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Kristina M. Launey

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Seyfarth Synopsis: With the recent proliferation of web accessibility demand letters and lawsuits, businesses often ask whether settling a claim with one plaintiff will bar future lawsuits brought by different plaintiffs. One federal judge recently said no.

Plaintiffs Rachel Gniewskowski, R. David New, and Access Now, Inc.—represented by Carlson, Lynch, Kilpela & Sweet—sued retailer Party City in the Western District…
Continue Reading Court Says Settlement Agreement Does Not Bar Later Website Accessibility Lawsuit by a Different Plaintiff

Seyfarth Synopsis: New website and mobile app accessibility settlement agreement requires WCAG 2.0 AA conformance, training, and feedback mechanism.

Being named one of the most innovative companies of 2016 doesn’t make one immune from a website and mobile app accessibility lawsuit.  Capping 2016’s banner accessibility lawsuit count, including record website accessibility lawsuit numbers, on which we reported yesterday, was an…
Continue Reading Innovative Salad Restaurant Agrees to Make Website and Mobile App Accessible

Seyfarth Synopsis:  The number of federal ADA Title III lawsuits continue to surge, fueled by new plaintiffs, new plaintiffs’ lawyers, and website accessibility claims.

Our 2016 lawsuit count is complete, and the results no less remarkable than prior years.  In 2016, 6,601 ADA Title III lawsuits were filed in federal court — 1,812 more than in 2015. This 37 percent…
Continue Reading ADA Title III Lawsuits Increase by 37 Percent in 2016

Seyfarth Synopsis: Many years in the making, today the Access Board issued design criteria and other standards for medical diagnostic equipment.

Today, the U.S. Access Board issued new accessibility standards for medical diagnostic equipment (MDE). The final rule will be effective February 8 – 30 days from today’s publication of the final rule containing the standards in the Federal Register.
Continue Reading U.S. Access Board Issues Standards for Medical Diagnostic Equipment

Seyfarth Synopsis: Fighting a web accessibility lawsuit could invite DOJ’s intervention, as did a Florida retailer’s recent Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings.

Fighting a website accessibility lawsuit is very tempting to many frustrated businesses, but can be a risky decision. One such risk – Department of Justice intervention in the lawsuit – came to fruition for one such business…
Continue Reading A Cautionary Tale: DOJ Intervenes in Another Web Accessibility Lawsuit

Seyfarth Synopsis: DOJ announced today an extension to October 7, 2016 for the public to submit comments on the SANPRM for state and local government websites.

In May of this year the Department of Justice surprised us by issuing a Supplemental Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SANPRM), rather than – as all expected – actually issuing a proposed regulation for…
Continue Reading DOJ Extends Comment Period for ADA Title II SANPRM, Cites Impact on Title III Rule


In honor of the 26th anniversary of the ADA, we are sharing our mid-year count of ADA Title III lawsuits for 2016 and it’s newsworthy:  The number of lawsuits filed in federal court is already at 3,435, up 63% from last year’s mid-year number of 2,114.  If the pace continues, the 2016 total may top 7,000.  To put the numbers…
Continue Reading ADA Title III Lawsuits Up 63% From 2015

Seyfarth Synopsis: New Affordable Care Act and Medicaid Regulations will require covered entities providing health care programs and services have accessible electronic information technology, including accessible websites.

While we continue to wait for new regulations for the websites of state and local governments, federal agencies and public accommodations, two new regulations from the Department of Health and Human Services…
Continue Reading New Healthcare Regulations Impose Accessible Technology Requirements

Seyfarth Synopsis:  If you would rather not read the 30-page small print Federal Register notice, this summary will provide you with what you need to know about the Justice Department’s most recent official pronouncement on web accessibility.

As we reported, last week DOJ issued a lengthy Supplemental ANPRM (SANPRM) for state and local government websites, which some commentators have…
Continue Reading Attention Public Accommodations: DOJ’s Recent Rulemaking Action for State and Local Government Websites Reveals its Current Thinking on Web Accessibility

This morning, on Global Accessibility Awareness Day, DOJ participated by issuing its Spring 2016 unified agenda, including upcoming regulatory actions on web accessibility and movie captioning.

Click on the links to the right in the bullets below for the lowdown on each rule, but here are a few highlights:

AA65: State and Local Government web accessibility regulations.  No need…
Continue Reading On Global Accessibility Awareness Day, DOJ Releases Agenda Indicating Progress in 2016; Omits Title III