Pizza Today - May 2020 - 44

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Online
Accessibility
As ADA lawsuits related to
website accessibility climb,
pizzerias are put on notice
S TORY DANIE L P. SM I TH

D

on Reddin and his
colleagues at Pizza My
Heart weren't taking
any chances.
Already interested in improving the accessibility of their
26-unit, California-based pizzeria's
redesigned website, those efforts
accelerated and intensified as a
lawsuit against Domino's captured
headlines and the attention of the
U.S. Supreme Court. A blind man
had sued the national pizza chain
after he was unable to order food
on its website and mobile app
despite the use of screen-reading
software. Reddin feared the legal
repercussions if Pizza My Heart
ever encountered a similar lawsuit
as well as the potential brand
damage such action could inflict,
especially given how much Pizza

ADA in the digital
world
While restaurant owners are keenly aware of the
American with Disabilities
Act (ADA) in respect to
a store's physical environMy Heart's Bay Area clientele
ment - wheelchair ramps,
prizes inclusivity.
handicapped parking spaces
"The Domino's lawsuit shuffled
and the like - many are only
around our priorities," says Reddin, recently recognizing ADA's
Pizza My Heart's chief marketing
place in the digital world
officer.
as well, largely the result of
Working with BentoBox, a lead- mounting litigation. Some
ing builder of restaurant websites,
2,250 website accessibility
Pizza My Heart unveiled a comlawsuits were filed in 2019,
mercially viable website that met
according to BentoBox estikey accessibility criteria, posted an
mates. That's approximately
accessibility statement online and
one lawsuit every four hours
reviewed accessibility with its third- - and a figure accelerating
party partners - a multi-tiered
year over year.
effort to improve accessibility and
"We're seeing this rise bemitigate risk.
cause the website is the first
"Opening yourself up to this type place so many interact with
of legal risk is not something you
a brand and where so much
want to do as a business," Redcommerce happens," explains
din says. "We weren't going to sit
Shawn Pike, president of
around and wait."
User1st, a Washington,
D.C.-based company that

helps businesses improve web
accessibility.
To be certain, the lawsuit alone can be a costly
endeavor. BentoBox reports
that the average settlement
for these lawsuits is approximately $16,000, a figure that
includes neither legal fees
nor the cost of website accessibility upgrades.
Given how much pizzerias
lean on their websites and
mobile apps to drive business
and the bullseye restaurants
naturally wear - only retail
operations have endured
more website accessibility
lawsuits than the hospitality
sector - ignoring digital accessibility stands a particularly perilous move.
"You're talking time, energy and money to respond
to a lawsuit, not to mention
the brand and [public relations] risk," Pike says.
Yet more, there are almost
certainly consumers who

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Pizza Today - May 2020

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