Caitlyn Elam: According to the website accessibility company UsableNet’s “2019 ADA Web and App Lawsuit Recap Report,” the filing rate of ADA website lawsuits has not slowed down. UsableNet reports that 2,235 new website accessibility lawsuits were filed in 2019, consistent with similar 2018 numbers.
While many lawyers traditionally understand Title III of the American’s With Disabilities Act (“ADA”) prohibits discrimination against the disabled in places of “public accommodation,” this new frontier of accessibility on the Internet is difficult to wrap our legal brains around. These “new age” lawsuits have been filed by individuals who suffer from disabilities such as sensory, motor, and cognitive impairments. Websites are being challenged based on characteristics such as: color contrast; failure of photos to contain descriptive text; lace of compatibility with screen reading devices; and more.
See the full article on page 11 in the March issue of DICTA.