Supreme Court Denied Domino’s Request to Hear Accessibility Case

The Supreme Court of the United States has denied Domino’s petition to hear a case about whether its website and app is required to be accessible to people who are disabled. This leaves in place the decision that the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals made stating that the American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA) does indeed apply to the websites and apps for businesses with physical locations.

This is being seen as a big win for digital accessibility advocates. Since the Supreme Court decided not to review the lower court’s decision, Domino’s will have to continue to fight the accessibility claims in court (if they choose to). While we do view this as win at Accessible Web, we are still looking for the Department of Justice to make a formal ruling on this in the future .

The attorneys for Dominos and a large amount of business groups have argued that the ADA does not apply to digital properties and platforms since computers didn’t exist the way they do today when the law was written in 1990. They claim that no clear rules exist for how to make their platforms accessible.

However, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is exactly what tells us how to make digital content accessible those with disabilities. These guidelines are referred to, and required by, the refreshed version of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

In our opinion, we agree with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals: the ADA should apply to the digital space that is now necessary for people to live. The internet is a public utility just like electricity and water. It’s just the right thing to do and by making your site or app accessible to those with disabilities, you’re making your user experience (UX) better for everyone.

If you are interested in making your website accessible to people with disabilities, please contact us today. We’re here to help.