Retailers Seek Clarity on ADA Compliance

In recent years, consumers with disabilities have increasingly filed lawsuits alleging that retailers’ online stores discriminate against them. Let’s take a look at what’s going on and why it matters.

Retailers in the U.S. must abide by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a civil rights bill that, among other things, prohibits retailers from denying customers with disabilities access to stores or products.

Why it’s coming up now: In June, Domino’s petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case stemming from a 2016 lawsuit filed by a blind customer who claimed he was unable to order through Domino’s website or app. On Tuesday, the National Retail Federation and the Retail Litigation Center filed an amicus brief nudging the Supreme Court to hear the case.

It’s one case, but it could redefine ADA parameters in the golden age of e-commerce.

Retailers say that a broad application of the ADA opens them up to more lawsuits. The ADA became law in 1990, long before online shopping became ubiquitous. So while retailers could accommodate customers with disabilities in-store, they didn’t build out their websites with ADA-compliant features like screen-readers for blind customers.

That’s caught up with them. Customers filed more than 2,250 federal lawsuits over website accessibility in 2018 alone.

• H&M, Lacoste, Coach, Gucci, Urban Outfitters, Tory Burch, Louis Vuitton, New Balance, Nike, and J.Crew are just a small sample of retailers that have been hit with ADA compliance lawsuits.
• Many of these cases have been settled outside of court, resulting in companies paying a settlement and hiring contractors to install screen-reading software.

Disability advocates argue ADA compliance is better for business. Per CDC data, 61 million adults in the U.S. have some form of disability, and they’re estimated to have over $490 billion in disposable income.