We previously reported on Emanuel Delacruz, a visually impaired serial plaintiff who, to date, has filed 163 website accessibility lawsuits, 30 of which were filed against colleges and universities. Leshawn Young, a relatively new serial plaintiff on the scene, has filed 41 website accessibility lawsuits, including eight lawsuits against colleges and universities since November 14, 2023. Both Delacruz and Young are represented by Gottlieb & Associates, which has filed more than 1,700 similar lawsuits.
These boilerplate lawsuits generally allege that the websites are inaccessible to visually impaired individuals who use screen-reading software, thus denying them full and equal access to the goods or services offered on the websites.
As we have reported on numerous occasions, both state and federal lawmakers have taken steps in recent years to curb website accessibility lawsuits; however, to date, no legislation has been passed. In the absence of legislation or regulations promulgated by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), we recommend that businesses operating a website, mobile application, or both take steps to ensure that these online systems are accessible to users with disabilities and otherwise comply with federal, state, and local disability laws in accordance with DOJ guidance issued in March 2022.
With respect to colleges and universities, it should be noted, as we previously reported, that the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) launched a “technical assistance initiative to assists schools, districts, state education agencies, libraries, colleges, and universities in making their websites and online programs accessible to individuals with disabilities.” The OCR provided a short webinar on online education and website accessibility, which is available here.
On a related front, the DOJ recently submitted for publication in the Federal Register a notice of rulemaking under Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) that aims to improve access to websites and mobile applications for people with disabilities by creating a minimum standard for state and local governments to meet existing ADA obligations.
In the unfortunate event you are served with one of these website accessibility lawsuits, please do not hesitate to contact the attorneys at Barclay Damon. We will continue to monitor the development of these cases.
If you have any questions regarding the content of this alert, please contact Rob Thorpe, partner, at rthorpe@barclaydamon.com; Buster Melvin, Higher Education Team co-leader, at emelvin@barclaydamon.com; or another member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Practice Area or Higher Education Team.
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