Important News for California Employers
September 23, 2021. Lawsuits for non-ADA compliant business websites are on the rise.
It has come to our attention that there is a growing trend of lawsuits targeting companies with websites (via news and unfortunately, businesses in which we know). Specifically, lawsuits claiming violations of disability laws under the Americans with Disabilities Act (Titles II and III). These actions being single actions and others being grouped into class actions, with requests for settlements averaging $10,000-$25,000, first violations $55-$75K, and subsequent violations up to $150K per fine.
These are unfortunately driven by a handful of firms filing thousands of these claims annually, but also by many plaintiff lawyers who are quickly discovering this path to quick money. Thus, being driven by the ability to quickly shake down employers as opposed to remedying potential accessibility issues for those protected under the ADA laws.
For those employers with brick-and-mortar locations, many are aware that there are ADA compliance requirements when it comes to the company’s physical location (beyond those related to their employees). Many times, employers discover these requirements upon receipt of an ADA lawsuit citing issues related to counter heights, bathroom stalls, stairs, and other accessibility-related items. Your websites are no different.
Website accessibility for individuals with disabling conditions is not new, but the pandemic has ushered in an accelerated motivation for plaintiff lawyers, leading to almost triple the amount of filings over the past few years. These lawsuits have grown almost 20% this year and roughly 74% of the lawsuits are targeted at retailers. These have been in the form of attempts to extort small businesses to lawsuits leading to penalties against the business owners. Other industries that are key targets include hospitality, restaurants, and other related businesses (big and small).
Examples of areas commonly compliance issues:
The three primary types of compliance standards to assist with compliance include:
We strongly encourage that you have your website evaluated to ensure that they are compliant, and if not, implement a plan to achieve compliance.
Disclaimer: This is in no way meant to convey discriminatory content towards individuals with disabling conditions. Individuals with disabling conditions should be provided equal access opportunities as those not having disabling conditions, whether as employees or consumers. This email is meant to educate businesses about important requirements and laws related to their websites and their respective attention to ensuring access for all individuals, with or without disabling conditions…information that is unknown and realized until facing a settlement demand or lawsuit.
These are unfortunately driven by a handful of firms filing thousands of these claims annually, but also by many plaintiff lawyers who are quickly discovering this path to quick money. Thus, being driven by the ability to quickly shake down employers as opposed to remedying potential accessibility issues for those protected under the ADA laws.
For those employers with brick-and-mortar locations, many are aware that there are ADA compliance requirements when it comes to the company’s physical location (beyond those related to their employees). Many times, employers discover these requirements upon receipt of an ADA lawsuit citing issues related to counter heights, bathroom stalls, stairs, and other accessibility-related items. Your websites are no different.
Website accessibility for individuals with disabling conditions is not new, but the pandemic has ushered in an accelerated motivation for plaintiff lawyers, leading to almost triple the amount of filings over the past few years. These lawsuits have grown almost 20% this year and roughly 74% of the lawsuits are targeted at retailers. These have been in the form of attempts to extort small businesses to lawsuits leading to penalties against the business owners. Other industries that are key targets include hospitality, restaurants, and other related businesses (big and small).
Examples of areas commonly compliance issues:
- image content/lack of textual description needs to be able to be translated to braille, voice, or larger text (each image needs a simple text equivalent to describe each visual element in HTML code; equivalent to what seeing person would visually input from an image and translate automatically in the brain).
- PDF content/no HTML, RTF availability (PDF is unreadable to the visually impaired, thus alternatives need to be available);
- design, text colors, font size (visually impaired cannot distinguish text colors from background colors, thus needing to be visually readable).
- video/audio not accompanied by text content (visually and hearing impaired; require audio to accompany the video describing the images and scene changes; require text to accompany video to make up for lack of audio accessibility).
The three primary types of compliance standards to assist with compliance include:
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Extremely important for government, nonprofit organizations, and businesses with federal funding.
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG): Most common for businesses; version WCAG 2.1.
- Section 508/US General Service Administration Government-wide IT Accessibility Program: Applies to federal agencies.
We strongly encourage that you have your website evaluated to ensure that they are compliant, and if not, implement a plan to achieve compliance.
Disclaimer: This is in no way meant to convey discriminatory content towards individuals with disabling conditions. Individuals with disabling conditions should be provided equal access opportunities as those not having disabling conditions, whether as employees or consumers. This email is meant to educate businesses about important requirements and laws related to their websites and their respective attention to ensuring access for all individuals, with or without disabling conditions…information that is unknown and realized until facing a settlement demand or lawsuit.