Federal court finds Winn-Dixie liable for website accessibility issues
At ADAsure, we have completed thousands of website accessibility tests, scans and audits to help companies identify noncompliance with the ADA and WCAG 2.0 standards. Last week’s ruling by Florida federal District Court Judge Robert Scola against Winn-Dixie appears to be the first federal case enforces these standards. This means their website must “be accessible by individuals with disabilities who use computers, laptops, tables, and smart phones”.
Not only is this a win for the disabled community and accessibility advocates but this verdict and order helps define a few gray areas such as:
- Standards – This appears to set WCAG 2.0 as the official standard
- Training – The court ordered mandatory training to “all employees who write or develop programs or code for, or who will publish final contet to www.winndixie.com have to conform all web content and services with WCAG 2.0 criteria”.
- Monitoring – At a minimum, Winn-Dixie must run accessibility audits of their website to ensure they remain in compliance.
It’s also important to note that Winn-Dixie will also be responsible for even third-party operated portions of their sites. We sometimes hear prospective clients tell us they don’t have to worry about website accessibility because they outsourced the work. It now seems this approach is no longer valid.
#ADA #a11y #WCAG2 #website #compliance #ADASure