Disability Accessibility to Digital Media

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Lawsuits Over Digital Accessibility for People With Disabilities Are Rising

By Ann-MarieAlcntara| July 15, 2021Plaintiffs filed 1,661 lawsuits in the first half of 2021 (a 64 percent increase from last year) claiming digital violations of either the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or California'sUnruhCivil Rights Act, alleging websites,apps, and digital videos are inaccessible to people with disabilities. E-commerce companies are sued most often, accounting for 74 percent of federal cases. Ambiguity is a challenge for business compliance. Unlike accessibility regulations for the physical world, there is no clear framework for violations on theinternet. The lawsuits often result in confidential settlements, without transparency into the defendants' plans to become more accessible.

Questions:

• What are the facts of the lawsuits featured in the article?
• What is the ADA? What does it require and what does it prohibit? How could the ADA apply to the situations described in the article?
• What challenges do businesses face when attempting to comply with the accessibility requirements? What could regulators and legislators do to help businesses comply with the requirements?