The Americans with Disabilities Act (the “ADA”) has been a tremendous source of litigation since its passage nearly thirty years ago. The ADA was originally put in motion to provide equal access to physical locations and services. It generally requires establishments to provide people with disabilities easy access to a business. But in 2016, the ADA began to include websites. The ultimate goal of the ADA is to eliminate exclusivity and offer an equal experience to all people. Thus, the logic goes, businesses should be inviting to everybody via physical location and website.

Over the past year, plaintiff attorneys have developed a cottage industry by filing thousands of lawsuits alleging that company websites are not accessible to the blind or visually impaired. From 2017-18, lawsuits targeting website compliance have increased by 177%, with more than 2,000 filed in 2018. Often times the same disabled individual (with the same attorney) will file these claims. They seek an injunction to make the company’s website ADA accessible and attorneys’ fees. A nominal settlement will quickly follow (typically a few thousand dollars) with the vast majority of this going to the attorney. Florida is a breeding ground for this drive-by litigation, and it is frustrating the federal courts. See Price v. Escalante – Black Diamond Golf Club LLC, No. 5:19-CV-22-OC-30PRL, 2019 WL 1905865, at *1 (M.D. Fla. Apr. 29, 2019).

Lack of Guidance

Continue Reading The Latest ADA Shakedown: Website Compliance