Two New York federal courts have ruled that websites that offer goods and services to the public are "places of public accommodation" and are thus subject to the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and must be made accessible to the disabled, including the visually impaired.

Which Websites Are Covered By The ADA?

Any website that sells goods or services online or any website that offers any form of 'interaction' with a customer, such as, a 'store locator' or the ability to sign up for news or promotions, is covered by the ADA. These websites must be made useable by disabled users, which means that website providers are required to take steps to reasonably accommodate disabled users as long as doing so would not impose an undue hardship on the business or fundamentally alter the website. According to these rulings, for a website to comply with the ADA, the disabled must be given "full and equal enjoyment" of the goods, services, privileges, advantages, facilities or accommodations of a website.

What Accommodations Are Required By The ADA?

Although the two most recent New York federal court decisions did not rule on what specific accommodations are required to provide access to the visually impaired, courts have suggested that there are steps businesses can take to make their websites accessible, such as following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines ("WCAG"). For example, the WCAG suggest the use of technology to allow visually impaired individuals to use webpages with screen reader and similar software. As with all analyses of an accommodation under the ADA, the suggested or requested accommodation must be "reasonable" and not too burdensome on the business or a fundamental alteration of the website. Whether such an accommodation is reasonable depends on a fact-specific analysis of the scope and size of the business's goods, services, accommodations and resources and the specific accommodation being requested (if a request has been made).

Key Takeaways Regarding Web Accessibility

In light of these decisions, businesses that provide interactive websites or goods or services on websites should review their websites with respect to accessibility for the disabled. Businesses should particularly explore access options for the visually impaired and review the WCAG.

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