Sara Randazzo

Businesses with websites that can’t be navigated by the blind are getting pummeled with lawsuits. The new frontier in federal disability litigation has accelerated dramatically in recent years, with some companies now getting hit by lawsuits for the second or third time even after they’ve reached settlements to upgrade their sites. The complaints typically detail roadblocks that visually impaired individuals face when using “screen reader” tools that read the contents of a website aloud. The lawsuits often seek improvements to websites to ensure the technology functions.

The disability lawsuits started hitting the Pittsburgh federal courthouse in July, all claiming corporations’ websites violated the law by not being accessible to the blind. The first round came against household names such as Foot Locker, Toys “R” Us, Brooks Brothers Group, and the National Basketball Association. Later suits targeted lesser-known retailers including Family Video Movie Club and Rue21.

All told, about 40 nearly identical cases have landed in front of the same federal judge, Arthur Schwab, all brought by one local law firm, Carlson Lynch Sweet Kilpela & Carpenter LLP. Nationwide, more than 240 businesses have been sued in federal court since the start of 2015, concerning allegedly inaccessible websites, according to law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP. Most settle quickly, for between $10,000 and $75,000, lawyers involved say, with the money typically going toward plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees and expenses.