The ADA Book

Stein Saks, PPLC is one of the most active law firms in ADA website accessibility litigation. Plaintiffs represented include Bryan Velazquez, Daniel Rodriguez, Marina Iskhakova, Marta Hanyzkiewicz, Warren Zinnamon. In this video, Kris Rivenburgh reads through some of the website accessibility claims made in a complaint filed by Mark Rozenberg, Esq. in the United States District Court Southern Dist...

Mars Khaimov, PPLC is one of the most active law firms in ADA website accessibility litigation. Plaintiffs represented include Veronica Maddy, Lamar Brown, Andrew Toro, Jasmine Toro, Valerie Dicks, Jenny Hwang, Damon Jones, Miriam Cruz, and Jovan Campbell. In this video, Kris Rivenburgh reads through some of the website accessibility claims made in a complaint filed by Mars Khaimov, Esq. in the Un...

Kris explains why his WCAG course is the best training for understanding what each of the 50 WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria are asking for. The course includes plain English explanations in text and video, code examples, and a sortable Excel spreadsheet checklist. Go to https://WCAGcourse.com to purchase the course. #WCAGCourse #WCAGTraining #WCAGforBeginners In addition to the WCAG Course, you may...

Kris explains why his WCAG 2.1 AA checklist in Excel format can help with organization and completing incorporation of success criteria. Kris's spreadsheet includes columns for action, completion, and role. Kris's spreadsheet can be accessed inside his WCAG course. Go to https://WCAGcourse.com to purchase the course and download his WCAG 2.1 AA checklist in Excel. #WCAGChecklist #WCAG21 #W...

Kris discusses two examples of hiding undesirable options (e.g., unsubscribe) through low color contrast. This makes content inaccessible and does not meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines threshold for color contrast (4.5:1 for normal sized text). #ColorContrast #Unsubscribe #Inaccessible Kris designed the ADA Compliance Course (ACC) as instructions you can give your team to fix the most...

Kris discusses how small and even medium-sized businesses have been left out of the ADA Compliance / website accessibility marketplace. Manual audits start at $3,000 and overlay widgets are more affordable but don't make your website accessible or prevent lawsuits. Kris recommends the ADA Compliance Course as a genuine, but affordable option that helps website owners significantly improve acce...

Kris dispels the notion that you can never make your website ADA compliant and/or WCAG conformant. Through persistent effort, both are very possible. #WCAGConformance #ADACompliant #WebAccessibility 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 te...

Kris explains how an accessibility scan can "clear" your website can return no errors when issues still exist. You can read further on the blog post, "Building the most inaccessible site possible with a perfect Lighthouse score": https://www.matuzo.at/blog/building-the-most-inaccessible-site-possible-with-a-perfect-lighthouse-score/ #WebsiteAccessibilityScan #WebsiteAccessibili...

Kris explains how automation can and cannot help with website accessibility. All work must ultimately be performed manually but scans can help reduce errors in manual work as well as speed up the audit process. Overlay widgets do nothing and can create accessibility problems. #AutomatedAccessibility #WebsiteAccessibilityScan #AccessibilityChecker Kris designed the ADA Compliance Course (ACC) as in...

Kris talks about another lawyer's video on ADA compliance for websites. His channel is Functional Lawyer and he creates videos on many different legal topics but he didn't spend enough time researching to know ADA compliance for websites (he recommends an overlay widget and has other incorrect information). Here is the video:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXlike1Qc_0 #ADAWebsiteCompliance...

Kris talks about a YouTuber lawyer who is charging $127 for an ADA website compliance "bundle". The bundle consists of a plugin, accessibility statement, and WCAG guide.  Plugins don't make your website accessible and Kris gives away an accessibility template and WCAG guide and checklist for free. Also, it's noteworthy that her bundle sales page and checkout page have dozens of accessibility...

Kris Rivenburgh explains that accessibility is not something that can be turned on or enabled; accessibility can't be achieved through automation. Rather, we have to make our digital websites (e.g., websites, mobile apps, etc.) by creating them in accessible manner.  There are is no software, app, plugin, widget, technology, etc. that can currently make your website accessible. #WebAccessibil...

