Short take-away - A website with no physical location cannot be sued for failure to fully implement screen reading for blind visitors
Plaintiffs admittedly seek out websites that are not fully accessible to the disabled and therefore sued a website unrelated to the entrance to any physical location, i.e., a "stand alone" e-commerce website. They alleged the website was not fully compatible with screen-reading technology to assist blind visitors, resulting in a violation of California's Unruh Act barring discrimination based on disability. More specifically they argued the website is a place of "public accommodation" under the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") and compatibility with screen reading technology was therefore required.
Acknowledging that both Federal and California courts were split as to how to apply the statutory language "place" to a website, the Fourth Appellate District, Division Three, held that a site that exists purely in cyberspace was not a "place" as fined by the ADA. (Martin v. THI Commerce (September 13, 2023) G061234.)
Acting Presiding Justice Sanchez wrote for the majority and interpreted the phrase "place of public accommodation," as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act, as excluding websites that have no relation to any physical location. Therefore, a website not required for entrance to a physical location (in contrast to a website used to make entrance reservations) is not subject to the provisions of the ADA as "the ADA unambiguously requires a physical location." (Martin, p. 2.) The demurrer sustained by the Hon. Theodore R. Howard of the Orange County Superior Court as to the entire complaint was therefore upheld by the Fourth District.
Justice Delaney dissented, noting that Mirriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003) provides that "'Place’ includes. . . ‘an indefinite region or expanse.'" The dissent argued the intent of the ADA was to be applied broadly and the examples given as to places of public accommodation in the statute were meant to be examples only and should not limit its application to future technology.
