Compliance

A U.S. appeals court recently ruled that some websites don’t have to be accessible to people with disabilities. See how this decision affects businesses like yours.

The Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) comes into force on January 1, 2021, requiring all public-sector organizations in Ontario and companies with more than 50 employees in Ontario to comply with the best practices for digital accessibility laid out in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Is your online business ready?

The education industry is facing another challenge as the school year begins: a skyrocketing number of digital accessibility lawsuits. In July and the first week of August, we have tracked 35 federal lawsuits targeting the education industry filed in U.S. Federal District Court. To put that in perspective, there were just two federal lawsuits the entire first half of 2020. That’s a 1,750% increase, with new cases filed almost every day. If your institution doesn’t have a strong position on digital accessibility, there could be trouble ahead.

A lawsuit filed against Gimlet Media, a leading digital media company, recently garnered plenty of attention both within and beyond the website accessibility community. This lawsuit, among others, elevates the importance of digital accessibility being a core capability of any modern digital platform, especially as companies are required to comply with legislation such as Title III of the ADA and the California Unruh Civil Rights Act.

The explosion of web accessibility lawsuits has grabbed plenty of headlines in the United States. But if you also operate beyond American shores, you face a second set of digital accessibility challenges. You need to meet the requirements of every country where you conduct online business. Here’s what you need to know to navigate your way through the global accessibility landscape, and to ensure you achieve compliance and maximize your online reach.

Lawsuits against companies suspected of flouting the online accessibility requirements related to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are now a regular feature of courtrooms in the US. From 2017 to 2018, the number of cases surged and they continued to increase throughout 2019. To help companies better understand the risk of litigation, we continuously track ADA-related proceedings. So, how is the picture changing as we start a new year?

Everyone knows that running a small business is tough. Between building up a customer base and establishing an efficient operating model, there’s not a lot of time or money for the support functions that larger companies take for granted. Early-stage business owners often end up wearing multiple hats – they need to be the CEO, the CIO, the CFO and the Head of HR, all rolled into one.

If the issue of digital accessibility is on your radar, you may be closely following the now-infamous Domino’s digital accessibility case. If not, let’s get you up to speed… Three years ago, Guillermo Robles, who is blind, filed suit against Domino’s claiming its website and mobile app are not accessible to those who rely on a screen reader to navigate online content. Robles claims inaccessible online content equates to a violation of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

What You Need to Know: Educational establishments are being investigated in response to complaints received by the Office for Civil Rights. Complaints on disability discrimination were high with a focus on website accessibility. The U.S. Department of Education’s has reached settlements in response to complaints received.

The following list summarizes some of the many high profile Web Accessibility Lawsuits and complaints filed in association with Finance & Banking industries.

Affordable Care Act. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is implementing a Meaningful Access Rule. The Meaningful Access Rule will apply to the ACA’s Section 1557’s anti-discrimination policies. This section defines that any health care provider that receives funding from the federal government must not discriminate any individual on the basis of race, color, nationality, sex, age, or disability. The new regulations will require theses health care providers to provide physical and Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) accessibility.

The United States Department of Justice has been reaching settlement agreements with all industry types. In 1999, the DOJ reached its first settlement agreement with Toledo, Ohio under their initiative Project Civic Access. With Project Civic Access, the DOJ has reached more than 200 settlement agreements with counties, cities, towns, and villages across the United States, including Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.

To understand website accessibility laws in Canada, we start with the Canadian Disability Rights Movement, which began after the World War I when veterans who were disabled began returning home and needed accommodation and resources. It wasn’t until after World War II that accommodations and services for disabled veterans also began to apply to all people with disabilities.