Get A Free ADA Compliance Audit Of Your Website
Download NowWith over 1 in 4 Americans recorded as disabled, it’s essential for your company, and its website, to be ADA-compliant. ADA National Network funding can help you make that happen.
They offer grants which can help you to finance accommodations, training, or digital changes to improve accessibility and reach compliance. Creating inclusive public spaces, both physically and digitally, ensures that disabled people have equal opportunities to thrive. It also helps you to reach new audiences and avoid costly legal disputes.
So, how does ADA National Network funding work? In this guide, Recite Me will take you through everything you need to know.
What is the ADA and why is compliance important?
The ADA refers to the Americans with Disabilities Act, an important piece of US civil rights legislation that protects disabled people. Established in 1990, its goal is to prevent disability discrimination within public life, including in the workplace and public transportation. It clearly establishes that disabled people must be afforded the same rights and opportunities as able-bodied individuals.
The ADA is split into 5 different sections, which cover employment (Title I), public services (Title II), public accommodations (Title III), telecommunications (Title IV), and miscellaneous provisions (Title V).
So, why is ADA compliance important for your organization? There are several key factors:
- Equality and ethics: On the most basic level, it’s the right thing to do. ADA compliance ensures that your business or organization does not discriminate against disabled people.
- Legal responsibility: In 2024, ADA lawsuits increased by 7%. Overall, that was 8,800 ADA Title III complaints filed. Legal risks of non-compliance can be severe, so it is essential to ensure your website meets requirements to avoid financial and reputational consequences.
- Reputation: Inclusivity ensures your business has a strong online reputation.
- Wider reach: For another thing, it’s just good business. With around 61 million disabled adults in the US alone, you shouldn’t neglect disabled consumers and their loved ones.
Want to make sure your website is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act? Then unlock the ADA compliance checklist now. Discover actionable steps to ensure ADA compliance, helping you avoid lawsuits and any other negative consequences of non-compliance.
What is the ADA National Network funding?
This refers to funding opportunities available through the ADA National Network.
If you’re not familiar with the ADA National Network, they provide guidance and training to help companies become ADA compliant. The network is made up of regional centres across the US, and also includes a centre for Knowledge Translation. The ADA National Network receives its funding from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR).
They perform an advisory role, offering resources and support, rather than acting as an official regulating body. They can’t give financial support directly, but they do provide access to funding opportunities through grants.
Who can apply for ADA National Network funding?
There are several types of applicants who may be eligible. These are:
- Higher education institutions
- Non-profit organizations
- Other organizations or agencies
How to prepare for your ADA National Funding application
You’ll first need to visit the grants.gov website. This includes a full list of the NIDILRR funding opportunities. You can then narrow the results down to the ADA National Network Program.
Once you’ve found the program, you can start the application process. There are no set guidelines currently available specifically for the ADA National Network funding. However, there are some general guidelines for grant applications that you can follow.
Prepare in advance
Before you start on the application for ADA National Network funding, you’ll need to ensure you’re prepared. Grants can vary in terms of their requirements, but they’re typically strict.
For example, the Administration for Community Living (ACL) states that four registrations are required for grant applications. Whilst the registrations are all free-of-charge, they can take time to process, so if they are required, you should complete them well in advance. These four registrations can be seen broken down below
Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)
To apply, you’ll need a Taxpayer Identification Number. You can get this for free from the IRS, but you’ll need to wait up to 5 weeks for new TINs to activate.
DUNS Number registration
This is a nine-digit identifier number from Dun & Bradstreet, who are a business credit bureau. It can be used by government grant funders to review your organization’s financial circumstances.
You’ll need to submit a form with information about your business, including the business address, name of the business owner or CEO, number of employees, and more. Keep in mind that it can take up to a month to process the application.
System for Award Management (SAM.gov)
You’ll also need to register with the government’s System for Award Management via SAM.gov. It can take between days to weeks to complete a registration, and you’ll need to update it each year.
The registration will require obtaining a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), which you can obtain from the same website. You’ll be required to provide information about your company, including your certifications.
As part of the process, you’ll need to assign a point of contact in your team. They will have access to a password which gives them authority to assign other team members as Authorized Organization Representatives (AORs). AORs are permitted to submit applications for funding on your company’s behalf, so ensure they are chosen carefully.
