United StatesAmericans with Disabilities Act Title III, public accommodations and the auxiliary aids and services rule
42 U.S.C. 12181 to 12189; 28 CFR 36.201 and 36.303
In force since .
A disability discrimination rule binding private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition
As of .
What it requires
- No federal rule names a technical standard for a business's website or app under Title III; the Department of Justice's guidance leaves the choice of method to the business and points to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and the Section 508 Standards as helpful guidance.
- If you own, lease or operate a place of public accommodation, do not deny a person with a disability the full and equal enjoyment of its goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations (42 U.S.C. 12182(a)).
- Take the steps necessary to ensure that no person with a disability is excluded, denied services, segregated or treated differently because auxiliary aids and services are absent, unless the steps would fundamentally alter the goods or services or be an undue burden (28 CFR 36.303(a)).
- Furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services, which the rule lists to include accessible electronic and information technology, screen reader software and captioning, where necessary to ensure effective communication (28 CFR 36.303(b) and (c)(1)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text, as of . Also read by: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division (guidance, recorded ); Robles v. Domino's Pizza, LLC, 913 F.3d 898 (9th Cir. 2019) (recorded ).
If you get it wrong
Private right of actionYes
Penalty structure
Maximum civil penalty for a first violation in a civil action by the Attorney General, as adjusted for penalties assessed after ; the maximum for a subsequent violation is $236,451.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Fixed cap
- 118,225
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Private civil action under section 12188(a) of title 42; the Attorney General (U.S. Department of Justice) may sue for a pattern or practice of discrimination or a matter of general public importance under section 12188(b)
Settledness
The Department of Justice has no regulation setting out detailed web standards under Title III, and the Ninth Circuit applied the Act to a website and app that connect customers to the goods and services of a business's physical locations.
- As of
- Case link
- https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2019/01/15/17-55504.pdf
- Guidance link
- https://www.ada.gov/resources/web-guidance/
- Case citation
- Robles v. Domino's Pizza, LLC, 913 F.3d 898 (9th Cir. 2019)
- Guidance body
- U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division
- Open questions
- Does Title III reach the website or app of a business that has no physical place of public accommodation, a question the Ninth Circuit expressly left undecided?
What this law does
Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act bars discrimination on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation. The Act lists the private entities that count as public accommodations when their operations affect commerce.
The Department of Justice's rule names accessible electronic and information technology and screen reader software among the auxiliary aids and services a public accommodation may have to provide. A public accommodation need not take a step that would fundamentally alter the nature of its goods or services or would result in an undue burden, meaning significant difficulty or expense.
The Department of Justice's March 2022 guidance on web accessibility says the Department has no regulation setting out detailed standards and that its longstanding interpretation of the nondiscrimination and effective communication provisions applies to web accessibility. The guidance names the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and the Section 508 Standards as existing technical standards that provide helpful guidance.
A person being subjected to discrimination in violation of Title III has the remedies and procedures of section 2000a-3(a) of title 42. In a civil action by the Attorney General the court may assess a civil penalty not exceeding $50,000 for a first violation and $100,000 for any subsequent violation. The Department of Justice's 2025 inflation adjustment sets the first-violation maximum at $118,225 for penalties assessed after . The same adjustment sets the subsequent-violation maximum at $236,451.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app ships a consumer interface.