ADA Website Lawsuits - Whats the Deal?

In this episode, John Di Giacomo and Eric Misterovich dive into the issues surrounding lawsuits over the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and ecommerce websites.IntroWorld of scammy lawsuits is nothing new, but there is a popular trend impacting ecomm store owners: lawsuits claiming websites are not ADA compliant for the visually impairedBefore we dive into this topic, let’s visit the history of shitty lawsuits attorneys/companies file in the online spacecopyright trollsstock photo companies looking for unauthorized usesFreeplay musicConfusing on what license you actually have / synch licensebit torrent lawsuits on pornPrenda Lawthe CD CA called it a :porno-trolling collective” whose business model relied “on deception” and resembled a racketeering enterprisethey basically uploaded porn to bit torrent networks then threatened to sue anyone that downloaded it, or that had their IP address implicatedthere was no real plaintiffthreatened public exposure of the Ds downloading porn and would settle for $4,000, or a bit less than the price of defensealways one named defendant that was basically in on itSteele got 5 yearsHansmeier got 14 yearsAlways looking for a quick settlementADA LawsuitsADA/state law, in general, says that all persons are entitled to full and equal accommodations in all business establishments”These all follow a relatively similar patternA plaintiff files suit on behalf of a class arguing that the defendants website cannot be operated by the plaintiff, who is visually impairedThey ask for an extreme amount of money, $30-50,000But they are willing to settle for far less, often times under 10,000 What do these plaintiff have to prove?These plaintiffs must have “bona fide intent” to use the D’s servicesThis leads to some ridiculous examples of blind people wanting to buy guns, cars, etcThere was also a defense as to whether the ADA applied to online businesses, or whether a “brick and mortar” store only fell within the ADA’s “public accommodation” languageThis used to be somewhat up in the airBut in August 2022, a CA COA ruled that the CA ADA law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, did not apply to websites.This practically killed ADA cases in CA, but not in other states (NY, PA, etc). What should store owners doWCAG 2.1 standardsPeople can use screen readers and obtain a phone number to callContrast in textNot ignore lawsuits