ADA (American Disability Act) Website Compliance Lawsuits — Legit or Nuisance Scam?

[DrWojo]

Just curious if MN participants have had any experience with the title of this thread and how to deal with it. It starts with an email like this:

URGENT _ YOU Are Being Sued - Please Respond

Hello,

This email is to notify you that you are
being sued because your website is NOT
ADA Compliant (American Disabilities Act)

This is NOT a joke or SCAM. Respond Here:

Then it gives a link that redirects to this sales pitch:

ATTENTION All Businesses With A Website
After receiving thousands of complaints from disabled
people, the Federal Courts are coming down hard on
website owners whose sites are NOT ADA Compliant.
( Americans with Disabilities Act )
Please, do NOT ignore this problem. Failure to address
this issue will result in you paying fines and legal
costs ranging from $15,000 to $50,000.
Lawyers throughout the country have hired thousands
of people just to scan the Internet looking for sites
that are not ADA Compliant. When they find one, the
lawyers issue a lawsuit with no warning.
It’s only a matter of time until they find you.
The video below explains what this is all about.

Here is what you must do
1 – Contact your webmaster to correct this problem.
2 – DO NOT Attempt to correct this problem yourself
unless you are qualified. You will be held responsible.
DO NOT use a plugin. Some plugins are good but they
will not fully secure your website.
We Can Help
If you do not have a webmaster or the
usual $1600 charged by outside sources,
we recommend RMS Media.
RMS Media is a world known and respected
webmaster with over 15 years experience.
RMS Media has contracted with us to assist
you in updating your website at a reduced
rate. We strongly recommend using their
service.
Send all questions and/or comments to:
bob.sikorski@marketingbiztips.com
One time charge of $695.00

The first thing that entered my mind after reading this is if these visually handicapped individuals ever decide to sue an automobile dealer for not selling them an automobile and allowing them to drive it onto public highways, I wonder if our court justices would have the sense to rule in favor of protecting the safety of the public, or are they so busy wearing their black robes and scaring white people that they want to continue to rule in favor of the minorities? Or, as asked in the thread title, is this phenomenon a legit threat and how can businesses protect themselves and know their websites won’t become a nightmare because of some nuisance lawsuit?

[JimFoxvog]

This email sounds like a scam.

However, companies of over 20 employees are subject to the ADA rules. It is a good courtesy to do what is requested anyway; to have a website with adequate alt texts for images and a way to navigate the site without using the images.

The free W3C validator, that is good to use anyway, will point out problems.https://validator.w3.org/

[mike]

It looks like there is some truth to the fact that companies are being sued for websites not being ADA compliant, although there is apparently no government standard for ADA compliant websites. https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi- ... story.html

However it is highly unlikely. This email is clearly nothing more than a marketing scheme to sell web design services.

[Robert]

If I received that, I would consider it a scam and delete it. If I was not in ADA compliance and if it was an issue with the federal government, they would be contacting me directly, not some email from a third party.

Same as the IRS scams out there. The government would be mailing you a letter directly using US government headers and envelopes, not some email, call, or third party letter.

[RZehr]

Scam

[knotdust]

This one may be a scam. However, I just received a mailing from an employment poster organization that had a newsletter in about relevant cases.

Domino's Pizza just lost an appeal to the U.S. Supreme court on this very issue(Oct 7, 2019). They were sued by a man who is blind. He couldn't order a pizza with his phone. The company's website did not work with his screen reader software.

The verdict was that since Domino's is a place of public accommodations they are required under ADA law to provide auxiliary aids and services. Domino's visual material must be accessible to visually impaired customers through screen reading software.

So if you are a business with a website then beware. According to the same article there were more than 10,000 ADA lawsuits filed with more to come.

In the interest of full disclosure the company I was using seems to be using scare tactics to extract many $$$ from employers for the postings. I have a whole wall in our church utility room taken up with their posters that they claim we are required to post. (Ladder safety, First Aid, No Smoking etc, etc) I have found a different company who will sell us the required state and federal posters for considerably less. I have no problem with some of the safety posters but the price they charge is exorbitant.

[Bootstrap]

This email sounds like a scam.

However, companies of over 20 employees are subject to the ADA rules. It is a good courtesy to do what is requested anyway; to have a website with adequate alt texts for images and a way to navigate the site without using the images.

The free W3C validator, that is good to use anyway, will point out problems.https://validator.w3.org/

I agree. It's a scam.

I agree. Trying to be accessible is good. And if someone points out accessibility problems on your website, fix them. Problem solved.

[ohio jones]

In the interest of full disclosure the company I was using seems to be using scare tactics to extract many $$$ from employers for the postings. I have a whole wall in our church utility room taken up with their posters that they claim we are required to post. (Ladder safety, First Aid, No Smoking etc, etc) I have found a different company who will sell us the required state and federal posters for considerably less. I have no problem with some of the safety posters but the price they charge is exorbitant.

If you want to pay for the convenience of having all the posters assembled for you that's fine, but they can be downloaded and printed out without charge from the website of the agency making the requirement.

[knotdust]

I had been using company A at $75/year to provide us the required posters but somehow got switched over to company B at over $400/year.

When you try to cancel they give you this hard sell song and dance, how they have legal staff to defend you if you are sued.

The last time I got a call from them I read them the riot act (kindly but firmly) telling them I wanted no more of their mailings, phone calls or posters . I had found the required items elsewhere at a much less expensive price.

Company A sent me what is required by Federal and State law in one little mailing tube. I have no problem posting some safety posters like ladder safety, chemical safety, etc but we don't need new fancy posters every year to paper our utility room wall. Company B's posters are very large.