Appeals court: Websites not subject to ADA

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued a decision in a lawsuit related to ADA website accessibility issues, determining that websites are not considered a place of public accommodation under the law. NAFCU has consistently advocated for the Department of Justice to address the issue and provide clarity.

The lawsuit brought against Winn-Dixie Stores challenged the grocery chain’s use of its website to host coupons, which the plaintiff claimed made it a place of public accommodation.

“The statutory language in Title III of the ADA defining ‘public accommodations’ is unambiguous and clear,” the decision stated. “It describes twelve types of locations that are public accommodations. All of these listed types of locations are tangible, physical places. No intangible places or spaces, such as websites, are listed.

“Thus, we conclude that, pursuant to the plain language of Title III of the ADA, public accommodations are limited to actual, physical places. Necessarily then, we hold that websites are not a place of public accommodation under Title III of the ADA.”

 

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