News & Regulations
The Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA for short is a federal law in the US that impacts more and more businesses. Based on the different requirements in ADA your website can be under scrutiny from the federal government or even be sued for not complying with the accessibility guidelines.
In the past few years, there were a lot of online businesses that had to deal with lawsuits regarding ADA compliance. Here we will examine what’s most important in the law, how to avoid issues regarding ADA accessibility compliance and what to expect if you’re already being sued.
What Do You Need to Know about ADA Compliance?
The Americans with Disabilities Act is a civil rights law mandating that no person should be discriminated against based on disability. The law was approved in 1990 and was amended in 2008.
The law covers all sorts of disabilities – from physical to mental. The main goal is to provide equal access to everyone.
In the following table you can see all the different areas under the ADA law:
Title V of ADA gives important guidelines on how to implement the law.
Most of the guidelines provided in ADA repeat those in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Level AA. So, if your website is WCAG Level AA compliant, then you probably won’t be facing a lawsuit anytime soon. But keep in mind that these worldwide guidelines are constantly updated so you need to make sure you comply with the new amendments also.
Source: Pexels
Who Is Vulnerable to ADA Lawsuits?
All of the examples in the table above are vulnerable to ADA compliance lawsuits. All of the websites for businesses listed above are also under danger of a lawsuit.
Most state and local governments offer online services to the public. From paying tickets, fines and bills online to filing tax documents and registering for school online – all of these services fall under the requirements of ADA.
Also, businesses that are open to the public and also have a presence online should comply with ADA requirements. Those include retail companies, banks, hotels, food and drink businesses, etc. In short – all public businesses that provide services online.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) takes ADA compliance very seriously, especially in the last few years when most of the public services have shifted entirely online or provide options for web-based services.
Common Accessibility Issues that Lead to Lawsuits
ADA includes a wide variety of disabilities and it can be a real challenge when navigating the major accessibility issues. Here, we will outline some of the leading causes that led to major companies and organizations being sued based on ADA compliance.
Accessibility for People with Vision Problems
One of the most common accessibility issues that web-based companies face is catering to people with vision problems, partial or complete blindness.
Not providing an alternative for people with vision disabilities has led to a lot of problems for the Target Corporation, for example. The company was sued in 2006 because their websites for online shopping were almost impossible to use by people with vision disability. Customers weren’t able to freely navigate the website and order goods.
The best way to ensure accessibility for people with vision problems is complying with the WCAG guidelines.
Inaccessible Content with Assistive Technologies
Providing a way for assistive tech to navigate information and content is essential when talking about accessibility in general. People with all sorts of disabilities use software and hardware that helps them navigate online.
The lack of such an option led to the lawsuit against the Miami University in Ohio in 2016. The MU was accused of not implementing the use of assistive tech on its website and learning platforms. Students with disabilities couldn’t navigate the online spaces of the university.
This resulted in a consent by MU and the Department of Justice that required the university to pay $25 000 for compensations and also implement significant improvements to the technologies across all campuses.
Missing Alternatives to Visual Content
Providing alt text for images and videos on your websites may seem as something that is not really that important, but when talking about accessibility this is one of the leading causes for lawsuits under ADA.
This was one of the problems that the singer Beyonce Knowles’ company faced in their ADA lawsuit. Parkwood Entertainment was sued in 2019 because the website was missing several accessibility fundamentals, including alt text for images. The lawsuit also included problems in navigation with assistive tech.
The Parkwood Entertainment lawsuit highlights perfectly how even high-profile businesses are susceptible to ADA compliance lawsuits.
All the cases listed above are just a small portion of instances in which companies with web-based services had to go to court for not complying with ADA. The DOJ website offers a lot of information about different cases and what led to them.
Source: Pexels
4 Steps to Avoid an ADA Website Lawsuit
As we already said, ADA compliance guidelines closely follow those by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Adhering to Level AA in the Web Accessibility Guidelines can be the easiest way to avoid court action.
Here we will give some pro tips on how to avoid ADA lawsuits based on the most common reasons that lead to them in the first place.
Provide Alt Text and Video Captions at All Times
Alt text for images can be the thing that makes a difference when talking about ADA compliance. Some people with disabilities can’t access visual information, such as images, tables or diagrams, the same way as everybody else. Providing additional alt text for images on your website is crucial for ADA compliance.
Video captions are also another great way to provide additional information for people with disabilities. Also, the lack of such falls under ADA.
Ensure Proper Color Contrast
When choosing colors for web sites you have to be extremely careful. Some colors don’t look good when overlapping and this can prove difficult even for people without disabilities. When designing your website be sure that all text is readable, the color contrast doesn’t interfere with the elements on the website. All content should be easily readable and navigable.
Simple Navigation Is Best
Navigating your website should be easy and intuitive at all times. This is key for people with learning, motor and visual disabilities. It is also essential for people who require the use of assistive technologies to access the internet. The use of screen readers, special accessibility keyboards and text-to-speech software can be severely impacted by poor navigation online.
Source: Pexels
Make All Forms Accessible
If your website requires filling out forms, they should be accessible by people with disabilities. All forms have to be navigable by assistive tech and they have to be labeled the correct way. Also, if your forms require to be filled in a specific time frame you have to provide an alternative for people with disabilities.
For best ADA compliance, check out the WCAG Level AA guidelines.
What to Expect if You Face a Website Accessibility Lawsuit?
If it’s already too late to ensure accessibility on your website, then you need to be prepared for the lawsuit.
Everything starts with a notice by the DOJ that highlights the violations of ADA. It can also include the damages the plaintiff is seeking in compensation. This notice also gives a timeframe of everything that’s going to happen from that moment onwards.
Depending on the violations of ADA, you can be mandated to pay between $50 000 to $100 000.
You should hire a lawyer that understands ADA and WCAG guidelines. This means that this person has to have sufficient knowledge regarding the different requirements under the web accessibility laws. And after building your deference, you go to court.
Most companies and businesses choose to reach a settlement outside of the courtroom, because these legal battles can be costly. Also, depending on the size of the business, legal action against it can lead to huge damage in reputation and trust, resulting in overall loss for the company.
Conclusion
ADA compliance includes guidelines for web accessibility implemented by the WCAG guidelines. Not conforming to these legal requirements can result in hefty fines and very expensive lawsuits.
But there is something more important and basic in the accessibility guidelines – making websites accessible is better for society and communities. It also leads to equal opportunities for everyone.