While there are currently no laws stating how a website must comply with the American’s With Disabilities Act, there have been several court cases brought against website for being inaccessible to those with disabilities. Accessible Poetry is a WordPress plugin that provides a toolbar overlay allowing users to change text size and highlight different portions of a website. The plugin also provides a list of images missing alt tags, which are very important when it comes to website accessibility.
The plugin is easy to install and activate. It has the ability to increase and decrease font size, adjust contrast levels, highlight links and headers and much more. There are settings within the plugin to change the location of the toolbar and hide it on mobile views of the website. Accessible Poetry also provides the user with a list of the images without alt tags, but the plugin’s screen to fix the images was time consuming. One might find it easier to use the list as a guide and make the changes in the WordPress media library instead.
It is worth noting, accessibility plugins are not the way to fix a website. They do provide some useful tools, but there is so much more to accessibility than just changing text size and highlighting links. According to Kris Rivenburgh, and ADA expert and lawyer, accessibility plugins often provide an overlay toolbar, which means that your website is still not accessible. Rivenburgh advises users to remidiate their website and then add a toolbar if desired. The webmaster must stay up to date on ADA compliant specifications and take them into account when updating the website.
Learn more about website accessibility and ADA compliance. See the plugin in action. As always, if you’re unsure whether your website meets legal guidelines, you’ll need to consult a lawyer who specializes in website accessibility.
