At the beginning of this year, we warned that there would be an uptick in American with Disabilities Act litigation related to website accessibility this year in a post entitled Does My Website Need to be ADA Compliant?  The answer then was “most likely yes.” Now, the adverse litigation results are start to come in.

According to this post from Syefarth Shaw’s Kristina Launey: “A First: California Court Rules Retailer’s Inaccessible Website Violates ADA“, a California court held recently that a retailer violated the act because it lacked access for the vision-impaired. This was a first in the nation determination regarding ADA applicability to a retail site.

The court granted a summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff on the application of the ADA because (1) there was “sufficient evidence that he was denied full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, privileges, and accommodations offered by defendant [via its website] because of his disability”; and (2) there was a sufficient nexus to defendant’s physical retail store and the website.

The statutory penalty was only $4,000 and there is an injunction in place to force the store to become compliant. The real pain to the defendant is coming because the store is liable for the plaintiff’s attorneys’ fee in an amount to be determined.

This should motivate you to look into whether you need to be compliant and whether you are. Go back and read ADA our post from January or find additional information here.