December 11th, 2019

I’m sure you have a business plan set in place for your mortgage company in 2020, but have you considered updating your website?  Your website could be the one item holding you back from reaching your goals. While you probably have a long list of items on your agenda to implement, one of your top priorities should include ADA compliance online.  The Americans with Disabilties Act was instituted in 1990 to end discrimination against individuals, requiring organizations to provide reasonable accomadations to those with disabilities.  However, what some people don’t know is that this regulation includes resources online as well. Especially in the mortgage industry, your company’s website must be easily accessible for everyone to use.  

Why Does It Matter?

In today’s mortgage industry there are a number of regulations that lenders need to follow. One of those very important regulations that is sometimes overlooked includes having a fully ADA compliant website.  While at first it may not seem like a critical piece to a successful online presence, it’s the right thing to do.  In 2018 there were 25 million people in the U.S. who were visually impaired, and that number is only growing. If it were you, wouldn’t you want companies to make reasonable changes to their website so that you could easily access them?  It seems like a reasonable request, however some companies think they don’t have to worry about following ADA compliant guidelines. Even big businesses such as Amazon, Netflix, and Nike have all violated ADA compliance website regulations in the past and ultimately had lawsuits filed against them. In the long run, it is easier to play it safe rather than take such a big risk. 

Inspecting Your Website

What does an ADA compliant website even look like, exactly? There are no clear cut guidelines that explains what compliant web content is. However, businesses are required to develop a website that offers “reasonable accessibility” to people with disabilities.  Since it can be difficult to gauge, some companies use additional resources to make this determination. In fact, Google Chrome has an extension called “WAVE” which is a web accessibility tool.  It would be a good idea to take advantage of this resource. Allow it to crawl your website to determine how accessible it is.  As we all know, compliance plays a key factor in any mortgage company’s success.

With that being said, WebMax has the ability to not only build and design mortgage compliant websites that are suitable for all users, but also provide lenders with a full-featured CMS, an easy to use prequalification application, member portal, officer and branch websites, and much more.  In all, there is no reason to worry about using your best discretion when determining accessibility; we are equipped with the necessary tools to ensure lenders are reaching their goals, while still abiding by the rules.