Infinity Insights Infinity Dental Web
  • Infinity Dental Web
  • About Us
  • Portfolio & Case Studies
  • Websites
  • Ask for a Quote
  • Blog

Regulations

Americans with Disabilities and Dental Websites

Date: February 16, 2018
Category:
  • Regulations
Author: David Hall

In 1990, Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to protect people with disabilities from discrimination. Initially, the law was designed to address physical barriers. But, as is the case with many laws, expansive interpretations began to evolve, and courts are often only too willing to extend its impact. Today, many people believe the law should be interpreted to include any type of barrier to any product or service.

Enter the shakedown artist, an attorney in Texas, Omar Weaver Rosales. A couple of years ago he got together with a wheelchair-bound man, John Deutsch, on whose behalf he mailed out hundreds of threatening letters to businesses in Austin alleging various violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and demanding payments of from $3000 to $7000 each to settle. This type of activity has been pursued in a number of states around the country. But then Rosales added a new twist that got the attention of dentists and website developers. In late 2016, he decided to target healthcare providers across the state, including some dentists, this time asking for $2000 settlements alleging that their websites were not ADA compliant. (This information came from the website of an Austin TV station, KXAN. Those stories aren’t on their website any more.)

It might be some comfort that this lawyer has run into trouble with the courts for unethical behavior. A local TV station reported that Rosales had been slapped with $176,000 in penalties by the court for some of his behavior in relation to his threatened ADA lawsuits. So with a reputation like that, should we take his threats seriously? Some make the point that in the case of the threats over the websites, Mr. Rosales doesn’t have standing to sue—he is not a disabled person seeking services from the healthcare provider, nor does he represent such a person. The ADA requires that a plaintiff actually have experienced discrimination from the business, which did not occur with any of these health care providers. Additionally, the legal requirements for website ADA compliance aren’t clear, and no dentist has ever been successfully sued for a non-compliant website.

Let’s Get Some Background

To help us get answers, let’s look into some background information. As mentioned above, the law was originally designed to address physical barriers. Interpretations, however, have evolved to include other types of obstacles faced by people with disabilities. In 2010, the Department of Justice announced that it intended to develop rules that would apply accessibility standards to websites. Those rules, however, have still not been announced. Many people have been saying that the rules are expected in 2018. However, with the Trump administration putting the brakes on the issuance of new government regulations, that may not actually happen.

Meanwhile, does the Americans with Disabilities Act actually apply to websites? That’s an open question.

In 2017, a Federal district court in Florida ruled that the Winn-Dixie website violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and ordered the supermarket company to make it accessible to the blind. The grounds given were that the website was heavily integrated with the store’s physical locations, which made it subject to the ADA. But what if there is no such integration with a physical location? Several cases have been moving through the courts in the past year, and preliminary decisions by judges are divided. Some are holding that the website has to be an integral part of the business and tied to its physical location; others are saying that this isn’t necessary.

What Does ADA Compliance Mean for Websites?

The stock answer dentists will get from many website companies is that ADA compliance means that a website should conform to accessibility standards published by the World Wide Web Consortium. The latest edition, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, was published in 2008. WCAG 2.1 is due to be released in 2018. The problem with these guidelines is that they are not cut and dried. They are a list of principles that are subject to interpretation. And there are conflicts that need to be resolved. A feature that makes the site accessible for one disability may make the site more difficult for another.

Making a site accessible for the blind is fairly straightforward. But what about a mental disability that makes certain layouts or navigation structures confusing? What about a user with a limited field of vision—what accommodations need to be made for him? Timer features that are important for security purposes cause accessibility problems for other disabilities. And so forth. Add that to the basic question—does the law even apply to websites? There is not yet a clear set of rules that can be applied until Congress or the Department of Justice addresses the matter.

What Are the Penalties for Non-Compliance?

With a government-initiated complaint, the penalty for non-compliance with the ADA is $75,000 for the first violation and $150,000 for subsequent violations. However, in the case of a website, any government action is not going to happen until rules are issued. In the case of a lawsuit by a private party, there is no provision in the law for any monetary award for the plaintiff, though there is a provision for the awarding of legal fees. Supposedly this should remove the incentive for any disabled person to sue unless they have a legitimate grievance. We all know that shakedown artists have their ways of partnering with supposed victims to work around obstacles like this. But it should be helpful to know that monetary damages will not be huge.

So What Should You Do?

Here we need a disclaimer, since I’m not a lawyer and not in a position to give legal advice. But I have talked to the lawyers in my family, and the sense I get from them is that there isn’t currently a cut-and-dried answer to the question. If you have someone trying to scare you into purchasing their services to insulate you against an ADA-related lawsuit, be wary.

The likelihood of anyone winning an ADA-compliance lawsuit against you appears to be slim, regardless of the condition of your website. But if you have experience with the lawsuit business, you know that isn’t enough assurance. There is nothing stopping anyone from suing you, and it could be much cheaper to settle with them than to defend yourself in court. So the object appears to be to make yourself a less attractive target than the next website on the search results page.

Our recommendation at Infinity Dental Web is to be sure that you are compliant with certain accessibility standards that are fairly clear and widely recognized, and that should serve for making you a less-attractive target. First, have alt-text tags for images that will describe the image through reader devices used by the sight-impaired. Then, make sure videos have closed-captioning or transcripts available for the hearing impaired. If they are hosted on YouTube, they will provide the transcript for you. Finally, have a clear and easy-to-follow navigation structure.

