The ADA Book

Kris Rivenburgh explains how digital accessibility training will make your digital assets (websites, apps) more accessible and significantly reduce your costs.  

Don't continually introduce accessibility issues into your digital experiences.  Instead, train your employees, contractors, etc. on accessibility and WCAG principals so your developers, designers, and content managers will produce more accessible designs, code, and content out of the box.  

Training is available for creating accessible websites, documents, social media, PowerPoint presentations, and more media.  

Kris designed the ADA Compliance Course (ACC) as instructions you can give your team to fix the most commonly claimed issues in ADA website lawsuits. The ACC is really an SOP for your web team. Your team can get started in minutes at https://ADACompliance.net/.

Watch Kris on YouTube @adabook:

https://youtube.com/@adabook

Connect with Kris directly on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/adabook 

The ADA Compliance Course is available at https://ADACompliance.net.

Kris offers accessibility services including WCAG 2.1 AA manual audits and remediation at https://accessible.org.

Kris also wrote the book on ADA compliance for digital assets.  You can find out more about The ADA Book at https://ADABook.com.

Transcript:

https://adabook.com/digital-accessibility-training-essential/

Kris Rivenburgh covers website accessibility and ADA compliance litigation in California for California and discusses how small business owners can reduce their risk of a lawsuit or demand letter.

Some of the most active California plaintiffs' law firms have been:

Violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California Unruh Civil Rights Act are typically named as causes of action.

Kris designed the ADA Compliance Course (ACC) as instructions you can give your team to fix the most commonly claimed issues in ADA website lawsuits. The ACC is really an SOP for your web team. Your team can get started in minutes at https://ADACompliance.net/.

Watch Kris on YouTube @adabook:

https://youtube.com/@adabook

Connect with Kris directly on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/adabook 

The ADA Compliance Course is available at https://ADACompliance.net.

Kris offers accessibility services including WCAG 2.1 AA manual audits and remediation at https://accessible.org.

Kris also wrote the book on ADA compliance for digital assets.  You can find out more about The ADA Book at https://ADABook.com.

Transcript:

https://adabook.com/2023-california-website-accessibility-ada-lawsuits-small-businesses/

Kris Rivenburgh discusses common, non-money terms that plaintiffs' lawyers frequently request in "ADA website" settlement negotiations and why defense attorneys must be extremely careful in what demands they agree to.

Many plaintiffs' law firms do not understand accessibility and put forth unnecessary and overly burdensome terms that can result in significant costs to clients, costs that greatly exceed the monetary settlement amount for attorney's fees and damages.

Terms may include:

"ADA website" demand letters and complaints frequently list the  following laws as causes of action:

Watch Kris's video on the typical settlement amounts:

https://youtu.be/hOsCzrLXDJQ

Kris designed the ADA Compliance Course (ACC) as instructions you can give your team to fix the most commonly claimed issues in ADA website lawsuits. The ACC is really an SOP for your web team. Your team can get started in minutes at https://ADACompliance.net/.

Watch Kris on YouTube @adabook:

https://youtube.com/@adabook

Connect with Kris directly on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/adabook 

The ADA Compliance Course is available at https://ADACompliance.net.

Kris offers accessibility services including WCAG 2.1 AA manual audits and remediation at https://accessible.org.

Kris also wrote the book on ADA compliance for digital assets.  You can find out more about The ADA Book at https://ADABook.com.

Transcript: https://adabook.com/negotiating-non-money-terms-ada-website-settlements/

Kris Rivenburgh explains some of the many ways that overlay widgets for website accessibility create separate and unequal experiences and are therefore discriminatory under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Below are the separate and unequal provisions from Title III of the ADA:

(ii) Participation in unequal benefit  It shall be discriminatory to afford an individual or class of  individuals, on the basis of a disability or disabilities of such  individual or class, directly, or through contractual, licensing, or  other arrangements with the opportunity to participate in or benefit from a good, service, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation  that is not equal to that afforded to other individuals.

(iii) Separate benefit  It shall be discriminatory to provide an individual or class of  individuals, on the basis of a disability or disabilities of such  individual or class, directly, or through contractual, licensing, or  other arrangements with a good, service, facility, privilege, advantage,  or accommodation that is different or separate from that provided to  other individuals, unless such action is necessary to provide the  individual or class of individuals with a good, service, facility,  privilege, advantage, or accommodation, or other opportunity that is as  effective as that provided to others.

