ADA in the Courts
This will be a very quick post, but one that relates to something that I am very interested in, which is the enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Today a federal court in the United States ruled that paper money, such as one and five dollar bills, are not compliant with the ADA. While the issue has yet to make it to other courts, and the ruling will probably be appealed, it's an important ruling that ties into some of the other ADA issues that I have been following.
First off all, an explanation. The ruling has to do with the fact that if you are a blind American, there is really no way for you to determine the difference between a one dollar bill or a one hundred dollar bill. It seems like such a fickle thing, but since the government is required to make accommodations for Americans with disabilities, it makes sense that it came to light. I'm sure that there are opinions out there on both sides of this one (passionate, irate opinions), but my primary focus is on the laws as they stand today.
So how does all of this relate to ecommerce and the Internet? Well, it doesn't directly. However, it is another in a string of legal precedents that did not exist before based on enforcement of the ADA. I'm not sure exactly how or why much of this is coming to play right now, but I assume that since so much time has passed since the grace period to become ADA compliant has expired, there is a string of lawsuits being filed. As with most things in America, I imagine that there are a lot of legitimate lawsuits being filed based on discrimination. However, I also imagine that there is a lot of profiteering going on here as well, which seems to polarize people on the issue.
Connect the dots, and we have some interesting rulings that related to all business owners. One is the class action lawsuit against Target because their website is not (was not) meeting accessibility requirements. Another is this ruling about American currency, which is another pretty big precedent. Put together, and my opinion is that ADA compliance is something that all business owners need to be serious about.
Maybe I am wrong here, as I don't fully agree with all of the accessibility standards for the Internet, but it seems like if a court ruled that our national paper currency is not accessible, there is very little room to argue if you website is not compliant, and by the time it comes up, it's probably too late.
