RE: Undue Burden and AOL

>> I'm not a lawyer, so I don't give legal opinions. However, I would
oppose any laws that require me to do something if it will hurt my
company substantially, and I stand by that opinion while still fully
supporting the idea of universal accessibility. . . . I believe
accessibility is right, but I don't believe that you have the right to
drive me out of business despite my good faith efforts to do as much
as I can to make my site (or building) accessible. <<

Kynn,

You are absolutely correct that no one has the right to drive you out
of business because of accessibility costs. If this happened you'd
have to blame it on an incompetent judge or your rotten lawyer because
the ADA specifically prohibits it. Businesses are only required to
make accommodations that are "reasonable" and that would not be an
"undue burden." These terms have more case law history than many
people think, but even in an unlitigated area like website commerce,
putting you out of business or even hurting your business
"substantially" would not be legal.


Guy M. Fisher

Cleveland, Ohio
guy@squeakywheel.org

Received on Wednesday, 24 November 1999 00:42:07 UTC