Website Accessibility Consultant: Your Guide to Finding a Web Accessibility Expert
If you want to get your site in compliance, hiring a website accessibility consultant can make it happen.
On this page, we’ll cover:
- Why you should partner with a website accessibility consultant
- What to look for with website accessibility services
- How to choose a website accessibility expert
Keep reading to learn more about website accessibility and give us a call today at 888-601-5359 or contact us online to learn more about our website accessibility services.
Partner with a website accessibility consultant.
Why partner with a website accessibility consultant?
If you’re thinking about hiring a website accessibility consultant, you want to know what the benefits are before hiring one.
Here are three reasons for hiring an ADA website compliance consultant:
1. A website accessibility consultant knows online accessibility
The most significant benefit of hiring a website accessibility consultant is that they know website accessibility. Your consultant has experience with making sites compliant. They know what it takes to make your website accessible for your audience.
This benefit is significant if you don’t have online accessibility experience. If you don’t have the experience, you may not know the right way to make your website accessible. It leaves more room for error and mistakes, which can cost your company time and money.
A website accessibility expert will know precisely how to modify and update your site to help you meet compliance standards.
2. A website accessibility consultant saves you time
When you hire an ADA website compliance consultant, it saves you time.
First, you don’t have to spend the time learning how to make a website accessible. It takes time to learn the different compliances and how to optimize for them on your site. Additionally, you may have to learn coding to make alterations to your website.
Not only does it take time to learn this information, but then you must take the time to implement the changes. If you’re busy running your business, you may not have time to dedicate to learning and implementing these compliance standards.
Instead, hiring a web accessibility expert enables you to save time. They do the work for you while you focus on running your business. These experts have the experience and training to make your website ADA compliant.
3. A website accessibility consultant can test changes and make updates
When it comes to making your website ADA compliant, you must test the changes you make. You need to test your updates to make sure they work. If you hire a website accessibility consultant, they can do the testing for you.
Instead of having to make the changes on your own, you can rely on experts to test the changes and alter them for you.
Additionally, if compliance standards change, your web accessibility expert can update your site. These experts stay up to date on the latest changes so you can feel confident that your website meets current standards.
What to look for from website accessibility services
So, you’re interested in hiring a web accessibility expert. If you’re going to hire an expert, it’s essential to know what to look for in website accessibility services. Here are four things to look for when you’re shopping around for a service provider:
1. Services that include multiple compliances
When you look at website accessibility services, look for companies or consultants that specialize in multiple compliances. Your web accessibility expert should follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). These guidelines cover a wide range of ways to ensure your website is accessible.
Additionally, you’ll want to ensure that they offer compliance for different standards.
Some examples include:
- ADA compliance
- Section 508 compliance
- EN 301549 compliance
If your website accessibility consultant offers all these compliances, it’s an excellent option for your business because it ensures everyone can use your website and that your site follows the various compliance standards.
2. Accessibility statement and certification
If you’re going to hire a web accessibility expert, you must look for one that offers an accessibility statement and certification. You need a certification, by law, to verify that your website is compliant for people with disabilities.
The right website accessibility consultant will ensure you get the certification and provide it to you so you can prove your website is compliant.
3. Accessibility audit
When you look at website accessibility services, ensure your consultant offers an accessibility audit. Before diving in and making your site compliant, your consultant should analyze your site to see if any components already meet ADA guidelines.
It’s also important to audit your site to see where you need accessibility improvements. For example, you may already use alt text on your images, so you wouldn’t need your web accessibility expert to do that for you.
You’ll want an audit to ensure that you’re getting exactly what you need for your site and not overpaying for services you don’t need.
4. Constant monitoring
The last thing you’ll want to look for from your web accessibility expert is constant monitoring. Compliances can change over time, and you may need to meet new requirements.
Instead of continually having to worry if you’re still in compliance, you can hire a consultant that provides constant monitoring. The right ADA website compliance consultant will scan your site consistently to ensure your features are still compliant and functioning appropriately.
At WebFX, we provide compliance solutions that keep your site up-to-date, so you never have to worry about being in compliance. You’ll get the latest changes as they happen, which ensures you’re delivering the best experience for visitors.
How to choose a website accessibility consultant
You’re ready to hire a website accessibility consultant, but where do you start?
Here are five tips for finding the right expert:
1. Look at your website accessibility consultant’s experience
Before you start looking in-depth at an ADA web expert, start by looking at their experience. You’ll want to look for evidence, like a portfolio, to see if they have experience with creating sites that fit ADA standards.
It’s great to see examples from your consultant so you can determine what experience they have with creating ADA-compliant websites. You can also get a glimpse into how they make their clients’ websites accessible.
2. Look at what your website accessibility consultant’s package includes
Once you sift through your consultant’s portfolio, you’ll want to look at their packages. What do they offer in their website accessibility packages?
You’ll want to look for some of the features we mentioned earlier on the page, including:
- Optimization for different compliance standards
- Accessibility certification
- Accessibility audit
- Constant monitoring
You want to review your consultant’s packages to ensure you’re getting everything you need for your website. If they’re missing any of the features you need, like the certification or the audit, you’ll want to go with another option.
3. Look at your website accessibility consultant’s pricing
If you find what you need in an expert’s package, the next thing to do is look at their pricing.
You can’t work with a website accessibility expert if they don’t fit with your budget.
You’ll want to stick to consultants that list their pricing outright, which enables you to know exactly what you’re getting and how much it costs. By publishing their pricing, a consultant makes it easy for you to know if they work with your budget.
Additionally, you can feel confident that they’ll be honest and upfront with you because they share their prices and packages.
If a company doesn’t list their pricing outright, you’ll have to contact them and wait to hear back. It will take more time to get a response and determine if they’re a good fit for what you need.
4. Look for additional services from your website accessibility consultant
When you’re shopping around for website accessibility services, you want to find consultants that offer additional services. As you make your site accessible, you may realize that you want or need additional services.
You may decide you want to redesign your website, optimize your website for search engines, or get fresh copy for your pages.
If your accessibility consultant doesn’t offer any of these services, you’ll have to hire a new company to manage those aspects of your site. That means you’ll have to communicate between companies to ensure everything is consistent, which can create more headaches.
Instead, look for a full-service digital marketing company. A full-service agency ensures that you get everything you need through one company if you decide to expand beyond website accessibility services.
5. Ask questions
As you narrow down your list and start focusing on the best web accessibility experts, don’t be afraid to ask questions! You want to ensure that you’re getting the best expert for your website compliance, so you must vet them thoroughly through questions.
The right web accessibility expert should be able to answer questions like:
- What’s your experience with creating ADA-compliant websites?
- Who will work on my website?
- Do you provide a website accessibility certification?
- Which compliances do you include as part of your services?
- What’s the first thing you’d do to make my website ADA compliant?
Asking questions will help you gain insight into what a company offers and helps you see if they’re a good fit for your business’s needs.
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Find your web accessibility expert today
Finding the right ADA website compliance consultant is critical if you want to make your site accommodating for people with disabilities. If you’re tired of trying to find the right consultant, look no further.
WebFX is a full-service digital marketing company that offers ADA compliance services to ensure your website is accessible. We have an award-winning team of over 500 experts that will help you create a compliant website.
Ready to get started? Contact us online or call us today at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist about our ADA compliance services!