And Then Do This, Too

Because of the vulnerability of businesses to shakedown artists, some states are enacting laws requiring a victim to make a complaint to the business first, giving the business a chance to correct any access problems. Only in the case of the accessibility not being corrected would they be allowed file a lawsuit. As dentists, we could ask our dental associations to encourage state legislatures to enact such laws.

(Visited 466 times, 1 visits today)
David Hall is the founder and president of Infinity Dental Web. He was a practicing dentist for many years and is an accredited member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.

Tags: ADA compliance, ADA lawsuits, ADA regulations, alt-text tag, Americans with Disabilities Act, Department of Justice, John Deutsch, Omar Weaver Rosales, shakedown, websites, Winn-Dixie

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Search Engine Optimization in 2023
  • David Hall listed in Who’s Who in America
  • An interview with ChatGPT
  • Review Bug Causes Google Reviews to Disappear
  • The Value of Social Media for a Dental Practice
  • How to Market Expensive Dentistry on the Internet
  • ADA Compliance Standards – How to Avoid a Lawsuit
  • What More Can I Do? Social Media and Your Marketing Plan

Search

Categories

  • Client News (98)
  • Company News (105)
  • Designs (14)
  • Feature Client (4)
  • Local Search (34)
  • Marketing (59)
  • Meet the Team (14)
  • Mobile Websites (13)
  • Regulations (2)
  • Reputation Management (19)
  • SEO (86)
  • Social Media for Dentists (83)
  • Tech Trends (46)
  • Uncategorized (9)
  • Video (8)
  • Website Design (2)

Archives

  • October 2023 (1)
  • June 2023 (1)
  • May 2023 (1)
  • November 2022 (1)
  • January 2022 (1)
  • May 2021 (1)
  • April 2021 (1)
  • December 2020 (1)
  • November 2020 (1)
  • September 2020 (1)
  • August 2020 (2)
  • July 2020 (1)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • May 2020 (6)
  • April 2020 (5)
  • March 2020 (3)
  • December 2019 (2)
  • October 2019 (2)
  • September 2019 (1)
  • July 2019 (1)
  • June 2019 (1)
  • May 2019 (1)
  • April 2019 (2)
  • March 2019 (1)
  • January 2019 (1)
  • October 2018 (1)
  • September 2018 (3)
  • August 2018 (3)
  • July 2018 (1)
  • May 2018 (1)
  • April 2018 (2)
  • March 2018 (3)
  • February 2018 (1)
  • January 2018 (1)
  • August 2017 (1)
  • July 2017 (1)
  • June 2017 (2)
  • May 2017 (2)
  • April 2017 (1)
  • January 2017 (2)
  • December 2016 (3)
  • November 2016 (1)
  • October 2016 (1)
  • August 2016 (1)
  • July 2016 (4)
  • June 2016 (2)
  • May 2016 (3)
  • April 2016 (1)
  • March 2016 (4)
  • February 2016 (5)
  • January 2016 (4)
  • December 2015 (7)
  • November 2015 (7)
  • October 2015 (6)
  • September 2015 (5)
  • August 2015 (4)
  • July 2015 (4)
  • June 2015 (10)
  • May 2015 (2)
  • April 2015 (1)
  • March 2015 (1)
  • February 2015 (4)
  • January 2015 (1)
  • December 2014 (5)
  • November 2014 (2)
  • October 2014 (6)
  • September 2014 (7)
  • August 2014 (2)
  • July 2014 (8)
  • June 2014 (5)
  • May 2014 (7)
  • April 2014 (4)
  • March 2014 (3)
  • February 2014 (3)
  • January 2014 (7)
  • December 2013 (6)
  • November 2013 (6)
  • October 2013 (6)
  • September 2013 (4)
  • August 2013 (5)
  • July 2013 (5)
  • June 2013 (7)
  • May 2013 (6)
  • April 2013 (4)
  • March 2013 (6)
  • February 2013 (9)
  • January 2013 (7)
  • December 2012 (11)
  • November 2012 (8)
  • October 2012 (5)
  • September 2012 (5)
  • August 2012 (7)
  • July 2012 (4)
  • June 2012 (6)
  • May 2012 (3)
  • April 2012 (5)
  • March 2012 (4)
  • February 2012 (5)
  • January 2012 (5)
  • December 2011 (5)
  • November 2011 (4)
  • October 2011 (4)
  • September 2011 (1)
  • August 2011 (6)
  • July 2011 (5)
  • June 2011 (6)
  • May 2011 (8)
  • April 2011 (9)
  • March 2011 (7)
  • February 2011 (8)
  • January 2011 (8)
  • December 2010 (9)
  • November 2010 (9)
  • October 2010 (9)
  • September 2010 (7)
  • August 2010 (10)
  • July 2010 (8)
  • June 2010 (5)
  • May 2010 (1)
  • April 2010 (4)
  • March 2010 (2)
  • February 2010 (1)
  • November 2009 (2)
  • October 2009 (7)

Tags

advertising American Dental Association Content Management System Websites content marketing cosmetic dentist dental marketing Dental SEO dental social media Dental Website Design Dental Websites Dentist dentists Facebook Facebook marketing general dentist general dentistry Google+ Google business listing Google Penguin update Google places Google Reviews Google Universal Search Great Dental Websites Infinity Dental Web Instagram Internet Internet Marketing LinkedIn local search marketing Mobile Websites online reviews Pinterest post SEO social Social Media Social Media for Dentists social network technology Twitter Web Yelp Yelp Reviews YouTube Channel
Infinity Dental Web Logo Icon

And now ...
let us grow your practice

BBB Accredited Business badge American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry Corporate Member badge

© 2009-2023 Infinity Dental Web Inc. IDW logo All rights reserved | Privacy Policy

Email address