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Re: Website dev questions (was ISO: Other developers)

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From: Steve Green
Date: Oct 10, 2018 11:11AM

We have been involved in two legal cases in the US this year. Our experience is that while a small proportion of cases are genuine, the vast majority are not - they are just lawyers taking advantage of the system to make a stack of cash. Neither of our clients' cases were genuine.

As such, once a plaintiff files a case it becomes a game and all the advice we usually give no longer applies. In all probability the plaintiff is looking for a quick pay-out, and their strategy is to throw a ton of crap at you in the hope of a quick out-of-court settlement. Despite what they say, the last thing they want is for you to actually fix everything, so it's not worth even trying unless you can do so very rapidly, by which I mean a couple of weeks. In the longer term, all the usual advice still applies so you don't get sued again.

Steve Green
Managing Director
Test Partners Ltd


-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Jonathan Avila
Sent: 10 October 2018 17:29
To: <EMAIL REMOVED> ; WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Website dev questions (was ISO: Other developers)

The US DOJ recently sent a letter to members of congress indicating:
* Broadly the DOJ sees websites as being covered under the ADA
* Failure of following WCAG 2 A/AA is not necessarily non-conformance under the ADA-- there is no defined web accessibility standard including WCAG 2 under the ADA that is mandated to achieve or determine conformance -- fundamentally the determining factor is access by people with disabilities to the goods, services, and benefits through some method including alternatives.
https://www.adatitleiii.com/2018/10/doj-says-failure-to-comply-with-web-accessibility-guidelines-is-not-necessarily-a-violation-of-the-ada/

Given the above it does leave room in either direction for what is an accessible website is and how you measure it. Following WCAG 2.x, addressing the functional accessibility of core functions, and performing user testing with users that have disabilities are all things I would recommend and something we provide to our customers to increase access and reduce risk.

Jonathan

Jonathan Avila
Chief Accessibility Officer
Level Access
<EMAIL REMOVED>
703.637.8957 office

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-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Colleen Gratzer, Gratzer Graphics LLC
Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2018 12:12 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: [WebAIM] Website dev questions (was ISO: Other developers)

Hi, everyone. I was originally going to ask this privately, so that's why I had asked to contact other developers.

I've been formally trained in InDesign and PDF accessibility practices (thank you, Bevi Chagnon of PubCom) but not formally with websites.
However, I have learned quite a bit of that myself and have built several accessible websites (design and development, even so far as to include special custom fields for screen reader text that the client can fill out). I paid someone to test them all with a screen reader. Knock on wood. All has been well so far.

Yesterday, an attorney contacted me (he was referred by a colleague who knows I've done accessible sites). His client is a chain restaurant being sued by a screen reader user who cannot access their site properly. He asked me about fixing it. There's a lot I could do to help BUT i don't know every single WCAG or ADA rule, and I know some are ambiguous or not good for usability.

So, I'm curious about a few things:

1. Would the above situation be one that you would even consider getting involved in if it were you?

2. If you are a developer building accessible sites, do you follow every single WCAG or ADA rule? What steps to you take to "certify" to the client, "hey, this site is now accessible."

3. Do you have any special accessibility-specific clauses in your contracts that protect you in case of a legal issue? I do have one that says if the work needs to be accessible, they need to convey that and, if they decide against doing that work, i have no responsibility for that. I also have a limitation of liability clause, among others that are not accessibility-specific. I don't know what more to do to protect my business in this way when it comes to accessible sites. (I've had it reviewed by an attorney but thinking i need to seek advice from an attorney well versed in accessibility laws.

Phew. That was a lot! If you made it this far, LOL, thanks for reading all this!


Colleen Gratzer
Creative Director :: Visual Brand Expert :: Accessibility Specialist
Gratzer Graphics LLC
https://gratzergraphics.com

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