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Top “Accessibility in the News” Topics of the Year (2019)

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Top “Accessibility in the News” Topics of the Year (2019)

As we ring in the new year, I would like to look back at 2019, focusing on accessibility news stories that received significant coverage. 2019 has been a huge year in accessibility news, from the Domino’s web accessibility suit, which from our account has received the most media attention of any accessibility related news story to date, to big governmental successes like Canada and the EU passing key accessibility legislation. On the legal front it has been another big year, the newest targets include, wineries, art galleries, and restaurants. A new category of ADA lawsuits has been introduced as number of braille gift card cases skyrockets. Lastly, a few big name lawsuits came to an end answering some questions but leaving us with more.

Each of these ten subjects solidly earned their place as one of the Top “Accessibility in the News” Topics of 2019:

Domino’s Lawsuit Sets Precedent: Websites and Apps Are Covered by ADA

In what has now become the biggest accessibility news story of 2019, a lawsuit which was initiated against Domino’s in 2016 has seemingly come to an end. Plaintiff Guillermo Robles claimed the Domino’s Pizza website was inaccessible to blind users trying to order pizza online. In recent years many ADA lawsuits have been filed over inaccessible websites, however very few make it through the court system to upper level courts. In this case a lower court found, that since the Department of Justice has not specified rules on how to make websites accessible, it would be a Constitutional due process violation to order Domino’s to meet these unspecified guidelines even though the ADA did apply to Domino’s website.

The Ninth Circuit court disagreed, stating that Domino’s had “been on notice that its online offerings must effectively communicate with its disabled customers and facilitate ‘full and equal enjoyment’ of Domino’s goods and services,” thereby requiring them to abide by the ADA. However, the Ninth Circuit court failed to further outline any rules, sending the case back down to a lower court to determine if “Domino’s website and app provide the blind with effective communication and full and equal enjoyment of its products and services as the ADA mandates.” Many retailers throughout the US who have been under legal fire are seeking clarity on this issue to avoid future lawsuits. In July, the Retail Litigation Center and the National Retail Federation asked for the Supreme Court to rule on the Domino’s case, with the hopes of setting a standard to be used in ADA web accessibility claims.

On October 7th, the Supreme Court finally did make a decision on the case by denying the request for the case to be heard. This meant the ruling handed out by the Ninth Circuit court would stand. Although further federal regulations for a website accessibility compliance may come about in the future, for now we rest assured knowing websites are indeed covered under the ADA.

New York Subways: MTA Faces Litigation Over Lack of Accessibility

The subject of accessible public transit has been a hot topic for years, with New York City often at the forefront of attention. This year was no different, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has once again taken the spotlight by struggling with station accessibility. However, in December the MTA announced a 51.5 billion dollar investment which among other upgrades would make subway accessibility a top priority.

All of this comes on the heels of a tragic event that took place back in January. A young woman died after falling down the stairs in a subway station in New York. The woman, 22 years old, was trying to carry her baby in a stroller down stairs in a station that lacked an elevator. In 2018 the MTA was sued for omitting elevators in station upgrades, however, they attempted to reconcile their accessibility woes by announcing a plan to install elevators in more stations, and by hiring an accessibility officer to oversee improvements.  A recent study found only about a quarter of New York subway stations are fully accessible.

Are Companies Required to Provide Gift Cards Printed in Braille?

In what appears to be a new frontier of ADA litigation, an eruption of lawsuits developed in the fall of this year regarding Braille being printed on gift cards. Along the lines of other ADA cases, these particular cases claim the plaintiffs are being denied equal access to gift cards which therefore limits access to products and services. Similarly to website accessibility claims, this area of litigation has already proved to be rife with serial litigators. However, since this story developed so late in the year much is still unclear, will these cases hold up? Will this problem be easily solved? This will surely be a story to watch in 2020.

Florida Shows That Governmental Websites Aren’t Exempt from Accessibility Litigation

Florida and New York have a history of website accessibility lawsuits. In 2019 the two states accounted for over 1000 of the 2408 lawsuits filed throughout the entire country. It is not surprising, then, that these lawsuits began targeting local government websites in Florida. Several central Florida municipalities have been targeted due to lack of accessibility of records posted on their websites. In many cases the records in question are scanned versions of old paper documents. The municipalities are now responsible for updating their websites to abide by ADA guidelines.

This Year in Accessibility Lawsuits: Hardest Hit Include Wineries, Art Galleries, Restaurants, and Higher Education Institutions

The story of website accessibility lawsuits has been in the news now for years. With many plaintiffs filing serial lawsuits against any non-compliant company they find. According to an analysis conducted by Seyfarth Shaw, in 2018 there were 2285 ADA website lawsuits filed in the US, which was up 177 percent compared to 2017. Based on an early analysis from 2019 this number has more or less evened out compared to the large jump between 2017-18 with an increase of 7 percent this year. The list of targets only continues to increase, but as one industry begins to recognize the risks of litigation and improve their practices, serial litigators move on to new unsuspecting industries. This year those unsuspecting industries that were slammed included wineries and art galleries.

In addition to small and unsuspecting industries, 2019 was a year where many big organizations were hit hard. Aside from the Domino’s case, the Harvard closed captioning case was among the biggest news in the digital accessibility space. Harvard, along with other higher ed institutions, came under years ago attack for their lack of accessibility for free courses provided to the public online. The case claimed that the online course material lacked closed captioning and when present that closed captioning was often incorrect. Harvard fought to have the case dismissed for several years before finally settling the case out of court this fall. Amidst the rejection of their dismissal request Harvard announced its new accessibility policy this spring.

