On October 2, while the news covered President Trump’s admission to Walter Reed for treatment of Covid-19, Congressmen Lou Correa (D-CA) and Ted Budd (R-NC) introduced the bipartisan Online Accessibility Act, which they claim will “increase website accessibility and reduce predatory lawsuits filed against businesses.”¹ Will it work? That’s a reasonable question.
ADA Internet
Thanks for the shout-out Lainey – a website plug-in followup
By Richard Hunt in ADA, ADA Internet, ADA Internet Web, ADA Website Accessibility Tags: ADA defense, FHA Defense, Lainey Feingold, website plug-ins
Lainey Feingold, a long time and well know advocate for those with disabilities, referred to my earlier blog on website plug-ins* that promise accessibility in her latest blog. HONOR THE ADA: AVOID WEB ACCESSIBILITY QUICK-FIX OVERLAYS. That was nice, but even better was the way she collected other sources on website plug-ins and their problems, making her blog well worth reading for anyone interested in this subject. Of course no matter how much you study the situation the conclusion is always the same – you can’t make a website accessible with a plug-in and you certainly can’t avoid lawsuits with a plug-in. Businesses need relief from lawsuits that do nothing to promote accessibility and drain resources away from remediation, but that relief isn’t going to come in the form of doing almost nothing.
* Is there a silver bullet for ADA website accessibility? Sorry, but the answer is no.
Hunt interviewed for Accessible.org Podcast
By Richard Hunt in ADA, ADA Internet, ADA Internet Web, ADA Web Access, ADA Website Accessibility Tags: accessible.org, ADA defense, ADA Internet, ADA website, FHA Defense, Kris Rivenburgh, WCAG 2.0, WCAG 2.1
Just a quick note for those who want to hear as well as read what I have to say. The Accessible.org podcast interview is available now at any of the following links:
A quick hit – arbitration could tame the ADA website litigation monster update
By Richard Hunt in Accessibility Litigation Trends, ADA, ADA - serial litigation, ADA Internet, ADA Internet Web, ADA Web Access, ADA Website Accessibility Tags: ADA defense, ADA Website Litigation, Browsewrap, Clickwrap, Miracle-Pond, Shutterfly, website arbitration
I’ve written before about the possibility that a properly written clickwrap or browsewrap arbitration agreement could help tame the ADA litigation monster, which like the Hydra seems to grow two new heads for each one that is cut off. A new decision from the United States District Court in Illinois, Miracle-Pond, et al. v. Shutterfly, Inc., No. 19-CV-4722, 2020 WL 2513099 (N.D. Ill. May 15, 2020) confirms that except in cases involving California consumers* a clickwrap or browsewrap type agreement can indeed force a lawsuit to arbitration provided it is properly written and presented to the user. More
On the hook: Website Developers may have ADA liability for inaccessible websites
By Richard Hunt in ADA, ADA Internet, ADA Internet Web, ADA Web Access, ADA Website Accessibility, Professional services Tags: ADA defense, FHA Defense
Website developers and even remediation experts have reason to be concerned about a recent decision from California. In Bashin v. Conduent, Inc., Case No. RG18888208 in the Superior Court for Alemeda County, Judge Brad Seligman refused to dismiss ADA claims against the developer of a website for the State of California Department of Public Works and Recreation. Each part of the decision identifies a real risk that every website developer needs to be aware of. More