Website Accessability Standards On Hold, But Lawsuits Aren’t

The Department of Justice has delayed its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding state and local government websites accessibility for persons with disabilities, which falls under Title 2 of the Americans with Disabilities Act. While this doesn’t directly address business website accessibility standards (which are covered under Title III), it likely presages a delay in those standards even beyond the previously expected 2018 date, according to a post from Epstein Becker & Green. Meanwhile – and without guidance – businesses are having to grapple with a “wave of website accessibility demand letters and lawsuits commenced on behalf of private plaintiffs and advocacy groups.” Most of these cases focus on desktop websites, but many businesses expect the next target for plaintiffs and advocacy groups will be mobile websites and applications.