WEB ACCESS 500 Campaign!
Does the Golf Industry Want to Lead, or Follow?
As of Jan 2023 and based on study results published by accessibility.works, "... 96.8% of the top million homepages failed ADA compliance testing." The Department of Justice's position is that "Inaccessible web content means that people with disabilities are denied equal access to information." What does this mean?
Simply put, if your golf course is open to the public (Title III), or a state or local government facility (Title II), ALL customers should be able to navigate your website to understand what you offer such as contact information, purchasing from on-line stores, booking tee times, lessons, course policies, etc.
Private clubs? Well, that's a longer conversation, but many do fall under Title III compliance requirements. However, is it unimportant at a private club to consider member or guest experiences for those who may have disability? We don't think most would answer "yes" to this question.
The ADA and WCAG, or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines drive the requirements, but most golf courses can automatically convert websites to meet compliance requirements for approximately $500 per year through an artificial intelligence (AI) application.
We've converted at the National Alliance for Accessible Golf and, certainly, there are golf course websites out there that already comply, but let's ramp it up! Assuming the golf industry is somewhat aligned with the 3.2% of sites that comply from the study, that puts us at about 500 courses out of approximately 15,500 today. Can we do better?
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