Lawsuits under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, based upon a company’s alleged failure to make its website accessible to the visually impaired or legally blind exploded in 2017 and 2018. In Gil v. Winn-Dixie, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 90204, the only known website accessibility case to actually go to trial, Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr. of the United States District Court…

The internet can be a hostile space for 15% of the world’s population who experience some form of disability. Try navigating a website as someone who is visually impaired: Turn on voice command on your computer (Command ⌘ + F5  if you’re on a Mac, enable Navigator if you’re on a PC) and go to Amazon’s Kindle store. You’ll quickly find out that those who rely on voice commands can’t skip…

The boutique Avanti Hotel is known for its poolside, dog-friendly rooms. Yet its website uses the valuable opening page not to highlight the Palm Springs inn’s amenities, but to explain, in stark black letters on a plain white background, that the Avanti violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. Like thousands of other businesses in the United States, the 10-room hotel on East Stevens Road has…

A business case is a necessary tool for organizations when planning for various initiatives. Whether an organization is commercial, educational, non-profit, or governmental, most require justification for dedicating resources such as money or effort in support of a specific organizational policy or goal. “Business” in this article refers to all types of organizations with the understanding that different aspects will be relevant depending on the…

Law360, Miami (October 4, 2018, 8:18 PM EDT) -- Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. urged the Eleventh Circuit on Thursday to reverse a June 2017 decision that found its website violated a blind customer's rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act and opened the floodgates for lawsuits against companies over website accessibility. Counsel for the Southern supermarket chain asserted during oral arguments in Miami that the trial…

Websites may constitute “public accommodations” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), according to one court. On June 12, 2017, in a case of first impression, a federal district court in Gil v. Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. held that a website that is heavily integrated with physical store locations and operates as “a gateway to the physical store locations” constitutes a service of a public accommodation covered by…