Floify is excited to announce that after a massive development push, our system’s borrower-facing mobile and desktop views are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA standard.

Now, clients who are blind or have visual or hearing impairments have full and equal access to the Floify system, even if they rely upon adaptive technologies such as screen-reading software.

Why is ADA Compliance Important for the Mortgage Industry?

There are two major reasons that mortgage lenders should be concerned about their borrower-facing system’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The first is a human reason. In the mortgage industry there is a huge difference in borrower satisfaction and overall efficiency from clear-to-close between technology-assisted lending practices and the traditional paper-based workflow.

EVERYONE should be able to share in the benefits afforded by modern web-based technologies, and shouldn’t be forced into an antiquated process just because the technology isn’t designed to accommodate them.

The second reason is of a legal nature. The law (and courts have made this very clear) demands that the technology IS designed to be accessible for all.

Over the course of the last couple of years, there has been a dramatic rise in lawsuits being filed over website accessibility, including a near tripling of federal cases from 2017 to 2018.

And this isn’t just your favorite travel blogger who is coming under fire, but companies big and small in the retail, health care, education, and other major sectors.

This includes some of the biggest brands around! Nike, Amazon, Domino’s Pizza, Netflix, and even Beyoncé have had federal complaints filed against them.

All indications are that the flood of lawsuits won’t be slowing down or stopping as long as companies continue to ignore web accessibility.

How Do These Changes Affect Originators Using Floify?

LOs and their teams won’t notice any difference in the platform on their end. Currently, these changes only apply to borrower-facing views on both the mobile and desktop versions of the platform.

Borrowers may notice slight changes to the color palette on their screen, but otherwise, the vast majority of the changes are behind the scenes to make Floify easier to navigate with a keyboard or screen-reading software.

The biggest impact on LOs is that they can now have confidence that any of their borrowers can enjoy the efficiencies of a modern mortgage point-of-sale to help them achieve their goal of homeownership with less stress, anxiety, and time.