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If you own a website, you might have heard about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the need to make your website accessible to all users. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of lawsuits and demand letters related to website ADA compliance. But what’s the difference between a lawsuit and a demand letter, and how do they affect your website?
Let’s start with the basics: a demand letter is a letter that a plaintiff sends to a defendant, in this case, a website owner, alleging that the website is not compliant with ADA standards. The letter typically outlines the issues, and demands that the website owner make the necessary changes to bring the website into compliance. A demand letter can also include a request for compensation for any damages that the plaintiff may have suffered as a result of the website’s inaccessibility.
A lawsuit, on the other hand, is a legal action that a plaintiff takes against a defendant, in this case, a website owner, in a court of law. A lawsuit can be filed if the plaintiff believes that their rights have been violated under the ADA. Unlike a demand letter, a lawsuit involves a legal process, which can be time-consuming and expensive for both parties involved.
All AccessiBe website plugin plans include their litigation support package to give you peace-of-mind in additional to making your website accessible to disabled users while meeting the guidelines adopted by the ADA. Click below to learn more or start a risk-free 7 day trial on your website.
In general, it’s best to try and avoid lawsuits by addressing any accessibility issues that may exist on your website. This is where a demand letter can be helpful, as it gives you the opportunity to fix the issues before legal action is taken.
If you receive a demand letter, it’s important to take it seriously and act promptly. Ignoring a demand letter can lead to a lawsuit, which can be more expensive and time-consuming than making the necessary changes to your website. Responding to a demand letter in a timely and professional manner can also help to avoid any negative publicity or damage to your brand’s reputation.
At the very least every business should audit their website to identify ADA compliance violations. AccessiBe and UserWay both offer free tools to scan your site and provide you with a list of issues that fail the WCAG guidelines. If your website has accessibility issues, the ADA does require you to fix them.
One remediation option is to use a website accessibility widget, such as AccessiBe’s accessWidget, or UserWay’s UserWay Widget, which will help to automate the process of making your website accessible. These widgets use artificial intelligence to scan your website for potential accessibility issues and either fix the issues in real time, or provide suggestions on how to fix those issues beyond the capabilities of the widgets. They can also add accessibility features such as text-to-speech, keyboard navigation, contrast correction, and more.
Another option is to hire an accessibility consultant or web developer to manually review and update your website to ensure it meets ADA standards. This can be a more time-consuming and expensive option, but it can also provide a more personalized and thorough approach to website accessibility.
Identify accessibility barriers and improve your website’s usability for all visitors with UserWay’s accessibility scanner. Optimize your site and avoid costly lawsuits. Scan your website with UserWay today.
Most importantly, don’t panic. Legal matters don’t move particularly quickly, but you should absolutely NOT ignore the letter you received.
AccessiBe and UserWay both include legal support as part of their paid licenses, so if you are using either of these services, they should be your first contact. If you are not using either of these services, it is prudent to respond to a demand letter promptly and indicate your willingness to resolve the issues. Failure to do so may be part of the case against you in the event of a follow-up lawsuit.
If you have received a lawsuit and you are not using AccessiBe or UserWay, it is strongly recommended to contact an attorney, with haste.
While demand letters and lawsuits may have similar end goals, they are very different in terms of the legal processes involved and the steps that website owners must take in response. Demand letters are typically the first step in a legal action and provide a window of opportunity for website owners to address any issues before a lawsuit is filed. Lawsuits, on the other hand, are more complex and involve formal legal proceedings.
It is important for website owners to understand the differences between demand letters and lawsuits and to take proactive steps to ensure their website is ADA compliant. We strongly recommend using a website accessibility widget such as AccessiBe or UserWay, or hiring a website developer to remediate any ADA violations, to avoid any legal action altogether.
Last updated: May 22, 2023
These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are a legally binding agreement between you and Accessifi LLC (“our”, “we”, “us”, or “Accessifi”).
By accessing or using our Services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms.
If you do not agree to be bound by the provisions of these Terms or if you do not have the legal authority to accept them on behalf of the entity you represent, you may not use or access our services.
These Terms apply to all users of the Services, as follows (each of which shall be referred to as “user” or “you”):
Accessifi LLC is delivering, in good faith, access to services provided by AccessiBe via a partner relationship we have with AccessiBe.
The partnership agreement entitles us to make limited discounts to the price you pay to license the AccessiBe accessWidget, when ordering directly though us. Discounts are calculated by a percentage reduction to AccessiBe’s retail price which is wholly controlled by AccessiBe. AccessiBe have the sole right to update their retail pricing and licensing terms, over which we have absolutely no control. Your price will be fixed for term period of your license. It is possible that accessiBe could adjust the pricing at the time of your license renewal. It is entirely out of our realm of influence. AccessiBe may also change our pricing flexibility in the future, which may affect the offer we can present to you.
