Appeals courts split on websites as 'places of public accommodation' under ADA

Over the last five years, an unceasing wave of lawsuits and demand letters alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has argued that failing to provide websites accessible to individuals with disabilities is a violation of the Act. Specifically, Title III of the ADA prohibits disability-based discrimination in places open to the public and requires companies to eliminate barriers to access.

Now, one of the first cases to address website accessibility is back in the spotlight. On April 7, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, issued an opinion holding "websites are not places of public accommodation under Title III of the ADA."

Facts

Juan Carlos Gil, who is blind, sued a Winn-Dixie grocery store in July 2016, alleging he couldn't use its website to refill his prescriptions or link online coupons to his store card because the site was incompatible with the screen-reading software he used. In the first-ever web-accessibility trial verdict, the court ruled in Gil's favor and required the grocery store chain to conform its website to Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA, a privately developed set of accessibility criteria.

In the years that have followed, thousands of website accessibility cases have been filed and mostly settled. An untold number of businesses have redeveloped their websites to conform to WCAG standards to prevent litigation.

11th Circuit splits from other courts