Eleventh Circuit Dunks On Businesses With Websites

In its second pro-plaintiff decision in as many months, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that blind website accessibility plaintiffs need not show that difficulty using a place of public accommodation's website also caused a lack of equal access to the physical place of the public accommodation. Haynes v. Dunkin' Donuts LLC, No. 18-10373 (11^th Cir., July 31, 2018). If the website is a privilege or amenity of the physical place, that is sufficient to support a website accessibility claim. The Eleventh Circuit's reversal of the district court's grant of a motion to dismiss undermines yet another argument used by businesses to defeat website accessibility claims. 

Once arguably the most business-friendly jurisdiction with respect to website accessibility claims under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Eleventh Circuit has issued two decisions in as many months that jeopardize that status. These two straight losses for the business