Plaintiff’s attorneys have increasingly sued companies alleging their websites fail to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), California Unruh Civil Rights Act, and similar state laws that prohibit discrimination against disabled individuals. The justification of these lawsuits is that companies with websites that do not allow those with disabilities to use and enjoy the website are engaging in unlawful discrimination. While the law remains unsettled in this area (e.g., there is disagreement over the “standard for accessibility” and which companies may be obligated to have accessible websites), judges are increasingly enforcing anti-discrimination laws against companies that do not have accessible websites. The cost of non-compliance can be staggering, costing companies exponentially more than had the company just made their website accessible.
