Receiving a demand letter alleging that your website is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) can be a daunting experience. Many business owners find themselves in this situation, so know that you’re not alone. Here’s a step-by-step guide to effectively address the situation.
Note: the recommended steps apply where the alleged violation is of the California Unruh Civil Rights Act, New York State Human Rights Law, or New York City Human Rights Law.
Table of Contents
Step 1: Consult an Experienced Defense Attorney
The first and most important step is to seek legal advice tailored to your specific case. While you might find general advice online or examples of similar demand letters, your situation will have unique aspects that require professional attention.
For instance, the law firm behind the demand letter or the plaintiff’s standing can significantly influence legal strategy and/or the ultimate settlement amount you’re willing to accept.
Defense attorneys familiar with this field can navigate these nuances, providing guidance on how to proceed, whether it’s settling the matter out of court or preparing for potential litigation.
Finding the Right Legal and Accessibility Advice
There are trusted attorneys and law firms specializing in this area, but some of the defense lawyers who do have experience in this field are more of a participant and may end up settling for higher amounts because they don’t put up as much resistance.
Step 2: Engage with a Reputable Accessibility Provider
The next step is to consult a reputable accessibility provider. This is crucial for reviewing the accessibility issues claimed in the demand letter. It’s beneficial to understand whether the alleged issues exist on your website and if they genuinely constitute a barrier to access.
This analysis is not just about identifying problems but also about informing your legal defense. For example, an issue might be more about optimizing the site rather than it being fundamentally inaccessible. This knowledge can potentially help you reduce your final settlement amount.
Step 3: Avoid Accessibility Widgets
Many people, in a bid to quickly resolve the issue, turn to accessibility overlay widgets. However, these “solutions” only make superficial changes and do not make your website ADA compliant. Avoid widgets, they’re a waste of money and do not make your website accessible or prevent lawsuits. Remember, genuine accessibility can’t result from an overlay.
Moreover, a trend emerging amongst more and more plaintiffs’ law firms is to target websites with an overlay widget installed.
Step 4: Audit and Remediate Your Website
We recommend fixing as many accessibility issues as you can, as fast as you can. Obviously, a good starting point is to fix the issues that were claimed by the plaintiffs’ lawyer.
Generally, three most commonly claimed issues are:
- missing alt text
- missing programmatic form field labels
- lack of keyboard navigability
And it’s always a best practice to get your WAVE automated scan errors down to zero.
Our ADA Compliance Course provides step-by-step instructions on how to find and fix the 15 most commonly claimed issues in ADA website lawsuits and we highly recommend starting here. With our course, you can immediately take action and improve your accessibility while lowering your risk of being sued again.
The next step is more expensive, but it’s also more thorough: conduct a comprehensive audit of your website followed by remediation. This process helps identify all accessibility issues and fix them. When fixing the more technical issues, you will need to work with someone who has a web development background.
Accessible.org offers both audit and remediation services and, once your website is fully WCAG 2.1 AA conformant, we can provide certification.
While WCAG conformance isn’t equivalent to ADA compliance, it’s a considered best practice and a very strong indicator that your website is accessible.
To learn more about the chronology and actions we recommend, read our 10 step ADA website checklist.
Step 5: Maintain Accessibility
After you’ve made your website fully WCAG 2.1 AA conformant, it’s crucial that your digital team doesn’t introduce new issues by adding content or making code edits.
This is, in part, why we created the WCAG Course. The WCAG course trains your team on all of the requirements of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and after taking the course, your team can implement the success criteria into their processes.
Step 6: Publish an Accessibility Statement
Finally, we recommend publishing an accessibility statement on your website. This can be done at any time but you can write a stronger accessibility statement after you’ve improved accessibility.
Although not explicitly required, an accessibility statement is considered a best practice and not having one can work against you in some instances.
Conclusion
Working through ADA compliance after receiving a demand letter can be overwhelming, but with the right approach, it’s manageable. Remember to consult experienced professionals, audit and remediate your website, and maintain ongoing accessibility practices. For further assistance, contact us.
ADA compliance effectively not only addresses an immediate legal concern but ensures access to your entire audience, including those with disabilities.
Resources
Learn how Accessible.org can help you through expert consultation, information, and services.
Training specific to website accessibility and ADA Compliance is available at ADACompliance.net.