Resource: https://www.ada.gov/law-and-regs/ada/#subchapter-iii---public-accommodations-and-services-by-private-entities-title-iii

Watch Kris discuss why overlays don't make your website accessible anyway:

https://youtu.be/Gtu-c5Gc6yw

Kris designed the ADA Compliance Course (ACC) as instructions you can give your team to fix the most commonly claimed issues in ADA website lawsuits. The ACC is really an SOP for your web team. Your team can get started in minutes at https://ADACompliance.net/.

Watch Kris on YouTube @adabook:

https://youtube.com/@adabook

Connect with Kris directly on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/adabook 

The ADA Compliance Course is available at https://ADACompliance.net.

Kris offers accessibility services including WCAG 2.1 AA manual audits and remediation at https://accessible.org.

Kris also wrote the book on ADA compliance for digital assets.  You can find out more about The ADA Book at https://ADABook.com.

Transcript: https://adabook.com/separate-unequal-overlay-widgets-discriminate-title-iii-ada/

Kris Rivenburgh explains why differentiating between website accessiblity companies / providers is confusing: they're not offering the same products and services.

Moreover, their blend of offerings may be different.

Products offered include:

Services offered include:

The overall best scan is available for free at https://wave.webaim.org.

You can download my WCAG 2.1 AA checklist and guide at https://accessible.org/wcag.

Automated "solutions" are also offered by way of accessibility overlay widgets but these are illegtimate and don't make your website accessible or ADA compliant.

Legitimate companies who target enterprise clients include:

Overlay vendors include:

Premium automated scan agencies include:

It's worth noting that several "review" websites have emerged, but they promote overlay widgets and can immediately be dismissed as having no legitimacy.

Watch my video where I list out objective criteria used to evaluate providers for website accessibility audits:

https://youtu.be/DaBUDiMR1fA

Kris designed the ADA Compliance Course (ACC) as instructions you can give your team to fix the most commonly claimed issues in ADA website lawsuits. The ACC is really an SOP for your web team. Your team can get started in minutes at https://ADACompliance.net/.

Watch Kris on YouTube @adabook:

https://youtube.com/@adabook

Connect with Kris directly on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/adabook 

The ADA Compliance Course is available at https://ADACompliance.net.

Kris offers accessibility services including WCAG 2.1 AA manual audits and remediation at https://accessible.org.

Kris also wrote the book on ADA compliance for digital assets.  You can find out more about The ADA Book at https://ADABook.com.

Transcript

https://adabook.com/website-accessibility-companies-different/.

Kris relates the AccessiBe vs. UserWay debate to choosing between two  $49 gold watches bought on a street corner. The point: they're both fake.

Neither AccessiBe nor UserWay make your website accessible / ADA  compliant.  They're just cheap overlay widgets and they don't stop lawsuits.

To find out why, read Karl Groves's resources on overlays:

Karl demonstrably proves that overlay widgets don't make websites WCAG conformant and they don't make websites accessible to people with disabilities.

Watch my video on fugazi accessibility where I further explain why accessibility overlays are fake:

https://youtu.be/Gtu-c5Gc6yw

Transcript:

https://adabook.com/accessibe-vs-userway/

Kris Rivenburgh discusses SquareSpace's weak stance on accessibility / ADA compliance headed into 2023. SquareSpace is a major website builder platform that has had more than enough time to take a proactive stance on accessibility.

The only public-facing acknowledgement of accessibility / ADA compliance so far is a single blog post that has a few quick tips.  What's also incredible is nowhere in the blog post does Squarespace mention or reference the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Here's is SquareSpace's blog post that moonlights as an accessibility statement:

https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/215129127-Making-your-Squarespace-site-more-accessible

Watch Kris go through Wix's accessibility page:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6GjE2Ii6eM

Wix takes the opposite approach to website accessibility and proactively embraces it.  Headed into 2023, SquareSpace hides behind a single blog post.  

Read Kris's landmark article on ADA website compliance:

https://krisrivenburgh.medium.com/the-ada-checklist-website-compliance-guidelines-for-2019-in-plain-english-123c1d58fad9

Kris designed the ADA Compliance Course (ACC) as instructions you can give your team to fix the most commonly claimed issues in ADA website lawsuits. The ACC is really an SOP for your web team. Your team can get started in minutes at https://ADACompliance.net/.

Watch Kris on YouTube @adabook:

https://youtube.com/@adabook

Connect with Kris directly on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/adabook 

The ADA Compliance Course is available at https://ADACompliance.net.

Kris offers accessibility services including WCAG 2.1 AA manual audits and remediation at https://accessible.org.

Kris also wrote the book on ADA compliance for digital assets.  You can find out more about The ADA Book at https://ADABook.com.

Transcript:

https://adabook.com/squarespace-accessibility-ada-compliance/

Kris Rivenburgh relates accessibility overlay widgets as fake accessibility.  Overlays are fugazi.  They're meant to give the illusion of accessibility, but everyone in accessibility knows overlays don't make websites accessible or WCAG conformant (or ADA compliant).

