IIABA has seen more and more agency members receive demand letters from plaintiffs' attorneys alleging that their agency websites are not accessible to sight-impaired consumers, and therefore violate federal law accessibility requirements. While agencies in three high-population states have been targeted since at least last year, agencies in one western state are now receiving more of these letters, and it's likely to be happening in other states as well.
Several law firms nationally have been sending these letters to businesses in various industries for years, but lately we've seen more independent agencies receive them. The alleged violations are typically based on accessibility requirements in the ADA or FHA, or both.
The law firms are interested in reaching quick settlements and, so far, have not been actively filing lawsuits against agents. These demand letters, typically follow the same format of demanding compliance with the ADA and/or FHA and seeking a settlement in exchange for a conditional release.
IIABA sent a letter to a certain Washington, D.C. legal firm last September demanding that they stop harassing agents with their letters. The National Association of Realtors also sent a letter to the same firm, demanding that they cease their demands of Realtors in Florida and other states.
If your agency receives this kind of demand letter, please let IIAN know, and we may be able to recommend local attorneys with expertise in this field. Expert legal counsel for the Florida Big “I" cautions their members against being pressured into settling quickly.
We can help IIAN members ensure that their websites are ADA compliant. It's just good business to have websites work with online accessibility tools like screen readers, and it also will help agencies avoid being targeted by these plaintiffs' lawyers.
IIABA's Office of General Counsel and Agents Council on Technology worked together on providing the following resource for members: Technology Solutions for Your Business - Get Your Website ADA-Compliant (independentagent.com).
So far IIABA is not seeing much in the way of lawsuits being filed in these cases, but that of course can change In addition, a recent 11th Circuit decision (https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/eleventh-circuit-says-winn-dixie-s-2844362/) is very favorable for agencies that are sued for website accessibility issues in the 11th Circuit. A circuit split on this issue remains, however, so plaintiffs may simply file in a jurisdiction other than the 11th Circuit.