Peter Blanck, Chairman of the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University, was quoted on ADA and the internet in the OneZero October 10, 2019 article “A Case Against Domino’s Reveals a Slice of the Internet’s Accessibility Issues.” The pizza giant is matched against a blind customer advocating for a better digital world.
EXCEPT FROM ARTICLE: “[The high number of lawsuits] is not unique to the ADA, and lawyers will be lawyers,” said Peter Blanck, a lawyer and professor at Syracuse University who wrote the book eQuality: The Struggle for Web Accessibility by Persons with Cognitive Disabilities. “It doesn’t mean you throw the baby out with the bathwater.” Blanck added that plaintiffs cannot receive damages under ADA, and that most seek injunctive relief, which orders a defendant to change their behavior.
In 1990, when ADA was enacted, World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee had only just created the first web browser. But despite its newness, lawmakers were soon pondering how the internet would comply with the ADA. In the 1990s, Blanck testified before Congress about this very issue. With a Merriam-Webster dictionary in hand, he argued that “places of public accommodation” should also include cyberspaces.
“Domino’s has a website whereby people order pizzas and arguably there’s no ‘physical connection’ to the store because unless you pick it up, it’s a purely virtual experience like Uber Eats,” Blanck told OneZero. But because that interpretation is incongruent with how many of us now live — overwhelmingly online — case law around ADA and the internet has steadily evolved in the circuit courts, with the general consensus being that if a business’s website has a physical analog then it should also be covered by the legislation.
More information about Peter Blanck
bbi.syr.edu/about/team/Leadership_Team/Peter_Blanck.html
More information about the book eQuality
bbi.syr.edu/news_events/news/2014/09/Blanck_2014_eQuality_2.html
About the Burton Blatt Institute
The Burton Blatt Institute (“BBI”) at Syracuse University reaches around the globe in its efforts to advance the civic, economic, and social participation of people with disabilities. Through program development, research, and public policy guidance, BBI advances the full inclusion of people with disabilities. BBI builds on the legacy of Burton Blatt, a pioneering disability rights scholar. BBI has offices in Syracuse, NY; Washington, DC; Atlanta, GA; New York City, NY; and Lexington, KY. bbi.syr.edu