Guide to ADA Requirements for Small Businesses

Signed in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act aims to guarantee accessibility and prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities. For small businesses, compliance with the ADA requirements can be a complex task. Yet, businesses that fail to meet ADA guidelines can face lawsuits and lose potential customers. You may be wondering: what are the ADA requirements for small businesses, how to make your business inclusive for customers and employees with disabilities, avoid lawsuits, and benefit from tax incentives?

How is ADA Related to Small Businesses

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides equal rights to people to be educated, employed, and fairly treated in areas of access to goods and services.

In the ADA and small businesses, this relates to opening up your business to employees and customers who have disabilities by removing any form of barriers and using technology to help overcome such challenges.

The two major sections of the ADA you should focus on are ADA Title I and ADA Title III.

ADA Title I

Title I of the ADA tries to eliminate discrimination against disabled employees. You have to treat all your employees justly and make necessary adjustments to help them do well. This could include accessible hiring processes, assistive tools, or flexible work arrangements.

ADA Title III

Title III addresses how your business serves customers. If your business welcomes customers into it—that could be a shop, restaurant, or hotel—you need to ensure accessibility for customers with disabilities. This means there should not exist any physical barriers in your business, whether on the entrance of your building or on the website.

What Small Businesses Are Exempt from ADA Compliance?

There are ADA exemptions for small businesses, including those:

• Businesses operating fewer than 20 weeks per year
• Businesses with fewer than 15 employees
• Private clubs
• Religious organizations

Even though your business qualifies under the ADA small business exemption, that does not exempt you from all of the ADA requirements; there are other requirements regarding public access and commercial facilities that must be applied.

Be aware of what is required of you in titles I and III of the ADA so that you can keep your business open to your employees and customers.

What if Your Small Business Isn’t ADA Compliant?

Do small businesses have to be ADA-compliant? Yes, and if not, they can suffer serious lawsuits and financial loss. A common violation may be an inaccessible parking space, restroom, or table.

Another significant area connected to small business ADA compliance is website accessibility. In case your website does not meet the ADA compliance requirements, you may receive a demand letter or even worse, be taken to court. In fact, in 2023, 4,605 website accessibility lawsuits were filed, with a 13.4% increase from the previous year.

Non-compliance also harms your reputation. Customers, especially those with disabilities, prefer accessible businesses. Failure to meet ADA standards can harm loyalty and sales.

Tax Deductions for ADA Compliance

Making your small business accessible to meet ADA standards may also help you save taxes. You may be eligible for up to $15,000 per year in deductions of expenses that remove physical barriers under Section 190 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Section 44 offers tax credits for $5,000 in online accessibility-related costs. You can claim both together. Let’s say you spent $20,000 on improvements. In this case, you’d have a tax credit of $5,000 and a deduction of $15,000.

Tax deductions are one way to simplify an accessible business. Let a tax professional review your expenses for qualification purposes so you can get the most savings.

How to Ensure ADA Compliance for Your Small Business

The provision of equal access and opportunities to people with disabilities can be achieved by complying with ADA requirements for small businesses. Here’s how you can make your business legally compliant:

Make Sure Physical Spaces are Accessible

Your business should be free of barriers that make it hard for people with disabilities to access services. Common problems include:

• Lack of accessible parking
• Narrow aisles
• Inaccessible restrooms or counters

To fix these, consider:

• Adding grab bars and spacious stalls in restrooms
• Installing wheelchair ramps at entrances
• Adding Braille signs
• Providing audio or visual aids for those with hearing or vision impairments

These changes make your business more accessible and welcoming to everyone.

Provide Equal Opportunities for Employees Living with Disabilities

Other ADA requirements for small businesses are to not discriminate against people with disabilities during the hiring or at work. This includes:

• Offering reasonable accommodations for interviews and tests
• Not asking about disabilities unrelated to job performance

Examples of accommodations include:

• Accessible interview locations
• Application materials in braille or large print
• Providing assistive technologies or interpreters

Also, note that medical information must be kept private unless required by law.

Provide Education for Employees

Your employees represent your business, so it’s important they understand ADA requirements. Train them to recognize and respond to customers with disabilities. Also, offer assistance respectfully, without assumptions.

Ongoing training keeps your team informed as accessibility standards change. Not training employees can lead to ongoing ADA violations and legal issues.

Provide Reasonable Accommodations

Employees with disabilities have the right to perform their job duties without unnecessary barriers. The responsible employers shall implement reasonable accommodation that contains:

• Installing ergonomic workstations or ramps
• Providing screen reader software for visually impaired employees
• Allowing flexible work schedules when needed

Make Your Website Accessible

One of the most important ADA requirements for small businesses is accessible websites for people with disabilities. Any business can achieve this by following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). WCAG has three levels:

• Level A (lowest)
• Level AA (most common)
• Level AAA (highest)

U.S. courts refer to WCAG 2.0 Level AA frequently, but for small businesses, the target should be WCAG 2.2 Level AA. This is obtainable through some of the best practices below:

• Provide Captions or Transcripts: Provide accurate captions for video accessibility content and transcripts for all audio material. Captions should be added to the audio along with any sound effects or speaker identifiers.
• Ensure Screen Reader Compatibility: To ensure compatibility with screen readers, use the proper HTML tags and ARIA roles when structuring your website. Add an alternative text to describe images and graphics up to 125 characters in length.
• Provide Color Contrast: Ensure regular text has at least a 4.5:1 contrast with the background and large text (18 point or 14 point bold) has at least a 3:1 ratio.
• Make Your Documents Accessible: Make documents in tagged PDF and accessible format available through document remediation. Repair structural problems, ensure that all multimedia will have correct reading orders, and include alternative text for all images.
• Ensure Keyboard Compatibility: All the functionalities of a website should be accessible through keyboards and with focus indicators to guide users in menus, buttons, and forms.
• Avoid Content That Can Cause Seizures: Use content that does not cause blinking more than three times per second to avoid giving seizures to vulnerable users.
• Ensure Logical Layout and Structure: Keep it consistent by ensuring a top-level navigation menu and clear headings of sections, such as “Contact Us” or “Services.”.
• Provide Clear Labels and Headings: Use clear headings and label buttons like “Submit Your Request” instead of vague terms like “Click Here.”

If you are unsure whether your website complies with web accessibility laws and meets accessibility standards, conduct an audit for web accessibility. This will help you identify some of the issues that could prevent disabled users from accessing your website.

Ensure Effective Communication for Customers with Disabilities

Clear communication is another key to meeting ADA requirements for small businesses. The ADA requires providing “auxiliary aids and services” to customers with disabilities. For example:

• Vision impairments: Offer large print, audio, or Braille materials.
• Hearing impairments: Provide sign language interpreters or captions.
• Speech impairments: Allow extra time for communication or use speech translation services.

These accommodations ensure all customers can access your services easily.

Introduce Policies for Service Animals

Under the ADA, you have to permit service animals in any public area, even when your policy reads “no pets”. Service animals can help a person overcome disability. Remember these:

• Service animals do not require special ID or certification.
• Employees are allowed to ask whether an animal is a service animal and what it does. However, they cannot request evidence of training or disability.

Your policies must be clear, and your employees must be trained about dealing with service animals.