If you haven’t heard of Wix, I would be very surprised. Every time I open up YouTube I see an ad for them. If you’re unfamiliar though, Wix is advertised as an easy-to-use website builder. Unfortunately a lot of Wix users have found themselves in unfortunate situations when they are faced with lawsuits for the sites they have created. If you’re wondering why…
The Problem With Wix
All websites must meet certain accessibility standards. Accessibility means that your website is usable by any person, even if that person has a visual or hearing impairment. To make your website accessible, you must meet standards like making sure your text has enough contrast to be legible, your images have alt text, and it can be used with a screen reader (along with many more standards). A screen reader is something someone with a visual disability might use, which can be installed on your computer or might already be preprogrammed in. It works by reading what’s on your screen to you. People developing websites must be careful in how they determine what is a heading vs regular body text, because a screen reader differentiates between the two to help the person using it navigate the page. Alt text is text that goes with an image, so when the screen reader reaches that image it can give the user context to what the image is showing.
The issue is that people developing websites with Wix cannot access the code of the site, meaning that when they upload their own content to the site it may no longer meet WCAG (web content accessibility guidelines). There are even attorneys that specialize in these Wix lawsuits!
So How Can I Avoid a Lawsuit?
Your best bet when trying to build a website is to familiarize yourself with the accessibility guidelines you need to meet. Check out W3.org for the complete list. Another option is to use a website builder where it is easier to meet these guidelines. One great example is WordPress. If you want to learn more about it stay tuned for the next post!