Resources

The American Disability Act (ADA) is a federal law. Its purpose is to prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities in various aspects of life, including access to businesses’ physical and digital premises. Under the ADA, businesses are required to ensure that their websites are accessible to people with disabilities, such as blindness, deafness, or mobility impairments. However, despite the law’s efforts to protect the rights of disabled individuals, the issue of mootness often arises in ADA website claims against businesses.

If you have questions about the ADA, reach out to the New York ADA defense attorneys at The Samuel Law Firm.

Mootness is a legal doctrine that states that a case is moot or no longer a live controversy when the court’s decision would no longer affect the parties’ legal rights or interests. In simpler terms, a case is moot when the problem ceases to exist or has been resolved. If a case becomes moot, the court will dismiss it, as there is no longer any live controversy for the court to decide.

The issue of mootness in ADA website claims arises when the plaintiff seeks relief against a business to make their website accessible to disabled individuals. If the company has already made its website accessible or has made substantial progress towards making it accessible, the case may become moot. The reason for this is that if the court were to issue an injunction requiring the business to make its website accessible, the business would have already complied with the injunction before the court issued it. Therefore, the court’s decision would no longer affect the parties’ legal rights or interests, making the case moot.

To illustrate the application of mootness in ADA website claims, consider the following example: A blind individual files an ADA website claim against a retail business, alleging that the business’s website is not accessible to individuals with visual impairments. The plaintiff seeks injunctive relief, asking the court to order the business to make its website accessible. However, during the pendency of the case, the business hires a web developer to make its website accessible. The developer completes the project, and the business’s website is now accessible to individuals with visual impairments. The business informs the court of this development, and the court dismisses the case as moot because there is no longer any live controversy for the court to decide.

The doctrine of mootness can be used as a defense to stop an ADA website litigation in its tracks. Thus, saving business owners the cost of litigating a claim and bad publicity that could be brought on a business. Furthermore, it limits any potential fines faced by the business when the issue is quickly addressed. And finally, it limits the plaintiff’s ability to request hefty compensation due to the brief time that the website may not have met the ADA website compliant.