At Blue Whale Apps, we understand that accessibility isn’t just a regulatory requirement—it’s a commitment to inclusivity. Your healthcare website and mobile apps are critical to delivering patient care, offering vital services, and providing important information. However, if your digital platforms aren’t accessible to people with disabilities, you’re not reaching everyone you could be.
Today, compliance with WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) is more important than ever. These regulations ensure that everyone, including users with disabilities, can interact with your digital content effectively. Our role is to help you achieve compliance while elevating the overall user experience across your platforms.
Understanding WCAG and ADA Compliance: A Foundation for Inclusivity
Before diving into what we can do to help, let’s clarify what we mean by WCAG and ADA compliance. The WCAG guidelines were created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to make web content accessible to a broad range of users with disabilities. These guidelines are divided into three levels:
- A: The minimum level of accessibility.
- AA: The target level for most organizations, including healthcare, which addresses the most common barriers to accessibility.
- AAA: The highest level of accessibility, which is more difficult to achieve and not required for most websites.
On the other hand, the ADA mandates that public accommodations, including digital spaces, must be accessible to individuals with disabilities. The combination of these two standards ensures that healthcare providers are not only legally compliant but also able to serve all users effectively.
For Healthcare Websites: How We Can Help You Achieve Compliance
1. Starting With a Comprehensive Audit: The Foundation for Compliance
When we begin working with a healthcare provider, the first step we take is to conduct a comprehensive accessibility audit of the existing website. This audit evaluates your website against the latest WCAG 2.1 AA standards, identifying all areas where your site may be falling short.
Our audit covers:
- Content Accessibility: Ensuring all text, media, and interactive content is perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust enough for assistive technologies like screen readers.
- Keyboard Navigation: Testing to make sure all website elements are navigable without using a mouse—critical for users with mobility impairments.
- Text and Image Contrast: We review the contrast between text and background colors to ensure readability for users with low vision. WCAG recommends a 4.5:1 contrast ratio for regular text.
- Labeling and ARIA Tags: Implementing proper ARIA roles (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) helps users of assistive technologies understand and interact with your content.
- Forms and Inputs: Making sure that online forms, such as those for booking appointments or requesting information, are fully accessible, including clear instructions and error messages.
This audit forms the basis for a customized roadmap that we create to guide your journey to full compliance.
2. Designing With Accessibility in Mind: Guidelines That Lead to Success
Once we have a clear understanding of where the gaps are, we work on the design and development strategies that will close those gaps. Web accessibility is about more than just compliance; it’s about providing a seamless, intuitive user experience for everyone. Our design recommendations include:
- Alt Text for Images: Every image on your site should have descriptive alt text, so users who rely on screen readers can understand the content. For example, medical images or diagrams should have clear descriptions that convey important information.
- Accessible Menus and Navigation: We ensure that your website’s navigation is intuitive and easy to use, not just for sighted users but for those using assistive devices.
- Scalable Text and Responsive Layouts: Text should be scalable up to 200% without breaking the site’s layout. This is particularly important for users with visual impairments who rely on larger text to read your content.
- Accessible Interactive Elements: Forms, buttons, and other interactive elements must be clearly labeled and easy to engage with, even for users who can only navigate via keyboard or voice commands.
Industry-Leading Tools for Web Accessibility Compliance
To streamline the process of ensuring WCAG and ADA compliance, we utilize several industry-leading tools that help identify issues and provide ongoing monitoring of accessibility features. These tools work hand-in-hand with our manual testing to give a full picture of how accessible your healthcare platform truly is.
Here are some of the tools we commonly employ:
| Tool | Functionality | Why It’s Important |
| UserWay | Provides real-time AI-driven accessibility solutions | Adjusts common accessibility issues automatically. |
| Axe Accessibility Tool | Developer-focused testing tool | Identifies violations during development. |
| Wave Evaluation Tool | Real-time website accessibility checks | Pinpoints specific WCAG compliance issues. |
| Google Lighthouse | Performance and accessibility audits | Offers a broad view of site health and accessibility. |
These tools, combined with our manual testing, provide a reliable, thorough approach to fixing accessibility issues before they affect users.
