Home » Lack Of Website Accessibility Regulations Is No Bar To Suit, Another Judge Affirms
Lack Of Website Accessibility Regulations Is No Bar To Suit, Another Judge Affirms
By Minh N. Vu on February 26, 2016
Posted in Department of Justice, Lawsuits, Investigations & Settlements, Legislative/Regulatory Actions, Title III Access, Website
There is more bad news for businesses that thought that they could wait for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to issue specific regulations before making their websites accessible to individuals with disabilities. Federal Magistrate Judge Robertson in the District of Massachusetts recently denied motions by Harvard and MIT to dismiss or stay website accessibility class action lawsuits, and recommended that the lawsuits move forward to discovery. The judge found that the existing law and regulations provide a basis for the deaf advocates’ claim that the universities violated Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act by failing to provide closed captioning for thousands of videos on their websites. The judge rejected the universities’ arguments that the court dismiss or stay the case while DOJ works on its proposed rules for website accessibility, finding that the court did not need the agency’s expertise to adjudicate the cases. The [...]