AccessiBe have sole control over the design, functionality, code, and availability of the accessWidget. Accessifi cannot be held responsible for any actions taken by AccessiBe that may impact the accessWidget in any way.
Accessifi offer an accessWidget installation service for those who request our assistance with the accessWidget installation. We are experienced developers who have performed many installations of the accessWidget. You agree to hold us harmless in the event of a problem during installation that can be shown to be caused by existing issues on your website, or concurrent activity on your website that is not being performed by us.
Any changes to the terms of service set by AccessiBe are solely the responsibility of AccessiBe. You agree to hold harmless Accessifi, should AccessiBe change their terms of service in any way that you find disagreeable.
Accessifi will fulfill our responsibility to contact AccessiBe, per the terms of their litigation support package, in the event you are subject to a website accessibility lawsuit while you have an active accessWidget license purchased through us. You agree to hold Accessifi LLC harmless in the event that a website accessibility lawsuit against you is successful, or if you choose to settle with any plaintiff involved in that lawsuit.
Accessifi strongly believe the accessiBe accessWidget is a viable solution to website accessibility and website ADA compliance issues. However we are not responsible for any damages resulting from your use of any software or services owned and administered by AccessiBe.
Accessifi can provide manual website accessibility remediation services if requested. We are experienced website developers and we will provide our best efforts to fix specific accessibility problems, agreed between you and us prior to beginning any manual remediation services. You agree to hold harmless Accessifi LLC in the event you are subject to a legal accessibility complaint or any other damages concerning specifically the issues Accessifi LLC agreed to work on. We are committed to further remediating any of these issues on your website.
When you purchase an accessWidget license through Accessifi, you are required to remunerate Accessifi, the full amount agreed between you and Accessifi, within 7 days of the date noted on the invoice.
The accessWidget license becomes active at the time of Accessifi generating the invoice.
Invoices will be sent by email, along with a separate follow-up email confirming that the invoice was received. Accessifi LLC are not responsible for non-receipt of the invoice, the invoice email, or the follow-up email.
If the 7 day period from the invoice date passes without full remuneration Accessifi reserves the right to terminate your accessWidget license agreement without repercussion from you. We have to do this to ensure that the cancellation is completed with the refund period set by AccessiBe. In the event that AccessiBe charges Accessifi a pro-rated license fee for the time the accessWidget license was active before cancellation, you are responsible for remunerating Accessifi to cover that pro-rated charge. You will be notified of that charge via a separate invoice from Accessifi, send via email.
We will provide you with a secure payment link, operated by the well-established online payment solution provider, Stripe. If you cannot for any reason make your payment online, you may suggest another means of payment in writing (email) before the invoice is generated. You may use the alternative method if both you and we agree in writing. If you do not agree to remunerate Accessifi online via the secure payment page from Stripe, nor the agreed upon alternative payment method, you may not purchase a license from us.
Licenses are only refundable and cancellable within 7 days of the original invoice creation date, noted on the invoice. After 7 days from the date of the original invoice the license fees are non-cancellable, and non-refundable.
By purchasing your accessWidget through Accessifi, you agree not to edit the accessWidget installation code without our written (email) consent. Doing so could affect the performance and effectiveness of the accessWidget. Any unauthorized changes is a violation of the discounted license pricing agreement between you and Accessifi. Any changes to the “AccessiBe” callout and link (the “mark”) at the bottom of the accessWidget UI is a violation of the discounted pricing agreement between you and Accessifi. Refusal to reinstate the AccessiBe mark on the accessWidget UI will invalidate the discount agreement with immediate effect at which time the license pricing will switch to the retail price set by AccessiBe.
We recommend that you read the following section titled “AccessiBe Terms of Service”.
We, like you, are beholden to AccessiBe’s Terms of Service for using their AccessWidget, and any and all other related services that AccessiBe provide, including the website auditing service “AccessFlow”. AccessiBe are solely responsible for the AccessWidget, the license pricing policy, and any other services that they provide. We strongly recommend that you, as our client, read their terms of service. To find their terms of service, please follow these steps:
1: Click on this link to visit the AccessiBe website: https://accessibe.com/a/a2i3kaw
2: Scroll to the very bottom of the target page that results from clicking on the link in step 1.
3: At the bottom of the page on the AccessiBe website, click on the link “Terms of Service”.