What is ADA Title III?
ADA Title III contains guidelines that prohibit discrimination based on disability by public accommodations (such as restaurants, schools, movie theaters, recreational facilities, etc.) in the United States of America. It also requires newly constructed or altered places of public accommodation to comply with the ADA Standards.
Who does the ADA Title III apply to?
ADA Title III applies to all businesses in the US open to the public that operate 20 or more weeks per year with at least 15 full-time employees. This includes, but is not limited to:
Failure to maintain an ADA-compliant website could expose your business to lawsuits, financial liabilities and damage to your brand reputation. Our tailored solution guides you through the compliance process, ensuring that you meet ADA Title III requirements.
What’s required to meet ADA compliance?
The DOJ references the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA conformance as the best measure of web accessibility concerning federal law. We provide an end-to-end solution to help you meet the highest accessibility standards recognized by the DOJ.
Expert Audit
To meet ADA Title III, you must identify and fix accessibility barriers on your website. Our team of experts will conduct a thorough accessibility audit and provide actionable insights based on the findings to improve areas such as navigation, content, forms, and interactive elements for accessibility.
Ongoing Compliance Monitoring
ADA compliance is an ongoing process, and we will assist you in maintaining accessibility standards over time. We'll keep you informed of any updates to WCAG guidelines or legal requirements, and provide support in implementing necessary changes to keep your website in compliance.
4 facts about ADA compliance you need to know
1. The ADA consists of three titles:
2. The ADA applies to all kinds of disabilities
There have been significant changes in the definition of disabilities. The original ADA defined a person as having a disability if they have a condition that substantially limits them in major life activities.
In 2018, the definition of “major life activity” was widened to include daily tasks like caring for oneself or completing manual tasks. In addition, impairments in major bodily functions, such as digestion, respiration, and neurological functions, were added to the list as legal disabilities.
According to the CDC, 1 in 4 American adults live with some form of disability. An inaccessible web risks shutting out a potential 61 million Americans from the vast resource that is the internet.
3. SMBs are not exempted from the ADA:
The majority of ADA lawsuits filed in federal and state courts in 2018 were against small and medium-sized retail businesses.
Although Domino's, Nike, and Beyonce have made headlines in lawsuits regarding web accessibility, most web accessibility cases have targeted small and medium businesses.
A small business owner often feels that there is no choice but to settle out of court since it’s almost inevitable that the court will find in favor of the plaintiff. An average settlement agreement costs about $40,000, but even a medium-sized business would be destroyed by legal costs.
Today, a company operating on the internet faces significant liability if its website is not accessible. Also worth mentioning is that the valuation of the market for people with disabilities is increasing. With a value of around $21 billion, it's worth more than the African-American and Hispanic markets combined.
Accessibility solutions are necessary if you want your business to stay safe from ADA web accessibility lawsuits, appeal to customers with disabilities, and feel that you are upholding social values.
4. Non compliance with the ADA can get you in big financial trouble:
A number of high-profile lawsuits have been filed regarding non-compliance to the ADA. A couple of them are listed below
In 2012, the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) filed a lawsuit against the popular movie streaming platform Netflix for failing to provide equal access to its watch instantly streaming content by not adding closed captions.
The NAD and Netflix eventually reached a settlement that required Netflix to provide closed captions for all its online streaming content within a 2 year period, as well as pay $755,000 in attorney fees and costs. This case was particularly notable because it was one of the first cases to establish that websites could be viewed as places of public accommodation.
In 2019, Mary Conner was accessing Beyonce’s official site via a screen-reader and found that the site lacked adequate alt-text descriptions. As a result, she was unable to purchase tickets to a Beyonce concert.
Mary Conner went on to sue the famous singer’s management company Parkwood Entertainment for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act in failing to accommodate people with visual impairments.
Take the Next Step To ADA Compliance
Our robust accessibility platform combines innovative technology with industry-leading expertise to help you meet ADA compliance requirements. Start with a 7-day free trial of our automated accessibility widget or contact our sales team for streamlined solutions and services.
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