Web Accessibility Lawsuits in the U.S.

All people have the right to equal treatment and shouldn’t experience discrimination because they happen to have a disability. Many laws in the U.S. support this right. If you violate one of these laws, then you can find yourself at the defensive end of a lawsuit.

In 2019, according to an analysis by international legal firm Seyfarth Shaw, web accessibility federal lawsuits hit record numbers, with 11,053 suits filed in federal court, an 8.8% increase from 2018.3 California led the way with 4794 web accessibility lawsuits, which may be in response to a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit which reversed a federal judge’s 2017 dismissal of a case against Domino’s Pizza. A man who is blind complained that he was unable to use Domino’s website or mobile app because neither was accessible. This reversal might have triggered more plaintiffs to launch web accessibility lawsuits in California.

Both California and New York also have their state laws banning discrimination. In California, it’s the Unruh Civil Rights Act; New York has a New York State Human Rights Law.

Over the years, people have filed web accessibility lawsuits over Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act violations. Section 508 federal departments and agencies ensure ICT (information and communication technology) they use is accessible. People have taken legal action against both the Social Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security over Section 508 violations.

Are These Lawsuits “Frivolous”?

It’s important to understand that web accessibility is anything but frivolous. Disabilities commonly affect the way people go online. Instead of typing on a keyboard, some individuals may use toggle switches or voice input. Instead of looking at images, they may only be able to read descriptive text on the page, using screen-reading software. Or they may need to magnify a web page before they can read it. Websites must use accessible design for these Internet use methods to work.

If you don’t have the disability-related experience, just think about how lost you’d be if you couldn’t quickly look up the arrival time of the next commuter train on your smartphone or consult the weather forecast as you’re headed out the door. Without web accessibility, millions of people with disabilities miss out on these simple conveniences.

As we noted in a previous post on ADA reform, the majority of ADA lawsuits are legitimate. The people with disabilities who filed these lawsuits experienced real digital barriers.

It’s important to note when plaintiffs file federal lawsuits under the ADA, they cannot sue for monetary damages. A plaintiff can only seek reimbursement of their legal fees as well as remediation of the inaccessibility in question. They aren’t launching litigation because they’re looking for some quick cash. The reason they sue is to compel a business that has violated federal law to change its discriminatory practices.