Supreme Court Asked to Rule Whether the ADA Applies to Your Business Website

The website supremecourt.gov states that when a case lands before the nation's highest court, "with rare exceptions, each side is allowed 30 minutes argument."

Coincidentally, you can "order pizza, pasta, chicken & more online for carryout or delivery from your local Domino's restaurant," according to Domino's website, and when you do, you should let them know "YOU GOT 30 MINUTES."

ADA and business websites

A blind customer first sued the pizza chain in 2016, saying he could not order a pizza through its website or app, since it was not compatible with standard screen reading software.

He argued Domino's should bring its digital ordering tools into compliance for making online content accessible to people with disabilities.

Earlier this year, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (Calif., et al) agreed in Robles v. Domnio's Pizza. It said Domino's had ample notice of the law's requirements. The court did not say what the appropriate solution should be.

Now the High Court will get to place its order.

What it means

For now, if a business website or app offers customers a direct link to good or services offered at a physical location, the ADA applies and the company should include ways to make the website accessible to disabled persons, according to the National Law Review.

In its analysis of the nexus between Domino's website and its offered goods and services, citing an earlier precendent, the Ninth Circuit noted that the ADA only covers "actual, physical places where goods or services are open to the public, and places where the public gets those goods or services."