Is the Digital Accessibility Storm Almost Over?

Shira M. Blank, Rachel M. DiBenedetto, and Joshua A. Stein, attorneys in the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practice, in the firm’s New York office, co-authored an article in Law360, titled “Is the Digital Accessibility Storm Almost Over?” (Read the full version – subscription required.)

Following is an excerpt (see below to download the full version in PDF format):

Though the sunnier summer season is on its way, people charged with keeping tabs on the digital accessibility legal landscape might still feel they're under a constant storm warning. For close to a decade now, a dark cloud has hovered over private businesses that — in the absence of clear regulations or uniformity among courts — have faced a relentless deluge of demand letters and lawsuits from the plaintiffs bar.

Even businesses that have followed best practices and strived to offer digital access in substantial conformance with the most current version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG, now version 2.2, at Levels A and AA, have often been caught in the storm.

While we are still seeing website accessibility lawsuits being filed on a daily basis in a number of jurisdictions under the Americans with Disabilities Act and equivalent state and city laws, there are finally changes in the air that suggest that sooner than later, the storm may end, the clouds will part and a ray of sunlight will emerge.

To help you cut through all the recent developments and focus on the key takeaways to help you stay dry, we address businesses' most pressing questions about the legal landscape, with an eye toward what they might expect going forward.