Laws Related to Website ADA Noncompliance and Penalties - AccessiBe
Many accessibility-related lawsuits are under active consideration of the Department of Justice in the United States. Man of these cases was also being ruled in favor of the complainant, and the majority of these are being filed in New York and Florida, etc. It is noted that people with disabilities file different lawsuits against small companies and big corporates alike if they are not properly offering compliant websites. The major reasons are that these sites are not working properly with the assistive technologies and are also non-compliant with the screen readers, keyboard navigation, improper color contrast, etc., which makes it difficult for the disabled ones.
Title III of ADA – AccessiBe
Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act aims to prohibit any discrimination against people with disabilities at places of public accommodation. ADA lists about twelve categories of public accommodation spaces like movie theatres, restaurants, schools, daycare, recreation facilities, doctor’s offices, etc., to be compliant with the accessibility needs. Six major industries focus the most on accessibility compliance as retail, travel and hospitality, food services, banking, entertainment, self-services, etc., according to AccessiBe experts. However, nowadays, eCommerce stores, car dealers, and many other services also come up as add-ons under the broader coverage of public accommodation.
Specifications for websites
During the time of the introduction of ADA back in 1990, the internet was not there for public use. However, after a decade from then, the internet started to play a crucial role in our lives. The first of its kind internet accessibility case was filed in 2016, which was a landmark case such as Gil vs. Winn-Dixie, as the provider was found to violate ACA compliance on its website not being accessible to blind users. The complainant, Mr. Gil, was using the website to fill his prescriptions and was trying to locate coupons. Based on this lawsuit, the court-ordered Winn-Dixie to update the website to be compliant. The court observed that “nexus” websites (i.e., with a link to the physical location) are subjected to ADA compliance.
Another case with no abovementioned “nexus” was filed against Netflix in 2016, where there was no audio description for the content, which the blind viewers could not understand. In this case, the Department of Justice also made a ruling in favor of the need for ADA compliance applicable to web-based technology. The court observed that the ADA had been made to adapt to the timely changes in technology. The judge commented that the defendant, in that case, i.e., Netflix, is considered to be a public accommodation entity that offers its services to the public and so is subjected to Title III of ADA.
Violation of ADA may imply a penalty of up to $55,000 for first-time violations, and it may go up to $1,10,000 for subsequent violations. For the websites, the W3C guidelines of WCAG can be considered a single standard for ensuring content accessibility to meet the varying needs of individuals and government organizations. AccessiBe tools can be used to achieve accessibility-compliant website building.
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