28 October 2002

Eversheds e80
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The e-news service from Eversheds - Business Lawyers in Europe

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Disability Access

We have talked before on e80 about the potential issues around
accessibility and use of the internet by the blind. We have looked at the
background to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 in the UK, the W3C
test on accessibility and the use of Bobby to test sites.

The issue hit the courts in Florida on Friday with a blind internet user,
Robert Gumson, starting proceedings against Southwest Airlines under the
equivalent US legislation the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The
action seemed to be a test for ADA as the site in question seems to
operate differential pricing and did not pass the Bobby test.

The complaint turned on whether the airline's online ticketing and
reservations internet site could be considered "public accommodations" - a
necessary condition for ADA to apply. One of the attorneys from a
pressure group supporting Gumson's action was sure that they can and he
says that providing only non-internet services to the blind is not the
"full and equal enjoyment" that the law requires. They say that a
previous decision of the Supreme Court where a professional golfer was
allowed to use a golf cart on the PGA tour shows how flexible the American
legislation is.

Southwest claimed that the action had no substance and they asked the
court to dismiss it. They say that Congress did not intend to include the
Internet in ADA which was passed in 1990. The judge agreed but she also
criticised the airline for not making its site W3C compliant. She wrote:
"It is especially surprising that Southwest, a company which prides itself
on its customer relations, has not voluntarily seized the opportunity to
employ all available technologies to expand accessibility to its Web site
for visually impaired customers who would be an added source of revenue."

This is not however the end of the story. Another action is due to be
heard soon in Florida before a different judge against a second airline.
The pressure group behind the case also said it plans to appeal the
Southwest decision to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Jonathan Armstrong
jonathanarmstrong@eversheds.com
Direct dial: 0115 841 7642
More contact details are at
http://www.eversheds.com/about/Offices/officeDetails.asp?idOffice=17