How To Make A Healthcare Website ADA Compliant

is your website ada compliant?

How do you make sure your website is ADA compliant? That is a huge question with multiple answers and hazy guidelines. In this episode I (Stacey), unpack the topic with attorney Rachel Schumont of Counsel For Wellness, located in California.

I was recently strolling thru Facebookland looking to see if there was anything interesting and topic worthy to dig into with the podcast when I saw that one of the Facebook Aculanders was being sued for ADA non-compliance on his website. He is a solo practitioner. Not a large corporation. It lit the acu-twitterland on FIRE! There were SO many offers of information and help, but no one really had any definitive answers or solid solutions other than to hire an attorney. I genuinely think everyone wanted to help him but let’s be real, we really don’t want THAT to happen to us either!

I have been working with Rachel on a series of podcasts to present this Spring about all things legal in an Acupuncture practice. Luckily for us, she was willing to do some digging and able to offer up some education for this podcast.

Buckle up! This one is not rainbows and Unicorns.

today’s guest

RACHEL SCHUMONT, ATTORNEY, OWNER AT COUNSEL FOR WELLNESS

My name is Rachel and I am an attorney that specializes in legal issues that affect your business. 

I began my legal career as a litigation attorney in Northeast Florida but after years of working in a courtroom I felt drawn to another passion and chose to spend a few years teaching vinyasa yoga in Southern California. While teaching, I quickly learned how little yoga teachers understood about their businesses and worked to educate yoga teachers on the nuances of their businesses and help them identify areas where they could limit their liability. From there my business grew and expanded to include other areas of health and wellness. Through my practice, Counsel for Wellness, I work with acupuncturists, dietitians, movement and fitness instructors, health coaches, and others in the wellness field to establish business entities, review and negotiate contracts, get solid legal documents in place, and address any other legal issues that arise along the way.

My experience has been that many business owners put off getting their legal affairs in order because they believe it to be overwhelming or time-consuming. With Counsel for Wellness my goal is to make your legal issues accessible so that you can focus on growing your business and caring for your people. 

FIND HER HERE:

INSTAGRAM @COUNSELWELLNESS

COUNSEL FOR WELLNESS WEBSITE

you’ll learn

• The ADA is one of America's most comprehensive pieces of civil rights legislation that prohibits discrimination and guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to participate in the mainstream of American life -- to enjoy employment opportunities, to purchase goods and services, and to participate in State and local government programs and services. (www.ada.gov)

• Healthcare providers, even solo practices can be sued for ADA non-compliance. (Yes, you too.)

• The best way to ensure your site is compliant is to hire an expert to do an audit.

• Your best practice is to align with WCAG. You can take a look at the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) here. Then, when you can’t understand what the F*** they are talking about, go ahead and hire that expert.

• It is uncertain if your malpractice insurance will cover this if you get sued.You need to check with your carrier.

• Widgets are good but they are not the firewall you are looking for. (See above. Hire an audit.)

• Rachel discusses what happens when you get sued. What can those fines look like and will you have to hire an attorney? (If you are deaf, please reach out to me and I will send you a transcript of the show.) For all of the hearing folks, you are going to have to listen to find out the potential fines.

resources

• All things ADA.

• All things WCAG.

• Counsel For Wellness

call to action

If you appreciate this podcast, please leave a review on apple podcasts. Don’t do it for me. Do it so other Acu’s can also access this info!

Five Pages You Must Have On Your Acupuncture Website

make your website so sharp that the algorithms drive new patients to your door

You can play on social media all you want, but if your website isn’t sharp you may be losing out on potential patients. Building a following on social media is like building a house on rented land. Your website is your house. Make it tight and the right patients will find you. After that, you can use social media to get them to your door. Let’s get to work and spruce up your website.

you’ll learn

• The 5 Must Have Pages every clinic practice should have.

• How to map your website out.

• How to attract your ideal patients with your website.

• What you should have, “Above the Fold”.

• The special sauce recipe of how to go 2.0 with your website.