How accessible is your website?

5 January, Wednesday, 2022

What kind of experience will visually impaired users experience while visiting your site? Does your site have accessibility features for those with disabilities? These are just a few of the crucial questions you should ask to ensure that everyone can comprehend, see how to navigate and interact with you on the internet.

Institutions that are slow to adopt were hit with legal issues regarding the accessibility of their sites as well as mobile apps, since the amount of lawsuits filed alleging violation of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and other state laws seemed to be at an all-time record. There is no sign of a slowdown in this increasingly digital world businesses must be proactive and take steps to ensure that their websites and mobile applications are accessible to users with disabilities.

ADA Title III prohibits discrimination due to disability in public accommodations, which includes hotels, restaurants, hospitals and private higher education institutions. Higher education institutions are governed to this provision of the ADA (Title III is applicable to private institutions while Title II applies to public institutions) and Article 504 of the Rehabilitation Act 1973, which also prohibits discrimination on the reason of disability education programs or in the operation for the purpose of establishing. . Although the ADA’s definition for “public accommodation” is limited to physical places that include restaurants as well as retail stores, numerous courts such as that of Federal Courts of the First and Seventh Circuit, have held that websites constitute public accommodations. In April 2021 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit joined the Third and Sixth Circuits to decide that public accommodations can only be confined to physical places. But, websites of organizations that have a large audience could be the subject of litigation in federal jurisdictions that are more accommodating to those who might request accessibility on the internet and in states that have anti-discrimination laws covering accessibility requests. digital.

The DOJ under the direction of president Joe Biden has also made accessibility of websites a priority in applications. By the end of 2021 the DOJ resolved enforcement actions with Rite Aid Corporation and Hy-Vee Supermarket Chain in relation to accessibility of their web-based websites for registration of COVID-19 vaccinations as well as with the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District in relation to accessibility. of its website and public transportation mobile. applications. According to the three rules companies agreed to speedily bring their content to conformity with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Version 2.1 and level AA.

Businesses should not wait to be served with a formal notice or even a complaint to be aware of the importance of accessibility to digital content. Instead, they should strive to develop and maintain their websites conformity to WCAG guidelines that are considered to be the gold standard in absence of any legislative or regulatory standards for accessibility to websites. Although no compliance program will be able to stop every legal issue but taking proactive steps toward accessibility can help deter serial filings and enhance responses to demand letters as well as defensive strategies should there is a lawsuit filed. .

Plaintiff firms frequently utilize automatic assessment software to determine potential defendants. Companies should also review their own mobile and website applications as a starting point in identifying any issues that require to be dealt with. Numerous consultants and vendors offer auditing services and assist in patching applications and websites to make accessible. Be aware that Not all accessibility services are all created equally. Companies that offer to make websites accessible using low-cost “overlays” as well as automated programs that claims to find and solve accessibility issues have been the subject of recent scrutiny, including in the context of litigation. Businesses who want to make their websites accessible must be careful when choosing external vendors that will increase the value of the site rather than widen the scope of their efforts.

Copyright (c) 2022 Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP All rights reserved.National Law Review, Volume XII Number 5