Websites still don’t provide equal access in 2020 — and lawsuits are increasing

guest · Sep 26, 2020

Websites still don’t provide equal access in 2020 — and lawsuits are increasing
September 26, 2020
https://venturebeat.com/2020/09/26/...l-access-in-2020-and-lawsuits-are-increasing/

The coronavirus outbreak caused a shift in the usage of digital devices. As people worldwide become heavily dependent on the internet for essential information, work, school, entertainment, and basic needs such as medication and groceries, it’s clearer than ever that digital inclusion is crucial.

Yet people with disabilities have struggled to stay informed, shop, and access critical services online due to text with low contrast and the confusion of filling out lengthy forms without labels — as well as a number of other barriers that make the web impossible for some people to use.
Countries around the world have enacted various non-discrimination and web accessibility laws prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, and transportation.
Click to expand...

Examples of these are the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508 in the United States, and the European Accessibility Act and EN 301 549 web directive in Europe.
Canada’s Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), for example, mandates that public and private organizations in Ontario make their web content accessible by January 1, 2021 or be fined up to $100,000 and $50,000 respectively every day.
The lawsuit trend in 2020?
For those that are not following lawsuit numbers, the rate of ADA-based web and app lawsuits jumped from 814 in 2017 to 2,258 in 2018, a 177% increase.
The majority of cases related to claims that websites do not work with screen reader software and lack captioning for videos on websites.

The most recent WebAIM research report confirmed that, through February 2020, violations were still rampant: 98.1% of the top 1,000,000 websites’ home pages had detectable WCAG 2.0 failures.
Click to expand...

Moving forward with web accessibility lawsuits
Although web accessibility has been an issue for many years, many businesses only become aware of the laws when they’re hit with a lawsuit. Trying to fend off a lawsuit by quickly making the website meet the WCAG 2.1 AA standard will be costly and may not work.

The real solution to accessibility compliance is taking the definitive initiative to comply with technical standards, determine accessibility via user testing and verification, and ensure ongoing compliance monitoring.
Click to expand...

Log in or Sign up

Websites still don’t provide equal access in 2020 — and lawsuits are increasing

guest Guest

Log in or Sign up

Websites still don’t provide equal access in 2020 — and lawsuits are increasing

guest Guest

Useful Searches