b'LEGALREPORTDespite uncertainty as to theof public accommodation, and therenoted in the article, A Tangled Web, manner or application of ADA to webappears no current momentum toby Amanda Roberts which appeared sites, the Department of Justice hasexpand the statute itself, leaving thein the July-August 2019 issue of ABA not engaged in definitional guidanceissue to the courts to decide. Journal. The emerging thinking of many or rule making. According to a recentCases finding the ADA to imposeobservers is that the integrated with American Bar Association (ABA)internet accommodation responsibili- the physical facility standard is likely Journal report, the number of ADAties generally have done so by reasoningto gain legal traction. That is, courts will Internet accessibility court fi lings havethat the online services are greatly inte- use the analysis of including a business increased from 57 in 2015, to overgrated with the physical store, suchInternet site in ADA coverage so long as 2000 in 2018. The following allegation,as when orders can be placed on linean argument can be made that the web excerpted from a case filed againstfor pick up at a physical location, assite is integrally related or integrated Winn-Dixie in 2018 is a good example of the content being observed in many complaints being brought by ADA plaintiffs against businesses maintain- EXCEED GLOBAL EMISSIONS STANDARDS ing commercial web-sites:Defendant has allegedly failed to design, construct, maintain, and operate its website to be fully accessible to and independent-ly usable by Plaintiff and other blind or visually impaired people. According to Plaintiff, visually-impaired customers cannot use a computer without the assis-tance of screen-reading software, which converts online content to an audio format. For this software to function, the informa-tion on a website must be capable of being rendered into text. Otherwise, visually impaired customers are unable to access the same content available to sighted users. The allegation is then made that the web-site sponsor has violated the ADA because the web site fails to allow important information to be rendered into a text format.The language of ADA provides little clarity in resolving this question. The ADA states that No individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the fall and equal enjoyment of the goods or services, facilities, privileges, advantages or ac-commodations of any place of public accommodation . . .42 U.S.C. 12182. The reference to any place of public accommodation would likely, toBuild your next ferry to exceed the upcoming global environmental the casual reader, imply applicationemssions standards. Operate a lightweight vessel equipped with to only physical brick-and-mortarhybrid or electric engines. Reduce your operating and maintenance venues. The ADA defi nitional sectioncosts while minimizing your environmental impact. defines public accommodation by listing twelve different physical facili- BUILD A CARBON FIBER FERRY.ties, ranging from hotels to parks, toLearn more about Americas only carbon T- and K-Class ferry builder:gymnasiums and to day care centers. Understandably, in 1990, there was nowww. ARCADIA-ALLIANCE .comreference to the Internet as a place AUGUST 2019FOGHORN 23'