3 Truths I Know About Accessibility That Are Not Impacted or Decided by Courts or Rules
Casey Naiduk, Head of Content and Experience
Last month, the world of digital accessibility got a little more confusing for a lot of people. The landmark ruling in Gil v. Winn-Dixie — that four years ago established a strong precedent that websites are places of public accommodation and that the plaintiff's ADA Title III rights had been violated due to the website's lack of screen reader compatibility — was reversed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
While my personal view is that the decision won't have widespread impact outside of the Eleventh Circuit's area (and may even become complicated as the reigning precedent within the Eleventh Circuit if there is movement on answering this question by the Biden DOJ or otherwise), I understand fully why businesses might be scratching their heads at how this impacts their legal obligations to customers with disabilities.
I'd like to remind everyone that accessibility isn't exclusively a legal question decided by courts, and I encourage business owners and everyone else to consider what I feel are unwavering truths to that end.
Accessible products are better products.
The free market will gravitate ultimately toward accessible products.
Accessibility fails can be embarrassing, hard to recover from, and can almost always be avoided.
Accessibility Blog
5 Mistakes to Avoid in Your Organization's Accessibility Strategy
Even decades after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), individuals with disabilities continue to face numerous challenges. Sometimes wrong or misleading information about accessibility can be worse than the...
Improving the Hiring Process for Autistic Candidates
Navigating the job market is difficult for everyone, but it is especially challenging for autistic people. The employment process can pose many barriers to this community, even before they apply. Luckily, employers can make a few small...
Making a website or mobile app accessible allows your organization to reach and interact with more people, including those with disabilities. Search engine optimization (SEO) — the practice of increasing the traffic to a site from...
How Microsoft’s Chief Accessibility Officer Does Her Job
The Wall Street Journal: Microsoft Corp. last week announced steps it plans to take in the next five years to improve accessibility to people with disabilities, promising to ramp up its development of related technology, create opportunities for more of them to enter...
Disabled Wisconsin lawmaker asks to participate remotely
The Telegraph: A disabled Democratic lawmaker has asked Assembly Republicans to allow him to participate in floor sessions remotely, much like the accommodations sometimes used during the coronavirus pandemic.
Climate Change Solutions Must Include People with Disabilities
Just Security: When natural disasters and other emergencies hit, resources become scarce, and, too often, people with disabilities cannot access them. As global warming continues to drive up temperatures and sea levels around the world, discussions of climate...
