Let's talk about the Trump administration and the ADA
I generally try to avoid politics in this newsletter, but let’s face it: There is a certain component to accessibility that is political. That said, the below is purely factual.
There are numerous stories about Trump administration essentially dismantling anything remotely having anything to do with DEI. This, of course, also means accessibility is on the chopping block. However, Trump's ability to exert this influence is solely limited to how he administers the Executive Branch of the US Federal Government.
All-in-all, there are about a dozen federal laws that have something to do with accessibility. This includes the obvious & well-known laws like ADA, CVAA, IDEA, and Air Carrier Access Act. It also includes laws such as the Fair Housing Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Here's the important thing to understand - and why it is critical that private entities still pay important attention to accessibility: Trump has not and cannot repeal these laws.
Yes, I realize there are a myriad of political legislative & judicial complexities at play, but nothing Trump has done (and there's nothing he can do) will rip these laws from the books. Put more clearly: private citizens still have the right to sue to enforce their civil rights under the laws I've cited earlier. In fact, the massive wave of ADA related lawsuits against retailers started while Trump was in his first term!
If anything, Trump has made the federal government a target for lawsuits, but that's a different topic. One of the side-effects of what Trump is doing is that there is likely to be a continued controversy around whether the Web is a place of public accommodation under ADA Title III. In practical terms, it means continued lawsuits. In fact, I've seen more frequent ADA lawsuits in the last few weeks than I have in the last several months.
If your company is thinking of abandoning accessibility because of Trump's recent executive orders, you're making a big mistake. Private lawsuits will continue and there's no evidence to suggest they will slow down in the next 4 years.
What we're most likely to see is a shift in venue. ADA trolls will stop/ slow down lawsuits in unfriendly jurisdictions and will move to file in state courts in California, New York, and elsewhere where there are state laws around digital accessibility.
The single best defense against a lawsuit over your site’s accessibility is to have an accessible site. That’s what AFixt does. If you need any help, give us a shout.
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