Settlement Agreement: Richland County Board of Elections and Voter Registration
Access Denied: Trial on Website Accessibility Claims Results in Decision for Disabled Individual
JD Supra
On Tuesday, a federal district court in Florida issued an order in the first known trial involving accessibility to a public accommodation’s website. Ultimately, the court found that grocery giant Winn-Dixie violated Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) because its website was inaccessible to a visually impaired customer. As we have written about previously here and here, currently there are no binding regulations that specify the accessibility standards for websites under Title III of the ADA.
Historic Win for Plaintiff in First Ever ADA Public Accommodations Website Accessibility Trial
Lexology
This week a federal judge in Florida passed down one of the most historic Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) website accessibility decisions to date, finding that Winn-Dixie was liable under Title III of the ADA because its website was inaccessible.[1] In the case, Gil v. Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., the plaintiff argued that Winn-Dixie’s website was inaccessible to visually-impaired individuals and thus violated the ADA. More specifically, the plaintiff alleged that features such as the website’s online coupons and pharmacy could not be accessed using a screen reader. The Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff on all issues and awarded injunctive relief and attorneys’ fees.
Sixth Circuit Signs Off On EEOC Subpoena In UPS Disability Discrimination Case
Lexology
The Sixth Circuit recently affirmed a U.S. District Court’s decision granting the EEOC’s application to enforce a subpoena in a disability discrimination investigation, finding that company-wide information regarding the employer’s use and disclosure of medical information was relevant to the investigation of a single employee’s charge of discrimination. The ruling underscores the challenges faced by employers in objecting to EEOC subpoenas.
First Federal Trial on Website Accessibility: Winn-Dixie Violates ADA
Lexology
On June 13, Judge Robert Scola, Jr. released his Verdict and Order following a non-jury trial: the defendant Winn-Dixie violated Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as its website was not accessible to the plaintiff Joan Carlos Gil, a blind individual who uses the JAWS screen reader to access website content.
Federal Court in Florida Rules that a Grocery Store Must Make its Website Accessible
JD Supra
Our retail and hospitality clients often ask whether the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) requires their websites to be accessible for individuals with disabilities. Unfortunately, as we have previously explained, there are numerous reasons why there is no clear answer to this question:
- While Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination against individuals on the basis of disability with regard to their participation and equal enjoyment in places of public accommodation, the statute does not explicitly define whether a place of public accommodation must be a physical place or facility;
- These types of issues historically have arisen in brick-and-mortar buildings such as lack of accessible parking stalls, insufficient ramps, and inaccessible bathrooms;
- No regulations on the issue of website accessibility currently exist, and the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has pushed back the date on which it is supposed to issue such regulations until 2018 at the earliest;
- The DOJ has emphasized that businesses should make websites accessible to disabled individuals by relying on a set of private industry standards developed by the World Wide Web Consortium known as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (“WCAG”);
- Very few cases have reached a resolution on the merits.
As a result, the state of the law regarding the applicability of the ADA to company websites has been in flux the last several years. However, we now are starting to see some guidance from the courts, although there have been contrasting decisions that have not exactly clarified matters.
JD Supra
In a post published earlier this year, we commented on a surge of lawsuits being filed under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination in the full and free enjoyment of public accommodations on the basis of disability. Where websites and mobile applications serve as extensions of brick-and-mortar stores, some courts have held that retailers are responsible for accommodating disabled consumers on their online platforms.