Digital presence scripts the norms to survive in the cut-throat competition of the eCommerce market. All merchants have one thing in common -  to thrive by selling at scale and to drive massive growth. But not every merchant ensures to comply with Shopify accessibility policy. Talking of accessibility policy refers to eCommerce ADA compliance or Shopify ADA compliance.

To simply put, making your online store accessible to every person means your website is user-friendly for persons with disabilities too. This is indeed a serious concern to give back to society, however on the other way around American Disabilities Act-compliant Shopify stores could mean gaining a long-term competitive advantage by delivering service to 61 million individuals with disabilities.

Despite substantial eCommerce gains, merchants appear to be reluctant on this particular scope, overlooking more than 60 million disabled people and their needs that digital shopping could efficiently serve. Here in this blog post, we will discuss why merchants need to follow Shopify web accessibility and if they don’t- what penalties there could be for them.

What is ADA compliance? 

The Americans with Disabilities Act is a Civil Rights Law to protect the rights of disabled persons with auditory, visual, cognitive, and physical impairment. 

According to Title III of this act, public accommodations including, stores, banks, and any physical places to be made accessible along with online accommodations that include websites, mobile or web apps, and also online stores. 

Shopify and ADA compliance, therefore, enable smooth access to digital properties and make the lives of disabled persons as well elderly populations easier and more enriching. 

What happens if your website is not ADA compliant ?

Shopify merchants need to move beyond the nice-to-have concept. Rather web accessibility compliance is mandatory for every merchant. 

If merchants take ADA for granted and think only big sellers are liable to conform to the law, they must reshape their outlook and develop more insights into this concept. Selling to US consumers online constitutes your liability for Shopify accessibility policy and the avoidance or non-compliance could bring risk to you. 

Financial Risk  

Violations of ADA can primarily draw lawsuits to your business, a Demand Letter is hard to settle that costs you at least $10,000. Other laws can also appear damaging to your Shopify growth. 

CCPA Risk 

The California Consumer Privacy Act also modifies its laws and makes website accessibility mandatory. The need for CCPA compliance is crucial and it must ensure accessibility standards are met. 

•  CCPA final act highlights the compliance requirements with WCAG 2.1 Level AA. 
• Opt-out forms are easily accessible and answerable. 

As merchants can’t prevent penalties and business sufferings preceded by non-compliance with ADA accessibility, compliance with the same law also can bring long-term benefits to your business. 

Shopify web accessibility improves user experience 

By ensuring Shopify ADA compliance, you can make your store compliant as per rules and regulations under the American Disabilities Act 1990.  Older people, especially disabled persons, can navigate with ease, search for products they need, and perform all related efforts necessary to make a buy. This category of buyers is an easy target to sell your products and services and increase sales volume. Simultaneously, with Shopify accessibility in place and your continuous usability improvement support give visitors an improved user experience. 

Pulling in new buyers with strong buying potential or desires

Is your Shopify ADA compliant? Ensure it first because having no website accessibility means losing out to competitors and missing an excellent opportunity to sell. 

Picture this - you have a promotional video that describes the benefits of your product and service, however, unless it has captions, people with disabilities can’t reap value from your products. At the same time, ensure your website is accessible, eliminating the need for a mouse to navigate through. So, ease of use and accessibility pull in more people with disabilities and increase your target audience. 

Drive more traffic by improving SEO strategy

Search engines are more intended to crawl your website that fosters human experience. Your Shopify store must meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines that ensure improved website usability. By ensuring online compliance with ADA, your visitors and users express their loyalty to your eCommerce. You can get no better chance to improve the organic rankings, thereby enhancing online visibility and helping you increase traffic.

Conclusion

How to make your Shopify store ADA compliant? This is probably the most pressing concern, especially in this testing time as you try every means to increase your sales and be in the competition. The realization of an ADA-compliant Shopify store could be an eye-opener for many merchants. Better late than never- Shopify ADA compliance is need for the hour. If you think you need an audit for ADA and make your website accessible, ask for an ADA compliance expert. Shopify expert HulkApps has been supporting their merchants with reliable ADA compliance service and assistance. For more information, get in touch with us today.