Businesses should brace for a new crop of so-called “accessibility” lawsuits alleging that their commercial websites fail to comply with federal disabled-access law, lawyers say.
In March, the Justice Department laid out a set of compliance standards for accessibility on commercial websites as part of its legal agreement with H&R Block Inc.
The Justice Department, which enforces the disability-rights act, isn’t expected to post official compliance standards for websites and mobile apps until next year. But lawyers say the H&R Block case offers a clear road map for disability-access claims, and is likely to spark a surge of lawsuits with violations that pertain to websites.
Adam Saravay, a partner at McCarter & English, said his firm is already seeing a boom in disability-access lawsuits over physical barriers.
He says business owners should talk to their website developers about updating sites with accessibility options, such as screen readers.