What Is AccessiBe and How Can it Protect You From a Lawsuit?

AccessiBe is an exciting technology that has revolutionized accessibility of the Internet for millions of people around the world. Available through a monthly subscription, it is incredibly easy to implement. Let’s take a closer look at what it is, how it works, and why it is so important.

AccessiBe is actually a very simple, but nonetheless revolutionary, technology. Simply put, it “translates” websites into “language” that people with various disabilities can understand.

What this means varies from person to person. For a person with vision impairments, the technology allows their device to read them script and describe websites, including images. In addition, the software also makes adjustments for people with other conditions, including removing flashing images and other potentially harmful imagery for individuals with epilepsy, and accommodating people with cognitive disorders by using instructions or interpretations that are within their abilities.

AccessiBe is abundantly simple, especially given the power that it has to transform users’ lives. It works in the foreground with users as well as in the background through artificial intelligence (AI).

In the foreground, accessiBe utilizes user interface (UI) to make necessary adjustments to websites so that the person on the other end can access and use them. This varies from person to person depending on their needs. It may include changing the colors, display, or text size and shape; providing audio cues instead of visual ones; or even offering a sort of explanation of what the user is experiencing.

In the background, the AI software is perpetually learning and making adjustments to better serve the needs of users. Basically, it is the technological side of the service that makes possible the adjustments on the user’s end.

With a monthly subscription to accessiBe, a single line of JavaScript code is added to your website, and it is ready for people with various disabilities to use within 48 hours. It then updates every 24 hours, continuously improving your site’s accessibility and adjusting for any other updates made to the website during the interim.

One of the things that we pride ourselves most on is the fact that in developing and maintaining our product, we partner with individuals and organizations that represent people with disabilities. This isn’t just our business; we are passionate about making the Internet completely accessible by the year 2025. By working with us, you can become a partner in that mission.

Signed into law in 1990, the ADA is a broad piece of federal legislation that protects people with disabilities from discrimination. It also requires businesses of all kinds to offer reasonable accommodations to make their products and services available to people with many disabilities covered by its services.

Other countries have similar pieces of legislation, and accessiBe works with those as well, including the Accessibility Canada Act.

Laws and government are notoriously slow to respond to changing technology. Nonetheless, several court rulings have shown that the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to websites. As people from all walks of life come to depend on the World Wide Web more and more, regulations regarding ADA compliance are sure to become more complicated and difficult to understand.

Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act is not voluntary. In other words, not doing so is in violation of civil rights laws. If your website (or any other aspect of your business) is not in compliance with ADA-mandated regulations, you can face a number of penalties, perhaps the most frightening being a lawsuit.

Both individuals and civil rights organizations file lawsuits every day against small and large businesses for not complying. Very often, the companies being sued did not set out to be in violation of these regulations. In many cases, they may not have even realized that they weren’t complying until it was too late.

If you’re reading this article, we know that you want to comply with the ADA and accommodate everyone. But this isn’t always straightforward, which is where accessiBe comes in to help. Our technology guarantees that your website and all of its services are ADA compliant and 100% accessible.

In addition to offering compliance with the laws themselves, accessiBe also offers protection for its subscribers in the unlikely event of a lawsuit. We’re so sure that our product meets all requirements that we offer this litigation support at no additional cost.

What is more, compliance is our business. Using accessiBe ensures that you have hired someone to stay on top of the complex and ever-changing regulations that apply to the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Internet. Between our compliance protection and constant monitoring, this is one area of your business about which you will no longer have to worry.

Beyond compliance, there are a lot of other reasons that companies use accessiBe, and why it is a good choice for your business, as well.

• It’s the right thing to do. Bottom line, making the world more accessible to people with disabilities or impairments is the humanitarian way to go.

• Boost traffic and sales. By making your website accessible to more people, you can automatically boost traffic and encourage people with disabilities to stay, and thereby boost engagement and increase the likelihood of conversion to sales.

• Build good will. Accessibility is the right thing to do, and using accessiBe tells everyone, from your own staff to customers and clients, that you care about doing the right thing.

Globally, more than 120,000 companies use our services for their businesses, and that number is growing every day. These include retail companies such as Billabong, car companies such as Land Rover, government agencies such as the Louisiana Department of Health, and sports teams including the Los Angeles Lakers.