Retailers and restaurants nationwide are taking notice of the new attention — and lawsuits — surrounding gift cards, and specifically whether they violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when they don't include Braille. As businesses prepare strategies for how to make those public accommodations accessible, they should stay mindful that gift cards that are bought and used electronically (eGift cards) have to be accessible to people with disabilities, too.

Web accessibility lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are proliferating, with thousands filed in just the last two years. However, many organizations seem to have adopted a “wait it out” strategy, expecting that they’ll deal with the question of accessibility if and when they receive an ADA demand letter.

Yet, businesses who wait to implement digital accessibility until after receiving an ADA demand letter may be both tempting fate and holding themselves back from achieving their full potential.

The Domino's accessibility case will not be heard by the Supreme Court of the United States, effectively upholding the Ninth Circuit opinion from earlier this year that says their website and app must be accessible. Plus, ten reasons the pizza company's strategy was a mistake.

As a business, you want to hire the best candidates for the job. However, you also want to emphasize accessibility within your organization without compromising your search for the top talent.

Fortunately, these two different motivations don’t have to be in conflict. By looking for people with the six traits below, you might improve your odds of hiring outstanding employees who also are a good fit for the pro-accessibility mindset.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are often referred to as the gold standard in accessibility and they are widely respected as providing the best path to accessibility compliance — but does the law actually require WCAG compliance?

It's that time of year and millions of students and their families across the country are getting ready for the new school year to begin. Back-to-school shopping, summer homework, and last-minute preparations can be difficult and stressful enough — and even more so when the websites and tools needed to do these things are not built to be accessible to people with disabilities.

Here are five accessibility reminders for back-to-school.

On July 30, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, joined by six other senators, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Barr asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to clarify how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to web sites. 

In order to be successfully adopted across the organization, accessibility can’t be limited to the lower rungs of the business — it needs to be supported by executives in the C-suite as well.

Here 8 of the most important things that executives need to know about accessibility.

Today the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) turns twenty-nine.

The ADA was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush on July 26, 1990. It was a monumental and pivotal moment in the course of history for disability rights.

Some businesses may wonder if their pockets are deep enough or there is enough value in making their sites and apps accessible, and genuinely have the question, "What if I can't afford accessibility?" Read more…

Deafness, hearing loss, and being hard of hearing are some of the most common disabilities in the U.S. and worldwide, yet there are still many misconceptions surrounding hearing disabilities — including that there are many different levels of hearing. Here are 8 facts about hearing impairment and how they relate to web accessibility.

The websites of twenty two presidential candidates for the 2020 election were tested for accessibility by the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind, and the results are in: "Not one website – Democrat or Republican – was fully accessible for a blind or visually impaired person to navigate."

With so much recent focus on web accessibility, you might find yourself wondering: is it actually just a fad?

A careful review of the evidence suggests that web accessibility is much more than a passing fad. Here are 4 reasons why web accessibility is here to stay.

If a customer were visiting you in your store and needed assistance with something, most likely they would ask. If a customer or potential customer is visiting your website and they can't do or find something because it isn't accessible, what are they going to do?

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are often called the most accepted and universal standards for web accessibility — but how widespread is WCAG really?

“Accessible travel” is the concept that all people — including people with vision, hearing, mobility, and cognitive impairments — should be able to do what they want to do and go where they want to go without facing unnecessary barriers, physical or digital, that prevent them from enjoying their travel and tourism experiences to the fullest capacity possible.

Much has been written and discussed about the accessibility of digital materials used in education, and as the concepts of web accessibility become more-commonly understood and applied, there should be more movement in that space in the not-so-distant future. Most people understand why it's critical for a student's success that they have access to the information and materials they need when they need them. What happens, though, when it isn't the student that faces accessibility barriers, but the parent or parents?

It can be tricky to keep track of rapid changes in accessibility perception, laws, and lawsuits, and to understand which laws apply to certain websites. So, do state and local government websites have to be accessible?

For companies in the retail industry, they should make sure to especially consider whether:

• Their online presence is tied to a physical location.
• Their e-commerce functions are accessible to people with disabilities.
• They are maximizing SEO and website traffic through accessibility.
• Their emails, social media, and landing pages are also accessible.
• They are reaching every customer they could or excluding people because of the inaccessibility of their website or app.

We believe that creating a separate website for people with disabilities is a form of segregation and can be discriminatory, and we advise against it unless there is absolutely no way around it. If you asking if you should have a separate accessible website, please also ask yourself these questions.

Creating accessible videos can drastically broaden their reach and usability. Unfortunately an often-overlooked part of video production, accessibility doesn't have to add significant time or cost, especially when considered from the beginning. Everyone benefits from accessible videos. Here are the steps to creating an accessible video.

The number of website accessibility lawsuits filed in federal court in 2018 was nearly triple the lawsuits from 2017. Learn why this is happening and where we think the number of lawsuits will land in 2019.

An Investment in Your Company and Your Customers

There is still a myth out there that creating digital experiences to be accessible or remediating for digital accessibility is a cost with little or no benefit. Usually fueling this belief are the questions of how many people accessibility actually helps and whether it is really necessary. Here are just a few of the reasons to flip the script and think of digital accessibility as an investment, not a cost.

Businesses that have a Letter of Reasonable Accessibility will be better-protected from accessibility lawsuits, according to the Bureau of Internet Accessibility (BoIA). BoIA clients who have opted into ongoing support will receive a Letter of Reasonable Accessibility that helps prove their accessibility compliance. Clients’ attorneys can quickly refer to and share the letter to help defend against web accessibility lawsuits.

The ADA applies to websites

Domino's website and app must be accessible, appeals court says

Ninth Circuit Court Appeals has reversed the lower court's dismissal of a web accessibility case against the pizza company. The court determined the ADA applies to websites and that just because the ADA doesn't specify WCAG-compliance, accessibility is still the law.