Can User-Generated Content Lead to an ADA Demand Letter?

There’s a decent chance that your site has some amount of user-generated content: forum posts, product reviews, and even user accounts can qualify. If you’ve got a fairly complex website, you might provide users with a considerable degree of control over the content they create — they might be able to change fonts, for example, or embed links.

But if you’re building a web accessibility initiative, that user-generated content might create a liability: Users are unlikely to follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the international standards for digital accessibility. They might use low-contrast text, link to sites with poor keyboard accessibility, or take other actions that impact experiences for users with disabilities.

To be clear, you’re unlikely to receive a demand letter under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or other non-discrimination laws if your only WCAG violation comes from user-generated content. However, you should still take reasonable actions to keep your entire site as accessible as possible. Here’s why. 

Do You Have a Legal Obligation to Fix User-Generated Content?

The ADA prohibits discrimination in places of public accommodation. While the law was written in 1990, the Department of Justice (DOJ) supports the interpretation that Title III of the ADA applies to websites.

If members of the public have access to your content, that content should be accessible. So, what about legal exposure? Could you face a lawsuit simply for allowing your users to contribute content? 

Here’s where we run into an issue — this blog cannot provide legal advice, and it’s fairly difficult to determine how courts would approach such a case. 

But we believe that a case involving user-generated content would pose some novel legal questions. A business could argue that allowing users to generate content is a fundamental feature of its website; WCAG contains a number of exceptions for essential functionality, and user-generated content could potentially qualify.

For that reason, you’re unlikely to receive a web accessibility demand letter if your website is fully accessible apart from user-generated content. 

Failing to provide a framework that supports accessibility could leave you more vulnerable, however — particularly if your website has other issues. If you fail to give your users the tools they need to keep their content accessible, a litigant could make the case that your site discriminates against users with disabilities.

Best Practices for Managing User-Generated Content

You cannot force every user to become an accessibility expert (and we wouldn’t want you to force accessibility into user workflows).

However, you can certainly design your platform to encourage inclusive practices. By standardizing how content is created and displayed, you can prevent some of the most serious accessibility barriers.

Here are a few tips for maintaining accessibility on platforms with user-generated content:

• Prompt users for alternative text. When users upload images, provide a field for alternative text (alt text). Missing alt text is a common failure that impacts users with vision disabilities. You can help your users by linking to resources like our guide on 5 Steps for Writing Alt Text for Accessibility.
• Ensure your input tools are keyboard accessible. Every interactive element — including the forms and buttons users engage with to post content — must be operable with a keyboard alone.
• Restrict styling options to ensure contrast. If users can change font colors, they may inadvertently choose combinations with low contrast, making text unreadable for people with low vision. If there’s no reason to give them that level of control, don’t do it. Note: You can test your site's palette using the Color Contrast Checker from AudioEye.
• Provide a mechanism for feedback. Your accessibility statement should allow users to report issues they encounter. If a specific piece of user-generated content is inaccessible, people can tell you (and you can fix it).
• Label form fields clearly. Without clear labels for fields like "Name" or "Comment," assistive technology users may not know what information to enter.

All of these tips are simply best practices for web content — and here, we’ll reiterate that WCAG does not require ridiculous levels of coding or special markup. The guidelines simply reinforce smart web authoring practices, which make content cleaner and easier to maintain.

Setting Reasonable Goals for Web Accessibility Compliance

If your website relies heavily on user-generated content, maintaining compliance can be a moving target. Content changes frequently, and maintaining an accessible environment requires regular testing. Considering that about 1 in 4 U.S. adults have a disability, accessibility is a worthwhile investment.

And while legal compliance is certainly important, the business benefits of accessible design are worth consideration. By building accessibility into your processes from the beginning, you create a more robust experience for all users.

If you are unsure if your user-generated content modules meet current standards, we can help. Contact the Bureau of Internet Accessibility to connect with an expert or get started with a free website accessibility analysis.