Hello, Very interesting article.
We all should also have law suits over digital accessibility in India. But i think we all tollarate inaccessibility alot. Only many of us discuss accessibility on some foram like Access India. Banking services, Academic services, Postal and currier services, E-commerce services, E-governance services etc. are very much inaccessible In India. We all should start activism and file cases against these organization. Regards On 10/27/21, Kanchan Pamnani <kanchanpamn...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Sorry don’t have the link but an interesting article for us. > > > > > Lawsuits Over Digital Accessibility for People With Disabilities Are Rising > > > New reliance on e-commerce and other digital experiences during the pandemic > has exposed problems with accessibility online, advocates say The number of > U.S. lawsuits alleging that websites, apps and digital videos were > inaccessible to people with disabilities rose 64% in the first half of 2021 > from a year earlier, a new report says. > > > Plaintiffs filed 1,661 lawsuits claiming digital violations of either the > federal Americans with Disabilities Act or California’s Unruh Civil Rights > Act between Jan. 1 and June 30, up from 1,012 in the comparable period of > 2020, according to the report > <https://f.hubspotusercontent30.net/hubfs/3280432/Remediated%20-%202021_MidYear_UsableNet_WebAccessibilityLawsuit_Report_FINAL_06292021%20(5).pdf> > by UsableNet Inc., a technology firm that offers accessibility-compliance > technology and services. > > Such lawsuits have risen steadily, to about 3,500 in 2020 from roughly 2,900 > in 2019 and about 2,300 in 2018, UsableNet said. The company predicts more > than 4,000 such lawsuits for all of 2021 if trends hold. > > E-commerce companies are sued most often, accounting for 74% of federal > cases between Jan. 1 and June 21, the report said. Rounding out the top five > categories were digital media and agencies, finance, food service and > healthcare, each accounting for less than 5% of the total. > > Companies with revenue below $50 million were the targets of two-thirds of > lawsuits between Jan. 1 and June 21, a shift from the year-earlier period, > when the share was less than half, UsableNet said. > > Consumers’ increased use of e-commerce and other digital experiences during > the Covid-19 pandemic heightened awareness of accessibility issues, but > advocates say many companies still don’t give priority to accessibility when > they design new products and features. > > A new decision in a case involving Domino’s Pizza LLC might encourage more > lawsuits, accessibility advocates say. Guillermo Robles, who is blind, sued > the pizza chain in 2016 after he was unable to order from its website using > his screen-reader software. In June, federal Judge Jesus Bernal ruled that > Domino’s site violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Unruh > Civil Rights Act, ordering the company to make its website accessible and > pay $4,000 to Mr. Robles. A Domino’s spokesman declined to comment. > > Companies such as International Business Machines > <https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/IBM> Corp. and Wix.com > <https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/WIX> Ltd. have tackled the problem > with accessibility checkers that automate the process > <https://www.wsj.com/articles/website-makers-tinker-with-tools-to-serve-blind-users-11621473692?mod=article_inline> > of finding potential problems for people with disabilities. And the startup > Evinced Inc., which looks for accessibility problems on websites using > artificial intelligence, raised $19.5 million in Series A funding in > February > <https://www.wsj.com/articles/evinced-a-web-accessibility-startup-raises-17-million-11612353609?mod=article_inline> > from investors including Microsoft > <https://www.wsj.com/market-data/quotes/MSFT> Corp. > > Accessibility advocates say these services can miss errors, however, or > inadvertently cause additional problems, by incorrectly describing an image, > for example. > > Ambiguity is a challenge. Unlike accessibility regulations for the physical > world, there is no clear framework for violations on the internet, said > Jason Taylor, chief innovation strategist at UsableNet. Companies can end up > being sued over accessibility despite their efforts, said Peter Shapiro, > partner and Northeast regional vice-chair of labor and employment practice > at law firm Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP. > > “The current situation is very perilous for businesses—they don’t know > whether they comply, no matter how much they expand and resources they > devote to trying to be compliant,” Mr. Shapiro said. > > And litigation isn’t always the best approach, some advocates say. > > The lawsuits can sometimes force organizations to recognize the importance > of digital accessibility, said Lainey Feingold, a disability-rights lawyer > and author. But they often result in confidential settlements, without > transparency into the defendants’ plans to become more accessible, she > said. > > “Digital inclusion is about including disabled people in the digital world, > and it is so vital for participation, diversity, civil rights,” Ms. Feingold > said. “Funneling it into a question of is-it-legal compliance really gets > away from that.” > > Companies should focus on accessibility from the start, said Samuel Proulx, > who is blind and works as an accessibility evangelist at Fable Tech Labs > Inc., an accessibility-testing platform. > > “It is much easier to have accessible processes from the outset and not be > doing all these high-cost remediations,” he said. > > > > -- > This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. > https://www.avg.com > > -- > Disclaimer: > 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the > person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; > > 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails > sent through this mailing list.. > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "AccessIndia" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to accessindia+unsubscr...@accessindia.org.in. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/a/accessindia.org.in/d/msgid/accessindia/00d201d7cb17%2446770310%24d3650930%24%40gmail.com. > -- Dhananjay Bhole, Accessibility evangelist, Cell: +919850123212 Website: http://www.sites.google.com/site/dhananjaybhole -- Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list.. 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