Americans with Disabilities Act-based lawsuits and demand letters are growing against companies over website access for disabled users.
Any company with a web presence is at risk of being swept up in this wave of lawsuits, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars to settle, in addition to lawyers’ fees and other court costs.
Worse yet, many companies have lately been receiving multiple ADA-based suits, with one targeting the website and the second a mobile app.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, websites are considered places of public accommodation under Title III of the ADA, meaning that they have to be accessible to disabled persons, just like a retailer or restaurant.
The number of ADA website access lawsuits filed in the United States increased 75% between 2018 and 2022 to a yearly average of 4,066 — or about 80 cases a week — according to the “2022 ADA Lawsuit Report: Insights for Business Leaders” by UsableNet, a company that helps firms make their websites accessible.
According to estimates, settling a web accessibility lawsuit for a small business can cost $25,000, including the costs of accessibility remediation, your and plaintiff’s legal fees.
These lawsuits target both large and small companies alike and more than 25% are not e-commerce companies, but in a variety of industries. The common denominator is that they have a website, according to the report. Website Accessibility Suits Grow