A new look for digital
Making our work ADA compliant means that, going forward, the work we do will look different. It must look different. This might mean a really big shift from the look of our older work to the look of our new work, and it's critical that we guide our clients toward understanding and embracing (and appreciating!) this change.
Some of our clients or even our internal agency teams may look at an ADA-compliant layout for a new piece and say, "This looks strange," or "All the text looks too big," or "Our previous pieces didn't look like this," etc. We need to talk to our clients about this, and help them understand this is a good thing; this is the way of the future (well, really, the present). This is the path toward making work that everyone can engage with more easily — not just people with visual impairments! — not to mention protecting our clients from lawsuits and PR nightmares.
Over the years I've often found it useful to explain to clients that the world of digital is (of course!) constantly evolving, and once in a while this evolution results in a necessary, dramatic shift in how our digital work looks. "Yes, the work we did for you two years ago was excellent and completely appropriate for the time; it was focused on what success looked like then. Now, the work we're producing for you does not look and feel like those older pieces because the digital landscape has completely changed, and our targets for success have shifted."
When we explain these things to our clients they're likely to embrace them. It also helps to encourage our clients to look around at other brands' recent materials to see that what we're talking about is happening across the industry — and if they see brands who aren't getting on board with these changes, then those brands are risking being left behind.
Remember, making our work ADA-compliant is a legal requirement, and it is our ethical responsibility. There's just no arguing against it, or there shouldn't be. We owe this to the users who interact with our work, and to our clients. I know I'm a broken record with all of this! I'm fine with that. :)
– Manning
Questions/comments? Feel free to contact me at manning@manningkrull.com. I update these articles pretty frequently — best practices evolve over time as the world of digital quickly changes, and I always welcome insights from others.