Grants.gov registration
Finally, you’ll need to complete your Grants.gov registration. This platform features 1000+ grants from federal agencies, awarding around $500 billion in annual grants. You’ll need to wait until you’ve got your SAM.gov registration first, and then one of your AORs can begin the Grants.gov registration. According to ACL, this can take around 3 weeks to complete, so again, you’ll need to get started well in advance of the grant deadline.
Once this is complete, you’ll need to update your registration each year, and your passwords after every 90 days. Wherever possible, you should also aim to show that your organization has a genuine interest in improving its accessibility compliance. This can help to confirm how you intend to spend the funding.
Download the application
Once you’ve completed your Grants.gov registration, you can go ahead and download the application package. This will include the relevant forms and instructions, and can be completed offline.
How to develop your application for ADA funding
Next, you can start planning out your application. There are a few set steps to consider here:
Ensure you understand the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)
This provides all the information you need to know about the funding opportunity, including the eligibility criteria, application guidelines (including budget, formatting, etc.), and the evaluation criteria that will be used to score your application. The information included in the FOA is essential to your application, so make sure you have read it carefully in its entirety.
Evaluate your suitability for the funding opportunity:
There’s no harm in applying for funding, but you should at least weigh up whether you’re likely to be successful. Grant applications take precious time to complete, so you’ll need to focus on ones that align most closely with your company.
Again, the FOA is an important resource. Compare your organization, its circumstances and ethos to the FOA eligibility criteria and goals. Are you a good fit for ADA National Network funding?
Write out your application:
Writing your application is arguably the most important stage. Requirements will vary between grants, but you’ll typically need to clarify:
- What you want to achieve with the funding. (Don’t be vague with this. Make it as specific as possible.)
- Why your company needs the service/product/training that the grant will fund.
- What your track record is at meeting company needs of this kind.
- How you plan to meet the mission of the funding opportunity, and what impact this will have on your organization and the wider public. (Provide supporting evidence and data, wherever possible.)
- What resources your company has at its disposal to carry out the project in line with your plan and the grant’s mission. (This includes finances, relevant personnel, staff expertise, available facilities, etc.)
- What your budget for the project is, with a clear rationale. (Again, it should be realistically attainable and aligned with the grant’s mission).
Don’t be tempted to waffle or over-exaggerate to obtain the grant. Your application should be clear, to-the-point, and most importantly, realistic for your organization to put into practice.
Review and submit your application
When you’ve completed your grant application, make sure to review it before you submit. Ensure that it’s clear and coherent, with correct spelling and grammar, so that it’s easy to read.
Double check you’ve included all the relevant information and evidence. If you’ve missed out something important, you could risk being rejected for the grant. So, attention-to-detail is key here.
Once you’re happy with the application, it’s time to submit!
Get a free automated ADA compliance audit of your website. This audit will highlight compliance violations and provide the recommendations needed to meet ADA compliance standards.
What can the funding be used for?
ADA National Network funding should be used to meet ADA requirements and create a more inclusive environment for people with disabilities. It should align with the network’s mission to promote the equality of opportunity, and meaningful participation of disabled people.
So, there are a variety of different accessibility changes that the funding can be used for. Some of these are listed below.
Physical accessibility accommodations
Some businesses may wish to use grants for physical accommodations to improve the accessibility of an organization building or structure. Examples include:
- Wheelchair ramps
- Bathroom grab rails or emergency pull-cords
- Platform lifts
- Low sensory spaces
- Accessible parking
- Automatic doors
Digital accessibility
It’s not just physical spaces that require ADA compliance. Depending on your industry, you’ll need to ensure your website meets relevant accessibility legislation, such as Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Typically, these requirements are based on WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), the consensus standard developed by the W3C. To meet these standards, you could use your funding to make your website accessible. For example, you could:
- Hire a specialist web development team to update your website to accessibility guidelines.
- Hire accessibility consultants to help your in-house development team improve and maintain your digital accessibility.
- Buy digital accessibility tools, such as an assistive toolbar or website accessibility checker.
These upgrades will include everything from improving website color contrast and enabling compatibility with assistive technologies, such as screen readers.
Accessibility training or consulting
You might also decide to use the funding to pay for training or consulting services. These can educate your team in the long-term so they remain aware of the fundamental principles behind accessibility.
You could identify specific areas needing compliance improvement and use targeted training to build your team’s expertise. Additionally, if you feel your company needs more tailored support, you could hire web accessibility consultants.
