Thread by @jmspool

This is big.

That pesky 9th District Court just ruled in Robles v Domino’s that the ADA applies to web sites.

Courts can now order companies to make their sites WCAG 2.0 compliant.

lflegal.com/2019/01/domino…

With courts now seeing that web site accessibility applies to ADA penalties, we’ll see some big changes in behavior.

The first will likely come when insurance companies raise rates for any company that doesn’t meet WCAG compliance. (That’s to avoid paying large settlements.)

This will create a bigger market for compliance certification firms. Insurance companies will demand certification sign-off to give preferred premiums.

This will likely push companies to require WCAG understanding from the designers they hire.

It’s possible there will be tests.

In the short term, we’ll likely see higher demand for UX professionals with specialized knowledge in accessibility.

In the long term, this knowledge will be required for all UX professionals. The demand for specialists will likely decrease as it becomes common practice.

Also, toolkits, frameworks, and other standard platforms will build accessibility in.

This will also reduce the demand for specialists, as it will become more difficult to build things that aren’t accessible.

Good, accessible design will become the path of least resistance.