After reviewing a brief history of the ADA and the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) interpretation that Title III’s public accommodation accessibility requirements apply to websites, we look at DOJ’s approach to enforcing the ADA during the Biden Administration.  We also review recent ADA litigation trends, the 11th Circuit’s landmark Winn-Dixie decision and its likely impact on future ADA litigation, how businesses are approaching ADA compliance in the absence of clear DOJ guidance setting a technical accessibility standard, and the prospects for federal legislation that would create a safe harbor from litigation. … Continue Reading

On April 7, 2021, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Winn-Dixie Stores’ websites are not “public accommodations” and therefore are not subject to the accessibility requirements of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).  The decision reversed a 2017 federal district court opinion – in what may be the only website accessibility case to ever go to trial – that required the grocery store chain to make its website accessible to individuals with visual disabilities. … Continue Reading

While most websites of businesses, including banks and financial services providers, should be accessible to individuals with disabilities, questions exist as to how this requirement is enforced.  On September 25, 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a letter to a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in which it took the position that “noncompliance with a voluntary technical standard for website accessibility does not necessarily indicate noncompliance with the ADA.” … Continue Reading