The California Dental Association (CDA) has been receiving calls from members worried if their websites are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (AwDA). Many dentists are questioning whether their websites are compliant, how they find out, and what steps they need to take to make sure they are. In response, the CDA Practice Support has added a section about website accessibility. At Practice Affiliate, we want our California dental clients to be sure their website isn’t shut down for not being compliant with the AwDA.
If you are a dentist in California, on the CDA website on the Practice Support webpage, information about the federal law, guidelines for both state and federal physical accessibility standards, any requirements for communication with hearing-impaired patients, in addition to many Q and A’s for additional resources and other guidance.
The Americans with Disabilities Act was put into place in July 1990 to guarantee people with disabilities access to places of public accommodations. It also prohibits discrimination of disabilities in public accommodations, employment, government, education, telecommunications, transportation and telecommunications. The ADA claims that recently, the Texas Dental Association reported that several of its members received demand letters from attorneys alleging that their websites violated the AwDA.
As a precautionary, the CDA is recommending that all dentists in California verify that their website is compliant with the AwDA so that their websites are not shut down and they are not breaking the law. Go to the CDA website and see if your website is breaking any guidelines or standards. It’s important that these problems are addressed immediately before this law is enforced more like in Texas.
Is Your Website Breaking Guidelines? Contact Us
We recommend our clients view the guidelines and standards provided by the CDA and if they find that their website is violating anything, to please contact us at Practice Affiliate. We will work with our website designers and team to ensure your website complies to the AwDA and that you do not need to worry about this in the future.