New DOJ guidance on ADA web accessibility leaves unanswered questions

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently published web accessibility guidance under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities and guarantees they will have the same ability as everyone else to enjoy opportunities, goods, and services. Although the guidance establishes the DOJ’s intentions to ensure websites are accessible to all, it leaves several unanswered questions on exactly how businesses and governments can comply with the ADA.

Circuit split

Courts around the country have come to conflicting decisions about whether the ADA applies to website accessibility. Courts in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (covering California and most other western states) held Domino’s violated the Act because its website and “app” weren’t fully accessible to visually impaired users. The court found the ADA applies when those websites and apps facilitate access to the goods and services of a place of public accommodation.

The 11th Circuit (which covers Alabama, Florida, and Georgia), by contrast, has held websites aren’t subject to the ADA as understood by the plain language of the statute. The court dismissed a visually impaired customer’s claims against a supermarket that its website didn’t have compatible screen-reader software in violation of the Act.