal government uses for its own websites.
Olive Street Design’s Rosasco says that they have been following WCAG standards and other technical accessibility protocols for years, including providing users with various accessibility options.
“It is really about giving people a menu of alternative ways to view and use a site that they can tailor to their needs or limitations,” he says. “That could mean anything from larger fonts and modified color schemes, to making all functionality available from a keyboard, to providing users additional time to read and use content, to not designing content in a way known to cause seizures.”
Rosasco says that all of these accommodations can be typically incorporated in a separate menu such that the overall look and functionality of the website is unaffected.
“If you understand the technical, coding aspects of website accessibility, it is a relatively easy fix,” he says. “We can still give the client the website they want while ensuring they can serve all clients or patients regardless of disability. Even putting legal obligations aside, that is a definite win-win.”
We Focus on You So You Can Focus on Your Patients
At Grogan Hesse & Uditsky, P.C., we focus a substantial part of our practice on providing exceptional legal services for dentists and dental practices, as well as orthodontists, periodontists, endodontists, pediatric dentists, and oral surgeons. We bring unique insights and deep commitment to protecting the interests of dental professionals and their practices and welcome the opportunity to work with you.
Please call us at (630) 833-5533 or contact us online to arrange for your free initial consultation.
*Olive Street Design designed and manages Grogan Hesse & Uditsky’s website, including its ADA-compliant accessibility features.
Jordan Uditsky, an accomplished businessman and seasoned attorney, combines his experience as a legal counselor and successful entrepreneur to advise dentists and other business owners in the Chicago area. Jordan grew up in a dental family, with his father, grandfather, and sister each owning their own dental practices. This blend of legal, business, and personal experience provides Jordan with unique insight into his clients’ needs, concerns, and goals.
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