There are no widgets, apps, plugins, toolbars, software, etc. that can make a website to be accessible or WCAG conformant (and the AI is a  sales trick, this refers to image recognition software that does a  horrible job identifying and describing images).

Karl Groves' resources on accessibility overlays demonstrably prove this:

Watch how AccessiBe features a State Farm logo as social proof but it's actually linked to a page selling novelties with State Farm logos, not the insurance giant:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7hd3t7HckE

Read Kris's landmark article on ADA website compliance: 

https://krisrivenburgh.medium.com/the-ada-checklist-website-compliance-guidelines-for-2019-in-plain-english-123c1d58fad9

Kris designed the ADA Compliance Course (ACC) as instructions you can give your team to fix the most commonly claimed issues in ADA website lawsuits. The ACC is really an SOP for your web team. Your team can get started in minutes at https://ADACompliance.net/.

Watch Kris on YouTube @adabook:

https://youtube.com/@adabook

Connect with Kris directly on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/adabook 

The ADA Compliance Course is available at https://ADACompliance.net.

Kris offers accessibility services including WCAG 2.1 AA manual audits and remediation at https://accessible.org.

Kris also wrote the book on ADA compliance for digital assets.  You can find out more about The ADA Book at https://ADABook.com.

Transcript:

https://adabook.com/accessibility-overlay-widgets-fugazis/

Kris Rivenburgh explains why Wix's "accessibility-certified site creator" exam for planning and building accessible websites is problematic.  Wix's is a widely recognized brand name and bestowing accessibility certification on any one who scores 75% on a 30 question multiple choice exam will mean everyone, including people who aren't qualified, can be certified in website accessibility.

Also, Wix's own level of accessibility is nowhere near the mastery that is needed to issue certification of others.  They should partner with a reputable organization like WebAIM if they want to do this.

Wix's accessibility certification page:

https://www.wix.com/learn/certification/accessibility

Watch Kris discuss how to certify your website as accessible:

https://youtu.be/NCfmS5LOc1w

Read Kris's landmark article on ADA website compliance:

https://krisrivenburgh.medium.com/the-ada-checklist-website-compliance-guidelines-for-2019-in-plain-english-123c1d58fad9

Kris designed the ADA Compliance Course (ACC) as instructions you can give your team to fix the most commonly claimed issues in ADA website lawsuits. The ACC is really an SOP for your web team. Your team can get started in minutes at https://ADACompliance.net/.

Watch Kris on YouTube @adabook:

https://youtube.com/@adabook

Connect with Kris directly on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/adabook 

The ADA Compliance Course is available at https://ADACompliance.net.

Kris offers accessibility services including WCAG 2.1 AA manual audits and remediation at https://accessible.org.

Kris also wrote the book on ADA compliance for digital assets.  You can find out more about The ADA Book at https://ADABook.com..

Transcript:

https://adabook.com/wix-accessibility-certification-problems/

Kris Rivenburgh explains the release of WCAG 2.2 in a legal context.  Because WCAG 2.2 is still a working draft as of the date of this video, we can't expect this new version to be incorporated into the law in 2023.

It's also highly unlikely that any plaintiff's law firm will make a claim that cites to 2.2 success criteria.  While litigation (lawsuits, demand letters) are unlikely to cite  specific claims, what is worth paying attention to is whether any authorities such as the Department of Justice (DOJ) or Access Board reference WCAG 2.2 AA in rulemaking or legal activity.

The Department of Justice is set to issue a Notice of Proposed  Rulemaking for website accessibility under Title II of the ADA (public entities).  The Access Board may soon decide to update Section 508 to incorporate a newer version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines as it currently uses WCAG 2.0.

Watch Kris explain the difference between WCAG 2.1 and 2.2 AA:

https://youtu.be/7vD0FnHJOR8

Kris designed the ADA Compliance Course (ACC) as instructions you can give your team to fix the most commonly claimed issues in ADA website lawsuits. The ACC is really an SOP for your web team. Your team can get started in minutes at https://ADACompliance.net/.

Watch Kris on YouTube @adabook:

https://youtube.com/@adabook

Connect with Kris directly on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/adabook 

The ADA Compliance Course is available at https://ADACompliance.net.

Kris offers accessibility services including WCAG 2.1 AA manual audits and remediation at https://accessible.org.

Kris also wrote the book on ADA compliance for digital assets.  You can find out more about The ADA Book at https://ADABook.com.

Transcript:

https://adabook.com/will-wcag-2-2-aa-legally-required-2023/