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Website Accessibility Discrimination

Website Accessibility Discrimination

Definition

An assertion by people with disabilities (mostly individuals with visual and, to a lesser extent, hearing impairments) who allege that, because a company's website is inaccessible to them, the business has violated Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

At least one federal district court has ruled that a business did violate Title III of the ADA by discriminating against a visually impaired customer who could not access the company's website.

While there is no federal law requiring companies to adhere to specific Web accessibility standards, the World Wide Web Consortium (an international standards organization) has promulgated guidelines aimed at making website content accessible to people with disabilities. The federal district court referred to above ruled that compliance with such standards absolves a business of liability for website accessibility discrimination.

Since persons who bring website accessibility discrimination lawsuits are almost always customers, rather than employees, website accessibility lawsuits suits are third-party employment liability claims. Thus, they are addressed by Coverage B of employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) policies.

Links for IRMI Online Subscribers Only: PLI XXII, EPLiC Fall 2017

Related Terms

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990

A federal statute passed in 1990, primarily aimed at preventing discrimination in hiring persons having a "disability" as defined by the Act. Under the ADA, employers must afford job applicants equal opportunity (i.e., evaluating an applicant solely on his/her ability to perform the essential functions of a job, regardless of disability) and make reasonable accommodations to allow disabled employees to perform job functions. However, employers are relieved from the reasonable accommodation requirement if it creates an "undue hardship," such as excessive costs or considerable work disruption. Alleged violations of the ADA are one of the leading perils covered by employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) policies. Title III of the ADA is concerned with making public and commercial buildings physically accessible for disabled persons. It imposes remodeling and reconstruction requirements on some organizations that vary depending on the primary use of each building. Some of the requirements apply regardless of whether the building in question must be remodeled or rebuilt for reasons other than ADA compliance. Accordingly, the ordinance or law exclusions in 1995 and later edition Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO), commercial property forms contain language intended to make it clear that there is no coverage for the cost of compliance with the ADA.

Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI)

A type of liability insurance covering wrongful acts arising from the employment process. The most frequent types of claims covered under such policies include: wrongful termination, discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation. In addition, the policies cover claims from a variety of other types of inappropriate workplace conduct, including (but not limited to) employment-related: defamation, invasion of privacy, failure to promote, deprivation of a career opportunity, and negligent evaluation. The policies cover directors and officers, management personnel, and employees as insureds. The most common exclusions are for bodily injury (BI), property damage (PD), and intentional/dishonest acts. EPLI policies are written on a claims-made basis. The forms contain "shrinking limits" provisions, meaning that insurer payment of defense costs—which are often a substantial part of a claim—reduce the policy's limits. This approach contrasts with commercial general liability (CGL) policies, in which defense is covered in addition to policy limits. Although EPLI is available as a stand-alone coverage, it is also frequently sold as part of a management liability package policy. In addition to providing directors and officers (D&O) and fiduciary liability insurance, management liability package policies afford the option to cover employment practices liability (EPL).

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