Alternatively, Recite Me offers free accessibility training, with 9 detailed modules you can tackle at your own pace.
What are the responsibilities of businesses that apply?
The exact responsibilities of companies that apply to the ADA are somewhat unclear. But generally speaking, you’ll need to:
- Make sure any information you provide about your company is accurate
- Ensure your relevant registrations are up-to-date
- Check you meet the full criteria before applying
- Create a clear and practical plan for how you will use the funding
- If you receive the funding, ensure you use it as specified within your application
- Maintain business records, particularly of how you have spent the funding money
- Complete any administrative requirements of the grant, such as reports and self-evaluations
To learn more about the specific responsibilities associated with ADA National Network funding, you can make contact with NIDILRR or your ADA Regional Center.
Getting the most from funding for digital accessibility
If costs are getting in the way of your accessibility, funding makes a big difference. That’s true for digital accessibility, as well as physical.
Preparing with free tools before you apply for funding helps you to pinpoint what you need to work on. Then you can make the best use of your funding by honing in on this area. Even if you’re not eligible for ADA National Network funding, these three tools from Recite Me won’t cost you anything to use.
Conduct a free website accessibility scan
No experience with web accessibility? If you don’t know which font sizes are inclusive or how to make your website keyboard-friendly, don’t panic. The WCAG standards are vast, and it’s natural to feel overwhelmed.
Using Recite Me’s website accessibility checker takes the guesswork out of digital accessibility. Along with your webpages, it also scans any images, PDFs, and other elements on your website for compliance issues.
Follow up with a free accessibility checklist
After you’ve conducted an automated scan, make sure to follow up with a manual check. Automated tools are great, but there’s always a chance they’ll miss something important.
Manual accessibility checks don’t have to be difficult either. Recite Me offers a free ADA accessibility checklist that covers everything from media accessibility to web forms.
Leverage free accessibility training to educate your team
If you’re not in charge of web accessibility or grant applications within your organization, it helps to keep your team on the same page. Make sure they know what they’re looking for with free ADA accessibility training from Recite Me. These courses cover accessibility fundamentals, WCAG standards, assistive tech, legal compliance, and much more.
Stay ahead of the game when it comes to Digital Accessibility laws and compliance in the United States. Learn about all the different federal and state-level regulations, see real examples of web accessibility lawsuits in different regions and discover a 7-step action plan for building accessible websites.
Conclusion: Start your ADA compliance journey with the relevant funding
ADA National Network funding has a lot to offer for eligible organizations. If ADA compliance feels off limits due to your budget, these grants can help you to create inclusive spaces, online and in-person. That’s good for disabled people, the wider public, and your organization.
If it’s your website that needs tweaking, then Recite Me can help! You might want to start with a free accessibility scan to pinpoint what needs to change. Alternatively, you can work with our expert web accessibility consultants to develop your digital inclusivity from the ground up.
ADA National Network Funding FAQs
Looking for a recap or quick summary? Here are a few of our most frequently asked questions to help you get to grips with the essentials:
What is the ADA National Network?
The ADA National Network provides guidance, training, and resources to help organizations meet ADA compliance standards. It consists of regional centers across the US and is funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR).
Who is eligible to apply for ADA network funding?
Eligible applicants include higher education institutions, nonprofit organizations, and other qualifying agencies or organizations.
How do I apply for ADA National Network-related funding?
Start by visiting Grants.gov. Search for NIDILRR funding opportunities under the ADA National Network Program and follow the application process.
How long does it take to complete the registration process?
The full registration process can take several weeks, up to a month or more, so it’s crucial to begin early and update credentials annually.
Are there tools to help me prepare before applying for ADA funding?
Yes. Recite Me offers:
- A free website accessibility scan
- A manual accessibility checklist
- Free web accessibility training modules
What are my responsibilities if I receive ADA funding?
Recipients must:
- Use funds as outlined in the application
- Maintain accurate records of spending
- Complete administrative tasks like reporting and evaluations
- Ensure all information provided is accurate and up-to-date
Need more help becoming ADA compliant?
The following resources are packed full of actionable tips and expert advice for making your digital content compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act:
Free ADA Accessibility Training
Take the first step to ADA compliance by completing our training course.
Free ADA Accessibility Guide
Ensure your organization is meeting the requirements for ADA compliance.