Kris interviews accessibility advocate Emily Ogle on a variety of topics concerning accessibility and people with disabilities (timestamps below). Emily is an accessibility advocate and strategist who lives and breathes accessibility. She's an expert in WCAG and VPAT and trains people on accessibility using exercises she designed to provide perspective. Emily is also the Senior Accessibility Desig...

Kris Rivenburgh comments on an article, "New ADA lawsuit target? Local Brewery Websites" that reads like it was written in 2018 in the sense that website accessibility litigation is novel.  Part of this is because the defense attorney comes across as new to the space.   While breweries may be a newer niche target, the scenario described in the article is standard: Pacific Trial Attorneys...

Kris recaps his interview with Richard Hunt (nationally recognized ADA and FHA defense attorney) and provides an anecdote from the interview on why hiring a defense attorney familiar with website accessibility litigation is so important.   Watch the Richard Hunt interview:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMwsgy57kC4  You can email Richard at rhunt@hunthuey.com. You can also find R...

Kris interviews renowned ADA defense attorney Richard Hunt on website accessibility litigation (subjects time stamped below).  Richard Hunt is a Board Certified Civil Trial lawyer with 35+ years of trial experience in state and federal courts.   Richard has a national ADA and FHA consulting and defense practice representing real estate developers, retailers, restaurants, shopping centers...

Kris explains why Generate Press ( https://generatepress.com/adabook/?ref=5750 - affiliate link) is an excellent WordPress theme / framework to use as a foundation to make an "ADA compliant" website.  The plain, default theme is near WCAG conformant out-of-the-box, but the site library templates have a handful of accessibility issues - ones easily flagged by a WAVE scan.   So there is wo...

Kris Rivenburgh explains how even a non-technical person can significantly increase the accessibility of their website (work towards making it "ADA compliant") despite not being an expert.  While they aren't able to match the overall expertise, with a few hours of research, website owners can attain a solid grasp of different accessibility considerations and begin to apply different WCAG succ...

Kris Rivenburgh reviews WebAIM's certification documentation for the Apartments247 Accessibility Portal.  This isn't your typical certificate because conformance speaks to a general digital asset (the portal template) rather than any specific, live URLs.   This video is Part II from the previous video on creating a separate version of your website found here:   https://www.youtube.c...

Kris Rivenburgh explains why it's a worst practice (both for web accessibility and ADA compliance) to create an alternative or separate accessible version of your website.   Beyond the Title III violation and basic rights aspects, practically maintaining two different websites is costly and ultimately creates even more problems for both the end user and website owner.   Watch Part II of...

Kris shares a clip from a developer @ExpandTheRoom who states, "I think that companies that sell accessibility solutions try to frame accessibility as a black box that's impossible to understand. But I believe the concepts are not that difficult if you take the time to learn them."   Exactly.  She has it 100% right.  Website accessibility isn't as hard as it's made out to be.  ...

Kris Rivenburgh explains why most (ADA) website accessibility litigation ends up being settled. Plaintiffs' lawyers typically offer a settlement amount just low enough to make the defendant/respondent accept the offer and forgo the initial defense of the claim.   #ADAWebsiteSettlement #WebsiteAccessibilityLawsuits #ADAWebsiteLawsuits   Kris designed the ADA Compliance Course (ACC) as ins...

Kris Rivenburgh removes the salesmanship from sales copy for automated website accessibility "testing".  Testing is an extremely generous term for what amounts to a website accessibility scan.  Also, a scan and audit aren't "combined".  A manual audit is performed and a scan is a helpful tool used by accessibility experts auditing a website to help find issues and reduce incidence o...

Kris differentiates preventing website accessibility litigation (demand letters and lawsuits) vs. an ADA compliant website vs. WCAG conformance.  WCAG 2.1 AA conformance is a best practice for both preventing litigation and ADA compliance, but it usually takes several months to reach full conformance.   In the meantime, it is best to address those accessibility issues that plaintiffs' la...

Kris Rivenburgh reframes what ADA compliance "checkers" actually are as well as their benefits and limitations when it comes to website accessibility.   #ADAComplianceChecker #ADAWebsiteComplianceChecker #WebsiteAccessibilityChecker   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 A...