Most Americans are familiar with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which requires public buildings to comply with regulations to make them accessible to people with physical disabilities. Businesses that cater to the public including retails stores have to comply with these laws. Employers are also required to comply with the regulations under Title I of the ADA which prevents discrimination against any qualified individual with disabilities in hiring, firing and other human resources issues. Recently, there has been a rash of lawsuits against business' websites claiming that they do not comply with Title III of the ADA. Title III oversees issues regarding intellectual property, information technology, data privacy and security.
Does Your Business Website Need to Comply with Title III?
Whether or not your business has to comply with ADA Title III is a tough call. This requirement is still being tested and not all regulations have been completely hammered out. Title III states that it is against the law to "discriminate against the disabled in the gull and equal enjoyment of the goods and services of places of public accommodation." Originally, this statute was interpreted to apply to brick-and-mortar locations only. Recent decisions in court cases have broadened the definition of places of public accommodation to include a nexus between a store's website and enjoyment of products and services at the brick-and-mortar location. Therefore, this law may apply to your business if you have both a physical location and a related website.
How Can Your Business Become Compliant?
Due to the fact that these regulations are new and mostly untested, this is hard to answer. The U.S. Department of Justice which oversees compliance has been working on proposed regulations that answer this question since 2010. Private commercial websites are in their own category separate from public websites owned by federal, state or local government or other privately owned websites. The Justice Department was originally slated to publish the new regulations in spring of 2016, but late in 2015 the date was pushed back. At this point in time, the publish dates is now on the long-term action list for 2018. Therefore, you do have time to consider this aspect of your commercial website.
Lawsuits Against Your Website are Still a Possibility
Unfortunately for businesses, you still need to examine these issues when it comes to your website/s. If your business has a brick-and-mortar retail location for products or services and an accompanying website (which most businesses now have as a matter of course), you fall under Title III. The potential for future litigation is there, and it would help to work towards accessibility. There are some questions you can ask yourself and modifications you can make to help in this matter.
Accommodating the Disabled
Accommodations can be made to assist the disabled in using your website. Blind users can surf the Internet using screen reader software that "reads" text to them in audio or converts it to Braille. For a screen reader to read your site, you need to employ code that can be "read."
A good resource for information regarding accommodations can be found in the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Level AA (WCAG 2.0 AA). This document offers guidance in traversing these complex laws. Suggestions include adding the following code to help screen readers:
- Invisible "alt-text" to your graphics for screen readers to read
- Making all website functions available using a keyboard
- Adding accessible image maps
- Using webpage headings for navigation
Are You Subject to Title III?
Ask yourself the following questions to determine if Title III of the ADA is relevant to your commercial website.
- Is the website open and accessible to anyone in the public without restriction?
- Are products or services sold from the website?
- Do I or can I use screen reader technology on the website?
- Does ADA compliance affect branding or advertising on the site?
- Does Title III affect my use of a third party IP or my intellectual property?
- Does complying with the ADA affect my data security and privacy?
These questions will help you prepare for these regulations and bring your website into compliance as the regulations are being made into law.
