Would Your Business Survive an ADA Lawsuit?
Would Your Business Survive an ADA Lawsuit?
Businesses with websites that don’t meet the Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines have long flown under the regulatory radar. But that appears to be ending as attorneys target small businesses with ADA demand letters or even take them to court.
The Washington Post reported that New York went from only 125 ADA lawsuits in 2013 all the way up to 2,744 in 2021. And New York isn’t the only state getting hit. There were 11,452 disability-related lawsuits in 2021.
What’s at risk if your business website isn’t accessible to people with disabilities? According to UserWay, the fine for not being accessible to the disabled community can range from $50,000 to $100,000. This doesn’t include other fees like paying your lawyer and taking time off from work to work through the legal issues.
If those sorts of penalties cause you to lose sleep at night, you need to make an ADA-compliant website a priority. Investing in an ADA-compliant website does cost money, but it’s much less expensive and time-consuming than facing an ADA lawsuit. Plus, an accessible website means more people can navigate your website more easily.
Let’s go over what exactly ADA compliance means, so your firm can avoid getting into legal trouble.
What ADA Compliance Means
An ADA-compliant website means your site is accessible to users with visual, cognitive, hearing, and motor impairments. Remember that an aging population often has many of these impairments, too, and an ADA-compliant website will help you reach more baby boomers. Website accessibility includes two main components: easy site navigation and understanding what the site's content is about.
Put yourself in the shoes of someone living with a disability. Visiting a website isn’t as simple as doing a quick Google search, clicking the link, and scanning the content for the information you need. Many people with motor disabilities rely on keyboard-only navigation because they can’t use a mouse. Those with visual impairments need enlarged text or a screen reader to read the content aloud for them. And so on. Your site needs to be accessible to people with and without disabilities, or else your site is an easy target for an ADA demand letter or a legal claim.
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Everything You Need to Know About ADA Compliance Online.
Is Your Firm at Risk?
Risk of Not Being ADA Compliant
If you don’t invest in an ADA-compliant website, you could increase your risk of receiving a demand letter. A demand letter isn’t the same as a lawsuit. It’s the first legal step before on the path to a lawsuit. In other words, it’s a chance to respond to whoever sent you the letter and try to work out the dispute outside of court. Most cases do settle out of court for undisclosed amounts.
If a demand letter escalates to a lawsuit, you’ll need to go to court, invest in a lawyer, and build a case. This already takes a lot of time and money without factoring in the fines you face if the court doesn’t rule in your favor. In addition to the financial costs, any lawsuit can have a negative impact on your business reputation.
Decrease Your Chances of Legal Trouble with UserWay
There’s been a dramatic increase in ADA lawsuits in recent years, including against funeral homes. Some lawyers are searching the internet for non-compliant sites and sending ADA demand letters to businesses without ADA-compliant websites.
How can you make sure your website is more ADA compliant? We partner with UserWay to offer Tribute Accessibility. Tribute Technology delivers this innovative product through its network of Premier Partners including leading providers such as FrontRunner Professional, MKJ Marketing, SRS Computing, Funeral Tech, CFS, and others. With a widget in the form of a single line of code, your website adjusts based on the user’s needs, whether they’re visually impaired, motor impaired, epileptic, or live with another type of disability.
UserWay provides all its paid subscribers with legal assistance if they need it. Users can let them know right away if they receive a demand letter or ADA lawsuit. UserWay’s legal team provides an assessment of the claim’s validity, a Statement of Compliance as proof your site’s accessible with UserWay’s AI-Powered Accessibility Widget, and, if required, an expert opinion as part of your official response to the claimant.
What Features an ADA-Compliant Website Includes
Many features make up ADA-compliant websites. Make sure that your website includes all of them to decrease your legal risk. To read more about what an ADA-compliant website looks like, check out this article. These are just a few of the features.
- Accessible call-to-action buttons - Make sure everyone can easily access your call-to-action buttons, no matter if they’re using their mouse or keyboard to navigate it.
- Adjust time-constrained elements - Allow users to adjust the time limit for elements like completing lengthy preplanning fields or turn off the time constraints completely.
- Avoid content that could trigger seizures - Blinking text and flashing animations could trigger seizures for some users, so let them skip over this potentially triggering content.
- Dyslexia friendly font - Fonts like fancy cursive make it difficult for users with dyslexia to read. Let them switch to a dyslexia friendly font to avoid frustration and access your information more easily.
- Image descriptions - These appear if your images don’t load or get read aloud for those who need it. Including image descriptions allows people with visual impairments to more fully understand your website.
- Keyboard-only navigation - Users with disabilities benefit from keyboard-only navigation if they can’t use a mouse.
- Light and dark contrast - Make sure your website visitors can read your text and see the color differences with the right amount of light and dark color contrast.
- Simplify visuals – Elements like poorly defined images, crowded pages, and distracting images make it difficult for users to understand. An ADA widget simplifies these visuals.
- Text transcripts for videos - Those with hearing disabilities rely on text transcripts for videos. Oftentimes, the auto-generated transcripts aren’t accurate, so you should transcribe them yourself or use a more advanced transcription tool.
How ADA Compliance Benefits You and Your Families
An ADA-compliant site reduces your chances of legal trouble. It also saves your firm time and money. Dealing with an ADA lawsuit can eat up time and money, not to mention put a dent in your firm’s reputation and existing relationships. You can help avoid all this by investing in ADA compliance.
But most importantly, a website that’s accessible to ALL users better serves your families and community. An accessible website:
- Reaches more people and includes everyone
- Sets yourself apart from the competition
- Gives your employees and families peace of mind that all family members can access your site
- Reduces frustration for people with disabilities while grieving and funeral planning
Learn more about our partnership with UserWay and how to avoid legal trouble related to web accessibility by visiting our ADA webpage.
