In recent years there has been an explosion of lawsuits concerning website accessibility for people with disabilities.  The American with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) requires that state and local governments as well as businesses that are open to the public provide “equal access” to their goods and services and facilities to individuals with disabilities (See Title III of the ADA), which has now come to include a business’s website. While the Department of Justice has yet to publish rules setting forth the requirements for website accessibility and ADA compliance, the de facto standard recognized by the DOJ and the courts is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines WCAG 2.0 and 2.1, A, AA an updated version of which is expected to be published later this year.  Notably, the WCAG is a legal requirement under some federal laws, including Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Air Carrier Access Act and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act.  However, given the lack of a definitive and universal standard, businesses have some flexibility with how they choose to comply with the ADA’s general requirement.  Nevertheless, it is becoming clear that they still must ensure that whatever programs, services and goods that they provide to the public online are accessible to people with disabilities. 

The WCAG guidelines provide detailed and highly technical standards for web content accessibility.  These standards break down into four basic principles that a website must satisfy:

1. The website must be perceivable:  The user should be able to perceive the information and user interface components using their available senses.  Developers should present content in different formats (e.g., text alternatives for non-text content, captions for audio content) so that any individual can access it.
2. The website must be operable:  The features of the website must be operable by either assistive technology or adaptive strategies.  In other words, someone should be able to use the website with a keyboard in the same way that they would access it using a mouse.
3. The website must be understandable:  Users of the website should not only be able to understand the content, but also be able to easily navigate the website as a whole.  Modes of navigating the pages and site that repeat on multiple pages should be in the same place on each page, and features that appear on multiple pages should be labeled identically on each page Also, the text should be readable and understandable (i.e., provide definitions of unusual words, phrases, or abbreviations). 
4. The website must be robust:  The website must be robust enough so that it can be accessible by a wide variety of assistive technologies and adaptive strategies.  As such, developers should maximize compatibility with current and future user tools.

So, how does a business with an existing website perform the necessary updates?  It is suggested that a three-part audit be performed on the website to see how well it complies with the WCAG guidelines.  (1) have automated WCAG testing performed on the website; (2) have manual WCAG testing performed on the website whereby an individual reviews the code and use-cases for unique pages; and (3) have assistive technology testing performed whereby someone attempts to use the website with the aid of screen readers and other tools that people with disabilities use with websites.  Once such an audit is performed, the business can then implement the recommended changes to ensure its website meets the WCAG standards. 

Sources:

Meredith Mays Espino, Website Accessbility for Persons with Disabilities: The Why & How (December 20, 2016), https://www.americanbar.org/groups/business_law/publications/blt/2016/12/07_espino/

Minh Vu, Kristina Launey and John Egan, The Law on Website and Mobile Accessibility Continues to Grow at a Glacial Pace Even as Lawsuit Numbers Reach All-Time Highs (January 1, 2022), https://www.americanbar.org/groups/law_practice/publications/law_practice_magazine/2022/jf22/vu-launey-egan/

Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA, (March 18, 2022), https://www.ada.gov/resources/web-guidance/

2023 ADA Web Accessibility Standards & Requirements, (January 2, 2023) https://www.accessibility.works/blog/2023-wcag-ada-website-compliance-standards-requirements/