The Practicon Viewpoint by Ann Page Griffin

YOUR WEBSITE AND AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT REGULATIONS

As far-fetched as it may seem, regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed into law in 1990, now affect your practice website. The demand that public websites meet ADA standards came in summer 2017 via a U.S. District Court ruling in southern Florida that Winn Dixie Grocery Company violated the ADA by having a website which was not usable by a visually impaired customer. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiff.

The court's decision stated that inaccessibility of its website denied the customer "full and equal enjoyment of […] the services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations that Winn Dixie offers its sighted customers." Included in such services were ordering groceries online to be picked up at the store, ordering prescriptions from the store pharmacy, downloading store coupons, etc. Now—substitute the name of your dental practice for "Winn Dixie" in the statement above, and you'll understand the message this ruling sends concerning dental practice websites.

Title III of the ADA forbids discrimination based on disability in places of public accommodation that are generally open to the public, including dental and medical offices, restaurants, theaters, schools, recreation facilities, etc. The court ruling names a business website as a place of public accommodation because the website is a gateway to the business's physical location, office, store, school, theater, gym, etc.

What should you do to reduce the risk of a claim by a disabled patient or potential patient?

1. Educate yourself. The American Dental Association's Division of Legal Affairs has sent information, a white paper, to all state dental societies describing website compliance to ADA regulations. Obtain a copy from your state dental society to understand all steps necessary to decrease the risk of a claim.
2. Check with your website designer or administrator to determine if your site is fully accessible to disabled people under the conditions demanded in the ADA.
3. Disable your practice website if it cannot be re-designed immediately to accommodate the disabled, including installation of screen reader software for the visually impaired and an accessibility link directing the disabled to a webpage instructing them of action to take if some facet of your website is inaccessible. Reactivate your website only after it is made fully accessible under ADA guidelines.

For more information, the American Dental Association has published an excellent resource, A Dentist's Guide to the Law: 228 Things Every Dentist Should Know, which includes a section on the American with Disabilities Act's requirements on website development. Order online or call 1-800-947-4746.