Big (Brand Innovation Group) recently launched a redesigned

version of their website. The new website – at gotobig.com – has a greater emphasis on web

accessibility for people with disabilities.

While the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been around since 1990, website compliance

has not been a top priority for lawmakers or companies. Experts expect that to change in April

2016, when the U.S. Department of Justice rolls out specific compliance guidelines (WCAG Level AA

Compliance) for the visually impaired. The initial rulings will affect state and local government

websites, but are likely to impact many other sites within two years.

“We’ve already been approached by companies who have received legal notifications and are

looking for help meeting the WCAG 2.0 and Section 508 specifications, “says Ben Gregory, Director

of Strategy at Big. “We redesigned our site to test and demonstrate the process. We’ve also found

that following the guidelines improved our Search Engine Optimization (SEO). For companies,

there are a lot of good reasons to start the process now, rather than wait for it to become law.”

To test the ADA accessibility and functionality of their redesigned website, the Big team used

digital accessibility evaluation tools and Google analytics.

“We follow the same advice we give to clients,” said Chad Stuckey, Chief Creative Officer at Big.

“Smart analytics let us keep an eye on how people engage with our site. We constantly measure

how well each page meets a specific goal or measures against a call to action. If we see a problem,

we test a new solution. When we find a better way to engage our audience, we make those

changes across the entire site.”