UserWay’s Online Accessibility Legal Support Program

Get The Help You Need to Address and Respond to Demand Letters or Legal Complaints 

From assessing the quality and validity of claims to tailoring your accessibility action plan, UserWay’s legal support team is with you every step of the way. We work closely with you and your legal counsel to help ensure a successful outcome. And when necessary, our support includes drawing and articulating a response based on examined facts.

Did You Know?
Settling a claim doesn’t prevent another complainant from suing you on the same basis. That’s why UserWay’s tools and services are essential to help you achieve compliance and not just ignore or settle claims. But not surprisingly, it’s the people behind UserWay’s Legal Support Program that drive our continued success in this area. 

Legal Support Powered By People
See more about our team’s credentials below.

Shira Grossman, Head of Legal Affairs and Innovation 

Shira, leader of our Legal Support Program, is a digital accessibility strategist with over 20 years of experience as a commercial and employment litigator. In addition, she has several years of experience handling web accessibility defense matters. There are 21 court and regulatory opinions, including many cases appearing in the New York Law Journal and national publications, that demonstrate her related expertise. 

Dr. Lionel Wolberger, COO

Dr. Wolbger is a W3C Accessibility Platform Architect who co-chairs accessibility standards on the international body that codifies W3C specifications. Notably, international accessibility regulations such as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act reference these specifications. 

Raghavendra Satish Peri, Director of Accessibility
Raghavendra is IAAP Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) and has previously worked at IBM.  He is an expert user of assistive technology and a leading advocate in the blind community.

In the event of receiving a demand letter or complaint, the program progresses through the following stages as needed:

1. Assessment of claim quality and validity; 
2. Critical actions for immediate mitigation (e.g., accessibility statement);
3. Expert team opinion to inform your official response to the complainant; 
4. A video screen-share recording proving that the site is accessible;
5. Statement of compliance (these statements deter the vast majority of claims, as they establish the claim is baseless); and
6. Advice on putting a long-term accessibility action plan in place

Who Qualifies for Free LSP Assistance?

Any existing UserWay customer who implements the AI-Powered Widget per the required specifications before the earliest date in any demand letter or any type of legal action is eligible free of charge. But if the lawsuit is filed, and the letter is received without a lawsuit or summons, new UserWay, AI-Powered Widget customers (deployed after any earliest date in a claim/demand letter,) must pay a fee.

Did You Know?
A prompt invocation of the LSP program can moot or render immaterial most claims, causing most complainants to abandon their demands or withdraw their complaints without further action. 

An LSP response includes:

1. Assessment of claim quality: A handful of plaintiff’s law firms generate most digital accessibility-related demand letters and lawsuits, and the quality differs sharply across firms and complainants. Of course, it’s easier to show a claim is easily defeated if the work is sloppy. UserWay’s lack of claim quality assessment has led to many abandoned demands and immediately withdrawn lawsuits.
2. Assessment of claim validity: Each independent allegation is extracted from the demand letter or complaint. Copy/paste allegations differentiate from specific, new claims based on UserWay’s extensive database of hundreds of such letters and lawsuits. The allegations are ranked by priority and assessed by their validity compared to the online content. Our expert team sets them against the true meaning of the proper WCAG 2.0 AA or 2.1 AA success criteria. Allegations are often based on an erroneous interpretation of this complex standard. Other times, an allegation may be based on a temporary network error and is, in fact, not reproducible. In addition, the latest insights that interpret relevant case law and regulations are included, often providing the critical analysis that speaks against the claim.
3. A managed accessibility review of your content: UserWay’s experts review the accessibility remediations on your sites. We use our AI-Powered Accessibility Widget or Real Time Scanning and Monitoring to ensure suggestions are evaluated and approved as needed.
4. An accelerated audit of your online content: UserWay’s manual audits are industry-leading reviews of your website’s WCAG 2.1 AA compliance in various browsers, operating systems, and assistive technologies such as NVDA, JAWS, voice-over, and more. In addition, the LSP program applies a laser-focused micro-audit that focuses on the main business paths and the alleged allegations against your content.
5. A website advisory to support your response: You and your counsel receive a document that lists everything above and more, including:

• A video recording that shows the site is accessible to a blind person using assistive technology
• A compliance statement showing what UserWay’s products and your team are doing to remediate and prevent violations

Did you know?

Just thirty law firms are responsible for the vast majority of the thousands of web accessibility violation claims and lawsuits filed nationally. UserWay tracks these firms closely and has settlement details in our proprietary database that are unavailable to the general public.

The full LSP report: what and why?

A human-in-the-loop managed accessibility audit of the site.

• Purpose: To ensure all UserWay AI-Powered Accessibility Widget remediations that require customer human-in-the- loop approval have been duly approved and implemented.

A line-by-line response to the specific allegations in the complaint detailing digital inaccessibility.

• Purpose: This most frequently shows the scenario is either not present or is not reproducible.

A video of a blind person using a screen reader to navigate the customer site.

• Purpose: Demonstrate the usability of the online content in question and the lack of barriers to a person with proper intent to use the website.

Scanner results: overall.

• Purpose: Demonstrate a lack of barriers to access.

Additional media custom scan: detailed.

• Purpose: Detect PDF files, text-rich images, or pre-recorded video, and provide an advisory on how to remediate related accessibility issues.

Custom advice on tailoring the site’s accessibility statement.

• Purpose: Deter any current or future complaints and optionally third-party document products on the site that the site owner cannot currently remediate.

Guidance on the legal issues involved.

• Purpose: Arm your counsel with the latest interpretations of accessibility case law and regulations, such as the need to demonstrate complainant intent.

Review of responses to the complainant.

• Purpose: Ensure any citations regarding UserWay’s solutions and field of expertise, particularly citations of WCAG 2.0 and 2.1 guidelines, are correct and accurate.

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do I need to hire a lawyer? 

A: Yes, the LSP program will give you an Accessibility Expert’s opinion but doesn’t replace the need for having counsel address the claim.

Q: Do you have any law firms you recommend?

A: Yes, we have a list of lawyers/law firms with digital accessibility experience available upon request. Please note that we have no affiliation with any lawyer or law firm.

Q: Will UserWay write or handle communications with the complainant and their law firm? 

A: No. UserWay will only communicate with the UserWay customer or with UserWay’s customer-appointed counsel.

Q: Is doing nothing/not responding an option?

A: We strongly recommend responding as soon as possible to moot/negate any claim. Lack of response is not advisable and leads to further legal action and a potential judgment in most cases. 

Q: Does the LSP program cover my website upon installing a single line of `JavaScript?

A: Once the Pro Widget is running on your website, you must access the “Manage” section of the widget and review the remediations monthly to review and edit the AI-Powered remediations. 

Q: Does the free widget have LSP program coverage?

A: No, the free widget does not include LSP program coverage and is not WCAG or ADA compliant.

Contact us today to learn more about UserWay’s Legal Support Program and suite of accessibility solutions.

Author

Michelle Reid

Michelle is a seasoned Senior Content Writer at UserWay, where she crafts thought-provoking articles centered around digital accessibility, inclusivity, and the legal frameworks that govern them. With a Master’s in Creative Writing, Michelle brings a rich diversity to her writing portfolio, which spans theatre, music, poetry, and whitepapers on digital transformation in both public and private sectors. Her commitment to nurturing creativity is evident in her role as a facilitator of creative writing workshops, where she has guided aspiring writers in developing their voices. Michelle’s work is not only informative but also inspirational, positioning her as a key influencer in the dialogue on making digital spaces accessible to everyone.

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