3. Implementing Assistive Technology Integration
One of the key elements of achieving full WCAG and ADA compliance is ensuring compatibility with assistive technologies. We work to integrate these technologies seamlessly into your existing systems, allowing users with disabilities to interact with your website with ease. Our process includes:
- Screen Reader Compatibility: We make sure your website is fully compatible with screen readers like JAWS (Job Access With Speech) and NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access), so that visually impaired users can navigate and use the content.
- ARIA Landmarks: By implementing ARIA roles, we help make interactive elements like forms, buttons, and menus accessible to assistive technologies, ensuring that these tools can interpret and describe the functions to users.
Mobile Accessibility: Tailoring Solutions for iOS and Android
With the rise of telehealth and mobile healthcare solutions, ensuring accessibility on mobile apps is just as important as on websites. Mobile apps require a different approach to meet compliance on both iOS and Android platforms. We ensure your apps are fully accessible, and here’s how:
1. iOS Accessibility Features and Solutions
For iOS apps, we focus on ensuring compatibility with Apple’s accessibility features, including:
- VoiceOver: Apple’s built-in screen reader allows visually impaired users to navigate your app. We ensure that all app elements, from buttons to images, are properly labeled for VoiceOver users.
- Dynamic Type and Larger Text Options: We make sure your app supports Dynamic Type, which allows users to increase text size without compromising the layout or readability.
2. Android Accessibility Features and Solutions
For Android apps, we integrate accessibility features like TalkBack, Android’s screen reader. This means ensuring that all interactive elements are accessible and that the app’s UI is clear and navigable by users with limited vision or mobility.
We also focus on features such as:
- Adjustable Font Sizes and High Contrast: Many Android users rely on high-contrast text and larger font sizes. We ensure that your app supports these settings natively.
- Touch Targets: Buttons and links need to be large enough for users with motor disabilities to interact with them easily. We design with accessibility in mind, ensuring touch targets are easy to tap.
Manual Testing and User Feedback: The Human Element of Accessibility
While automated tools are useful for identifying many accessibility barriers, nothing replaces the value of manual testing. We work with real users who rely on assistive technologies, performing hands-on testing to uncover issues that automated tools may miss. This ensures that the improvements we make are not only technically compliant but also functionally effective in real-world use.
What We Do for Clients
We’ve partnered with third-party experts to conduct manual accessibility testing on healthcare websites and apps. This includes working directly with users who rely on screen readers, voice navigation, and other assistive technologies to navigate digital platforms.
What We’ve Achieved for Clients: Real Results from Accessibility Compliance
Accessibility isn’t just about compliance; it directly impacts user satisfaction and engagement. Here’s a glimpse of the results we’ve helped healthcare providers achieve:
- Website Accessibility Score: Improved from 55 to 95 based on automated testing tools like Lighthouse and Wave.
- Mobile App Accessibility Score: Increased from 60 to 93 in accessibility compliance scores.
- User Retention: 25% increase among users with disabilities, thanks to improved usability and inclusion.
- Session Duration: Grew by 20%, indicating that users were more engaged and able to navigate more effectively.
- Page Views: Average page views per session increased by 30%, reflecting enhanced navigation and user satisfaction.
These metrics demonstrate that improving accessibility isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s also good for business.
Taking Action: Steps to Improve WCAG and ADA Compliance Today
At Blue Whale Apps, we understand that meeting accessibility standards is an ongoing process. Here’s a list of immediate actions you can take to start improving your website or mobile app today:
- Start with an Accessibility Audit: Use tools like Wave or Axe to assess your current platform.
- Prioritize Quick Wins: Address high-impact issues first, such as text contrast and keyboard navigation.
- Integrate Assistive Technologies: Ensure that your site or app works seamlessly with screen readers and other assistive tools.
- Conduct Manual Testing: Don’t rely solely on automated tools—engage real users to test functionality.
- Provide Training: Equip your internal teams with the knowledge they need to maintain accessibility standards going forward.
Conclusion: Let’s Build a More Accessible Future Together
Ensuring that your healthcare website and mobile apps are WCAG and ADA compliant is a crucial step in providing an inclusive and welcoming experience for all users. At Blue Whale Apps, we’ve helped countless healthcare providers achieve these goals, improving accessibility, user satisfaction, and engagement.
Whether you’re just getting started with accessibility or looking to take your existing efforts to the next level, we’re here to help. Book a demo today, and let’s work together to create a more accessible and inclusive digital presence for your healthcare organization.
