How to Avoid Getting Sued Over Your Website

Since 2017 there has been a 300% year over year increase in lawsuits and demand letters hitting businesses of all sizes and industries.

What does that mean? If your website is not accessible to people with disabilities, you can get sued for 5 or more figures.

Until recently there was no reasonable option for anyone other than the largest enterprise companies to make websites accessible.

We have now partnered with Accessibe to provide you with the option to make your website accessible easily and affordably.

We’d love to find 15 minutes to discuss this and provide a plan of action as soon as possible.

Recent Cases Against Small Businesses

Recently a small shoe store in Clearwater, FL was involved in a lawsuit. They are a Mom & Pop shop and this hits home for me… A small business trying to do everything they can to expand their business and make a little more by having a website gets hit with a lawsuit that could cost them $10-$20k. We really enjoy the small businesses that we get to work with and want to help assist you in being compliant.

In 2018 there were 10,163 federal cases RE: ADA & websites.  Source: https://www.adatitleiii.com/2019/01/number-ofada-title-iii-lawsuits-filed-in-2018-tops-10000/ 

The Avanti Hotel in Palm Springs got hit with a lawsuit and the plaintiff is looking for $13k in damages. This $13k is in addition to the hotel making the needed changes to the website. The hotel’s lawyer said that it would cost upwards of $25k in damages, plus lawyer fees if they fight the suit and lose.

What is Accessible?

Technically speaking, accessibility is defined by the requirements laid out by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and it’s often conflated with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Non-technically, it’s giving someone with a disability, like limited or no sight or hearing, the ability to experience all elements of your website. For example, someone without sight is not able to see images or form fields on your website, so they need alternative text to inform as to the content of each image. Someone without hearing cannot listen to a narrated video, so they need captions.

How We Evaluate Accessibility

To determine whether a site is accessible, we use a checklist called the Web Content  Accessibility Guidelines 2.1, or WCAG, created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). They have three levels: A, AA, and AAA. As of this writing, to be considered accessible, a website has to meet WCAG 2.1 AA.

How Bad is it?

Most non-governmental websites are *not* completely accessible. In a sense, any website that does not meet the criteria for a compliant website could be a target. In fact, in most cases, unless “Section 508 compliance” was listed as a project requirement, most websites out there are not compliant, and therefore a potential target.

Solving Accessibility Issues

We have found a really great website drop-in that practically instantly brings a site into compliance with Section 508. Where we used to have to manually monitor a site, then manually fix all issues, then manually recheck a site periodically, we can now use this drop-in to handle it all.

Most sites cost only $490/year for the drop-in, and we can have it installed in minutes. If you want to check it out for yourself check out the Accessibe website.

When you are ready just give us a call at 772-266-3226

Why We Chose Accessibe Over the Competition

There are a few good choices out there for web accessibility. You can have it managed, which is is resource-heavy and costly. We opted for the plugin tools because it helps to keep cost down.

We found the two best options to be Accessibe and UserWay. Both are priced the same at $490/year or $49/month. Accessible provides 100% compliance and a certificate. UserWay only provides 90% compliance. To get 100% compliance and certificate you have to upgrade to their managed plan. The choice is clear – Accessibe is the best tool to get your site compliant.

Keep The Lawsuits  Away for Just over a Dollar a Day

When you are ready just give us a call at 772-266-3226