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Does your website comply with federal anti-discrimination laws?

By Dani Wilbert

If you offer goods and services online, you might be unpleasantly surprised. Increasingly more retailers and service providers are being targeted by lawsuits for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (also known as the ADA) by not catering to customer disabilities. What does this mean for your online presence and how can you protect yourself?

While this area of the law is still evolving, these claims stem from Title III of the ADA which prohibits discrimination against disabled persons in places of “public accommodation.” Since some mobile apps and websites cannot be used equally by consumers who are blind, deaf or in other ways physically impaired or disabled, they can technically be held accountable for discrimination.

Traditionally Title III has been applied to require wheelchair ramps and other means of access to physical stores or spaces. As consumer activity continues to migrate from physical shopping to the virtual world, more attention has been focused on the growing debate about whether the ADA also applies to services and goods available online.

The World Wide Web Consortiums Web Content Accessibility Guidelines were specifically designed for making the internet more accessible to people with disabilities, however they are only guidelines and are not enforceable. Users who require alternatives to non-text content and compilable format with tools that allow them to operate a mouse or use an assisting device are still often unable to use most sites, and have resorted to hailing Title III for lawsuits.

The law is still developing in this area. Title III was not written with the internet in mind and congress has yet to amend it, so the lawsuits continue to pour in from the Department of Justice and complaining parties with mixed result.

Taking simple precautions now may reduce the risk of your website or mobile app landing you in an unwanted lawsuit. It may also help disabled persons who are potential customers reach your product or service. Custom web development companies like AMROCKET INC are paving the way by building sites that are ADA friendly. Unlike platform-built products, custom coded work can easily adapt to the changing landscape that is the internet.