Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accessibility Resources

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accessibility Resources

Recently, complaints have been made alleging winery websites are inaccessible to visually impaired customers and therefore non-compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California law.

Commonly noticed complaints include: 

1. Images on the website lack a text equivalent readable by screen reader software (SRS).
2. The website contains form elements that are not identified with functional text readable by SRS.
3. Images on the website lack a text equivalent readable by SRS.
4. The visualization of the webpage contains impermissibly low contrast for differentiation of background and foreground elements.

We urge all members to review their website accessibility status and to prioritize making any necessary changes.

Standards

According to the legal complaints NVV has seen, the plaintiffs specify the following:

“Compliance with W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (“WCAG”) 2.0 AA standards are a viable remedy for these deficiencies and a standard that has been adopted by California courts for website accessibility.”

These standards are linked below.

• WCAG 2.0 https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/

Accessibility Analysis Tools & Services

• https://accessibe.com/
• https://www.audioeye.com/
• https://accessible360.com/
• https://developers.google.com/web/tools/lighthouse
• https://userway.org/widget 
• https://usablenet.com/
• https://wave.webaim.org/aim/

Attorneys 

A list of specialized attorneys can be provided on request. Please email Michelle Novi.

Please note, nothing on this page constitutes or should be construed as legal advice. At the request of members, we are sharing various resources and contacts that have indicated they provide guidance and services related to this issue.

Thank you Napa Valley Vintners Association for putting together this information.