How We Build ADA Compliance for Old Town
Old Town business websites typically fall into two categories: sites built on popular CMS platforms like WordPress and Squarespace, and custom-built sites for larger venues and professional practices. Both categories have characteristic accessibility failure patterns.
CMS-based sites for restaurants and boutique retailers commonly fail on image alt text, form labeling, and third-party embed accessibility. The Wells Street dining and shopping corridor is dense with these sites. We audit the actual pages, not the platform defaults, and remediate in the existing codebase.
Custom-built sites for comedy venues like Second City and Zanies Comedy Club typically have more complex interactive components: event calendar systems, ticket selection interfaces, seat maps, and member or subscription portals. These require more thorough manual testing and more targeted remediation. We test every interactive flow end to end with screen readers and keyboard navigation.
For interior design and real estate offices in the Old Town Triangle, the typical failure patterns are portfolio galleries without keyboard navigation, PDF downloads that are not accessible, and contact forms with missing or incorrect labels. We handle the complete site scope and provide accessible document remediation for downloadable portfolio materials.
Industries We Serve in Old Town
Comedy clubs and performance venues. Second City and Zanies Comedy Club have ticketing systems, class registration pages, and event archives. Ticketing flows require keyboard navigation support, proper form labeling, and confirmation email accessibility. Class registration for improv programs has the same requirements. We audit the complete ticket purchase and registration experience.
Restaurants and bars. Wells Street restaurants and bars need accessible online menus, reservation links, and private event inquiry forms. Moody Church and St. Michael's Church draw community event attendance that often includes visitors who plan meals nearby; accessible restaurant sites capture that audience. Menu PDFs are the most common failure, followed by reservation system integration issues.
Boutique retail and home goods. Old Town shops with product pages, gift guides, and checkout flows need accessibility treatment across the purchase path. Color contrast failures on lifestyle photography backgrounds, missing product alt text, and inaccessible size selectors are the most frequent issues on boutique retail sites.
Interior design and home services. Design studios in the Old Town Triangle use portfolio sites to attract residential and commercial clients. Portfolio image galleries, case study pages, and consultation request forms need accessibility treatment. We handle the portfolio gallery patterns that most commonly fail: custom slideshows, interactive room renderings, and downloadable specification sheets.
Medical and dental practices. Practices serving the Near North Side residential community in Old Town need accessible appointment scheduling, patient intake forms, and health information pages. We audit the full patient discovery-to-booking flow and include any patient portal access in the scope.
Real estate offices. Old Town real estate agencies with property listings, virtual tour embeds, and contact forms need accessible navigation through search and filter tools. Property listing pages with interactive maps and photo galleries require specific accessibility treatment that preserves the visual presentation while making the content available to screen reader users.
What to Expect Working With Us
1. Audit focused on your business model. For entertainment venues, we prioritize ticket purchase flows. For restaurants, we prioritize reservation and menu access. For retail, we prioritize the product and checkout path. You get findings organized by business impact, not just WCAG criterion number.
2. Remediation on your site, not a new build. We work in your existing codebase or CMS. We do not recommend rebuilding your site to achieve compliance. Every fix is implemented in the existing framework with explanations your web manager or developer can understand.
3. Accessible event and content templates. For Wells Street venues with frequent event updates, we establish accessible event listing templates so that new events automatically meet WCAG requirements. Your content team does not need to audit each new post.
4. Documentation for insurance and legal purposes. Each engagement produces a findings report, a remediation log, and an accessibility statement. These documents matter if you receive a demand letter; demonstrating proactive good-faith efforts is a significant factor in how ADA claims resolve.