Keith Rozanski provided expert commentary in a recent article published by Hotel Management. In the article, Rozanski discusses the rise in lawsuits filed against hotels that fail to provide websites that are accessible to those with disabilities, including those who are blind. Rozanski uses the American with Disabilities (ADA) to explain the potential for litigation that growing numbers of hotels are facing.
“Clients claim to attempt to access a website and say it is not accessible to those with disabilities, such as blind people. Courts have said any public accommodations that have a website have to make it ADA accessible,” Rozanski said. “The problem is that the ADA was first introduced in 1988. The Internet came after. There are no regulations; it’s an afterthought.”
The ADA mandates that any business with a physical location, which advertises or sells products physically or online must have ADA-compliant websites. If you have a brick-and-mortar presence, you need to comply. If you don’t, there is a split in authority. There are courts that will side with you and courts that won’t. Most hospitality companies will have to comply without question, and even if they don’t have to, they will side against hospitality if the issue goes to the Supreme Court,” he said.
The Department of Justice is in the process of developing its own guidelines, which are expected to be released in 2018. Similarly, the ADA is in the process of updating Title II rules for public entities. In the interim, Rozanski encourages hotel owners to use previous settlements with the Department of Justice as a guide for how to respond to claims that they have failed to provide ADA-compliant websites.