“Is Your Website ADA Compliant?” Video Transcript
Katie Lagrone: If you think the ADA is limited to ramps and parking spaces meet Louise Payton.
Screen Reader: Blank, Blank, Which is your favorite city park?
Louise Payton: Which is your favorite city park?
Katie: Blind since birth, she’s learned to navigate the world without sight…
Louise: Hit this letter.
Katie: …and the world wide web is no exception.
Louise: Every day i’m online doing something with the paper…
Screen Reader: Heading level one a new web trap
Louise: …the internet. I even read the Wall Street Journal.
Katie: A screen reader literally reads websites to Louise. But a new wave of lawsuits filed in the Sunshine State reveal many Florida Businesses are dark to the disabled.
Louise: Oh come on, why is it not showing up? You might as well be locked out.
Katie: Our latest investigation into excessive ADA lawsuits uncovers Florida business owners are now being sewed for having websites that are not ADA compliant. While the majority are being filed in South Florida by the same Miami-based attorney numbers show these web-suits are on the rise, from just a couple in 2015 to more than 130 a year later.
Rep. Tom Leeks: Follow the money.
Katie: Florida representative Tom Leek believes its the next era in ADA abuse.
Rep. Leeks: If there is a new way to gen up a lawsuit and to get themselves to the point of leverage where they can collect attorney’s fees, they’ll find it.
Scott Trachtenberg: I think its an easy way for lawyers to pursue ADA lawsuits.
Katie: Scott Trachtenberg knows all about it. His small business was sewed over it three-and-a-half years ago.
Scott: When I was served my initial reaction was surprise, frustration…
Katie: But after spending thousands of dollars to make his website ADA-compliant Scott realized something bigger.
Scott: I am yet to meet anybody that is aware of this.
Katie: Which is how Scott’s new business was born.
Screen Reader: Test your website for ADA compliance
Katie: Today he works to make other businesses’ website’s friendly to the disabled.
Scott: I think that this is something that is only going to become a much larger issue.
Screen reader: W W W
Louise: What happened? It’s not showing up.
Katie: A new wave of ADA lawsuits sparking the same old debate.
Louise: There are times when I’ve gotten frustrated and just walked away from a website because I couldn’t access it.
Katie: Are these cases advocating accessibility for people like Louise Payton…
Screen Reader: Radio button not checked, Jurassic Park
Louise, laughing: Jurassic Park
Katie: …Or personal profit for those who file them? Katie Lagrone, Fox 4 in your corner.
We’re always here to help. The ADA prohibits any private businesses that provide goods or services to the public, referred to as “public accommodations,” from discriminating against those with disabilities. Federal courts have ruled that the ADA includes websites in the definition of public accommodation. As such, websites must offer auxiliary aids and services to low-vision, hearing-impaired, and physically disabled persons, in the same way a business facility must offer wheelchair ramps, braille signage, and sign language interpreters, among other forms of assistance. All websites must be properly coded for use by electronic screen readers that read aloud to sight-impaired users the visual elements of a webpage. Additionally, all live and pre-recorded audio content must have synchronous captioning for hearing-impaired users. Websites must accommodate hundreds of keyboard combinations, such as Ctrl + P to print, that people with disabilities depend on to navigate the Internet. Litigation continues to increase substantially. All business and governmental entities are potential targets for lawsuits and demand letters. Recent actions by the Department of Justice targeting businesses with inaccessible websites will likely create a dramatic increase of litigation risk. Big box retailer Target Corp. was ordered to pay $6 million – plus $3.7 million more in legal costs – to settle a landmark class action suit brought by the National Federation of the Blind. Other recent defendants in these cases have included McDonald’s, Carnival Cruise Lines, Netflix, Harvard University, Foot Locker, and the National Basketball Association (NBA). Along with these large companies, thousands of small businesses have been subject to ADA website litigation. Defendants in ADA lawsuits typically pay plaintiff's legal fees, their own legal fees for defending the litigation, and potential additional costs. In all, the average cost can range from tens of thousands of dollars, to above six figures. There are also high intangible costs, such as added stress, time and human capital, as well as reputational damage. Furthermore, if the remediation is incomplete, copycat suits and serial filers can follow, meaning double or triple the outlay. It's vital to implement a long-term strategy for ensuring your website is accessible and legally compliant.Have a question?