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DOJ Letter Comments on ADA Website Compliance Flexibility
Practical Law Legal Update w-017-0943 (Approx. 3 pages)
DOJ Letter Comments on ADA Website Compliance Flexibility
by Practical Law Commercial Transactions
| Published on 18 Oct 2018 • USA (National/Federal) |
Assistant Attorney General Stephen E. Boyd comments on the United States Department of Justice's (DOJ) position on Americans with Disabilities (ADA) website compliance in a letter addressed to U.S. House Representative Ted Budd, which states that places of public accommodation have flexibility in how they apply the ADA's general requirements to their websites. The DOJ sent the letter in response to an earlier letter sent by a bi-partisan group of House members that asked the DOJ to state publicly that private legal action in response to alleged ADA website compliance violates basic principles of due process.
On September 25, 2018, Assistant Attorney General Stephen E. Boyd for the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a letter to U.S. House Representative Ted Budd in response to a June letter submitted to the DOJ by a bi-partisan group of House Representatives. The bi-partisan group urged the DOJ to:
"state publicly that private legal action under the [Americans with Disabilities Act] ADA with respect to websites is unfair and violates basic due process principles in the absence of clear statutory authority and issuance by the department of a finale rule establishing website accessibility standards."
Boyd's letter does not specifically address their concerns, however, it does reiterate the DOJ's stance: the ADA applies to websites for organizations that qualify as public accommodations.
Flexibility Complying with ADA Requirements
Boyd's letter further states that the DOJ takes the position that the absence of specific regulation does not serve as a basis for noncompliance with a statute's requirements. Until formal regulation that outlines the specific technical requirements for websites has been adopted, the letter clarifies that places of public accommodation have flexibility in how they choose to comply with the ADA's general requirements of nondiscrimination and effective communication.
Unless and until such formal policy becomes law, courts and regulators will likely continue to cite the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as the standard for ADA compliance (for more information, see Practice Note, Avoiding Pitfalls in Online Sales to Consumers: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 and 2.1). Boyd's letter does not specifically mention the WCAG but does state that "noncompliance with a voluntary technical standard for website accessibility does not necessarily indicate noncompliance with the ADA." Boyd's statements may have an effect on how the courts rule on website accessibility, as recent court decisions have often relied heavily on the WCAG standards (see Legal Update, Southern District of Florida Holds Winn-Dixie's Website Is Subject to the ADA).
For more information on ADA website accessibility standards, see Legal Update, Is Your Website ADA Compliant?