Starbucks Website Accessibility Policies

Web accessibility lawsuits are becoming prominent across the nation and corporations are starting to notice. Accessibility, as it applies to the internet, is allowing access to information on the web to the largest number of people and is designed to help the disabled. For company owners that have a website, this means their site must comply with particular coding and design features that provides admission to all users. Failing to abide by standards can lead to serious legal problems. Accessibility has become a growing movement. With every movement there are always companies to take the first step to advance. When it comes to the accessibility of websites, Starbucks is one of those companies. Starbucks has taken an initiative to add web accessibility suggestions and policies on their website, something every company should be doing.

While Starbucks Corporation has taken revolutionary actions to incorporate online accessibility guidelines, unfortunately, they are familiar to accessibility lawsuits. The corporation has been confronted a by a class action lawsuit concerning their physical store’s counter height. Quite possibly these lawsuits that violated the Americans with Disabilities Act are what resulted in the need to manage other parts of accessibility, inclusive of their internet website.

Starbucks currently has a website specifically linked to ways the company is making an attempt to adjust to disability guidelines. The company provides a listing of characteristics they have used to help to supply admission to disabled individuals. Starbucks claims they have decided to boost diversity, accessibility, and inclusion in everything they do. Another notable feature Starbucks has included are Braille gift cards. Starbucks has found out that accessibility is not to be taken lightly and has made the right modifications to support the culture of inclusion.

Although the infamous coffee organization has had problems regarding their physical locations, it is evident Starbucks has decided to be dedicated to web accessibility. Starbucks has done what every company ought to by including policies to support access for disabled customers. There will be no regrets for allowing access to a website, but exclusion can cause serious consequence.

HTML Validation

HTML Validation
It is far less complicated to design and build a website incorporating accessibility, rather than implementing it once the coding is completed. This does not mean the coding cannot be fixed, but it is certainly something to keep in mind when updating or deciding to get a new website. After a website is completed, new content is added or simply performing routine website maintenance, it pays off to scan a site with an HTML validator. It is the most effective way to make certain critical elements are not overlooked.

What to Test For
HTML Validation will check for WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), a set of guidelines put together by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). The aim of the WCAG is to provide a standard for the web in order to generate content that meets the needs of the largest number of individuals internationally. The term content pertains to information such as text, images, sounds and coding that determines presentation. The current acceptable guidelines to meet are the WCAG 2.0. 2.0 is made up of 12 guidelines that are assembled under four concepts: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.  WCAG 2.0 can be tested with an HTML validator including three levels of testable success criteria, A, AA, AAA.

A second area that is vital to test for is Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. The Rehabilitation Act requires websites that receive any federal funding to be accessible to individuals with disabilities. There are 16 standards to follow under the Federal Government’s Section 508. Any website receiving money from the government or would like to in the future, should test their site for 508 compliance.

Available Tools:
There are several HTML validation tools and software available on the internet, at both free and paid options. While free tools are nice to check a single page or area of a website, their testing capabilities will be limited and will only test one page at a time. If you are looking to test an entire website and receive the most accurate assessment, there are excellent tools available at a small cost. It is best to look for a tool that checks for WCAG, Section 508 compliance as well as broken links and coding errors. It is important the tool offer a GUI (Graphic User Interface) report that will display exact location of error visually.