Web Accessibility for People with Disabilities is a Priority for the Department of Justice

When Congress enacted the ADA in 1990, it intended for the ADA to keep pace with the rapidly changing technology of our times. Since 1996, the Department of Justice has consistently taken the position that the ADA applies to web content. As the sample cases below show, the Department is committed to using its enforcement authority to ensure website accessibility for people with disabilities and to ensure that the goods, services, programs, and activities that businesses and state and local governments make available to the public are accessible.

Title II Sample Cases #

• Project Civic Access: As part of the Department’s Project Civic Access enforcement work, the Department has reached numerous agreements with cities and counties across the country that include web accessibility requirements. For example, City and County of Denver, Colorado, City of Jacksonville, Florida, and City of Durham, North Carolina.
• Miami University in Ohio: The Department reached an agreement with Miami University in Ohio to resolve the United States’ lawsuit alleging that the university discriminated against students with disabilities by providing inaccessible web content and learning management systems.
• Nueces County, Texas: The Department reached an agreement with Nueces County, Texas, to address claims that the County used an online conference registration form that was not accessible to people with disabilities who use software that reads text out loud.
• Louisiana Tech: The Department reached an agreement with Louisiana Tech University to address claims that the university violated the ADA by using an online learning product that was inaccessible to a blind student.

Title III Sample Cases #

• Rite Aid Corporation: The Department reached an agreement with Rite Aid Corporation to address accessibility barriers in Rite Aid’s COVID-19 Vaccine Registration Portal.
• Teachers Test Prep, Inc.: The Department reached an agreement with Teachers Test Prep, Inc., regarding complaints that the test prep company’s online video courses did not provide captions and were inaccessible to people who are deaf.
• HRB Digital and HRB Tax Group (H&R Block): The Department reached an agreement with H&R Block to address claims that the company failed to code its website so that individuals with disabilities could use assistive technology such as screen reader software, refreshable Braille displays, keyboard navigation, and captioning.
• Peapod: The Department reached an agreement with Peapod to address claims that its online grocery delivery services were not accessible to some individuals with disabilities.