Kroger Shows Companies Are Be Able to Avoid Litigation Through Website Remediation

In June a New York judge dismissed a case that had been in the works against the supermarket chain Kroger. This was big news for other retailers looking to avoid web accessibility lawsuits as it was the first to be dismissed under a mootness defense. Kroger’s defense was that they had been abiding by WCAG 2.0 standards, which at the time the lawsuit was filed, were slightly outdated before WCAG 2.1 was released. Kroger updated its entire website to be completely accessible and committed to keeping it that way. In addition to the remediation of their website, the court dismissed the case on account of Kroger not operating in the state of New York, therefore the court lacked personal jurisdiction to rule in the case. This news was muddied further by the Supreme Court ruling handed out in October regarding the Domino’s case, however it offers some hope to any company willing to dispute a lawsuit by claiming remediation. Despite escaping litigation in their web accessibility suit in June, in July Kroger made news again when they settled a disability discrimination lawsuit for $40,000.

Bill C-81 Passes in Canada

In June of 2018 the Canadian federal government announced they would be introducing a new bill to help create a barrier-free Canada. Bill C-81, “the Accessible Canada Act: An Act to Ensure a Barrier-free Canada,” is Canada’s first national legislation on accessibility. This June, twelve months after being introduced, the bill was passed through the House of Commons and the Senate. The bill aims to create standards and regulations regarding accessibility for people with disabilities across the public and private sector including digital accessibility standards. Allowing the government to seek out areas that need improved accessibility and adjust regulations based on the needs of the time, which will help the government adapt to problems faced in the ever-changing digital landscape.

The European Accessibility Act is Approved by European Parliament

This year the EU passed the European Accessibility Act (EAA) putting into place a framework of accessibility regulations, off which different countries can build. The EAA focuses on a group products and services, most of which are in the digital realm. The list includes products like computers, smartphones, tablets, e-readers, televisions, and services like banking and ATM services, websites and mobile apps. Some disability rights activists were disappointed that the act did not did not include household appliances, or fully address some key concerns like transportation and building accessibility However the act was well received overall by Europeans with disabilities.

Accessibility in Gaming: Microsoft’s Adaptive Controller, Expanded in Game Accessibility Options Becoming the Norm

In 2018 Microsoft released their adaptive controller for the Xbox, which has led a huge push in the industry to make gaming accessible. To add to the adaptive controller, Logitech announced its adaptive gaming kit which comes with customizable controls specifically designed to fit the needs of a wide variety of disabilities. Microsoft also leaked plans for a controller with a built-in braille display. Other big gaming companies like Electronic Arts and Ubisoft have made accessibility options a priority in new releases. This has led other smaller companies to follow suit, allowing players to adjust gameplay to fit their needs, with features like remappable controls, sensitivity settings, better and more readable subtitles, and color adjustments. With 33 million disabled gamers in the US alone it is becoming clear that adaptive gaming is a market that will only continue to increase and thrive in years to come.

Accessibility in Politics: From Campaigns to Voting

Coming off the midterm elections in November of 2018, and with the 2020 election looming in the not so distant future, accessible voting has been a hot topic this year. With approximately one fifth of eligible voters in the US having a disability, accessibility in polling places is crucial for a large part of the vote. Many states and municipalities already have laws in place about accessible polling places, while others face lawsuits when they fail to adhere to standards.  However, it is not uncommon for the disabled to be lost and forgotten on the political stage. This was solidified in June when in the first two Democratic debates not a single candidate mentioned people with disabilities. However, as the campaign trail has worn on several candidates have released plans for disability policies and talked candidly on their experiences with family members with disabilities. In the final debate of 2019, a question on how candidates would address the needs of disabled Americans was finally asked.

 

Microassist Digital Accessibility Services

Have you received an accessibility demand letter because of your website or application? Please contact us for any questions you have about our accessibility services and how we might support your organization.

Services include:

  • Accessible Website and Application Development— We rely heavily on accessibility best practices and using HTML5 and ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) standards to build WCAG-compliant and human-tested accessible environments. Our teams are proficient in open source technologies such as WordPress, Drupal and Moodle, as well as custom frameworks in .NET, PHP, AngularJS, and other frameworks. Our Learning and Development team can also help you create accessible custom training.
  • Accessible Document Services—  Whether you’re dealing with a few or a warehouse of Microsoft Office documents, PDFs, or other files, there are several ways Microassist can enable your team to offer documents and materials that meet stringent accessibility standards.
  • Accessibility Remediation— Our accessibility remediation services help you fix existing materials so that they conform to WCAG, Section 504 and 508, Department of Education OCR, and ADA Title II/III requirements. We remediate websites, applications, documents, and elearning, recommending re-creation when that is more efficient and economical. Especially for website and applications, to find out what is in need of remediation, we’ll start with an Accessibility Audit.
  • Accessibility Training— With several courses available for developers, testers, and content creators, your team can become equipped to consistently and expertly produce accessible digital products and online environments.
  • VPAT®Evaluation Services— Primarily used by government purchasers and government vendors during the procurement and sale of ICT products and services under Section 508, a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template® (VPAT) attests to the accessibility of a given product or service. Contact us to make sure the VPAT you write or review is accurate and meaningful.

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