Guide to ADA Compliant Website Claims

ADA compliant website claims can arise from websites that are seen as discriminatory towards people with disabilities. Whether you are currently facing a claim, or looking to protect your company from future claims, its important to speak to an attorney. Understanding the laws and having an experienced attorney on your case will help you ensure the best possible outcome. Here is your guide to ADA compliant website claims.

What is ADA Website Compliance?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. It requires reasonable accommodations of employees’ disabilities. However, this is only part of the ADA. The other sections focus on making sure “places of public accommodation” are equally accessible to those living with disabilities. A recent trend in this area targets websites. This had led to many questions and new considerations for businesses.

Is a website a place of public accommodation? If so, what do businesses need to consider? Which changes should be made to their website? Unfortunately, the courts do not agree on the answers to these questions. So, its important for employers to be aware of the issue and consider making changes to ensure that their website is equally accessible.

ADA

The ADA is split into three large parts, called titles. Title I prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of disability, and requires that employers grant reasonable accommodations to certain employees in certain circumstances. Most employers are familiar with this title. Title II covers “places of public accommodation”. Title III states that places of public accommodation must be equally accessible to those living with disabilities.

Public Accommodation

Unfortunately, the ADA does not define “places of public accommodation”. It is generally a private business or organization that provides a service, goods, facilities, privileges, or accommodations to the public. The examples provided make it clear that the physical location of a business is nearly always considered a place of public accommodation.

However, with the internet acting as an integral part of business operations, there is a strong debate over whether a business’s website is place of public accommodation. If it is, then it must be equally accessible.

ADA Compliant Website Claims

 There has been a significant increase in the number of ADA compliant website claims. Typically, these suits claim that a person living with a disability was unable to use a business’s website to purchase goods or learn about products, services, or other information. Therefore, they argue they were denied equal access to the goods or services of a business (i.e., a place of public accommodation).

Since the ADA is a federal law, these suits are typically filed in any federal court. But many are filed in states that have similar laws regarding places of public accommodation. This means the plaintiff can allege that the business’s website violates the ADA and the state law.

Recent Cases

As we mentioned before, the courts have not all agreed on whether a website is a place of public accommodation. For example, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that websites are not places of public accommodation. On the other hand, some courts have held the opposite view.

Defenses

While each ADA compliant website claim is unique, there are some common trends. Typically, the plaintiffs argues that they were unable to use a business’s website and were thereby denied access to the goods and services of a place of public accommodation. One of the most common issues is that the website was not compatible with the plaintiff’s “screen reader.” This is a software used to navigate the website and, in these cases, it was not able to “read” the website because of some inadequacy of the website itself.

Additionally, most plaintiffs demand that the website should be compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. In fact, a 2021 report revealed that 98% of homepages had detectable WCAG 2 failures.

Protecting Against ADA Compliant Website Claims

To summarize, there are several things you and your legal team can do to protect against these claims and respond to them. The most obvious answer is to make sure your website is inarguably accessible and ensure it is compliant with the most recent version of WCAG. You should always, always, always consult your attorney in terms of legal response to ADA compliant website claims.

To speak to an attorney about your case, please contact Cook, Craig and Francuzenko today.