ADA Violations in Palm Beach Gardens: Are Local Businesses Failing the Blind Community?

Whether you are shopping at Walmart or Who Foods or other big box stores, or frequenting small businesses in Palm Beach Gardens like Hoffman’s Chocolates or other local restaurants, you should be able to expect that you will have access to the same services as everyone else if you are blind or have low vision. Yet much too often, large and small businesses alike are failing customers with disabilities, including those who are blind. If you have had difficulty obtaining service because of accessibility issues at a local Palm Beach Gardens business, or if you have been turned away because you have a service animal, it is important to know that the business may be violating the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

You may be able to file an ADA claim. By doing so, you can hold the business accountable and ensure that it meets all ADA requirements for accessibility — for your own benefit, and for the benefits of others in your community who also have disabilities and are entitled to equal access. Our Palm Beach Gardens ADA violation lawyers can explain in more detail.

Local Palm Beach Gardens Businesses Must Comply with the ADA

It does not matter how small a business is — whether it is serving a couple of people in the community or thousands of people, it is likely required to comply with Title III of the ADA. Title III of the ADA requires all places of “public accommodation,” which means businesses and nonprofits that serve the public, must be ADA-accessible and must be in compliance with the ADA.

What does that mean, exactly? According to the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice, it means “businesses must provide people with disabilities an equal opportunity to access the goods or services that they offer.” More specifically, businesses must make reasonable accommodations, both in in-person business and online, so that their services and goods are accessible, and they must allow service animals.

When Local Palm Beach Businesses Fail the Blind Community

What are some common signs that a local business in Palm Beach Gardens may be failing blind customers or other customers with disabilities? The following are frequent indicators that a business has accessibility issues:

• Architectural barriers that prevent blind customers from finding their way to the ordering counter, or around the business;
• Having a “no pets” policy that includes service animals, and the business has denied entry or service to a blind person with a service animal;
• Store only allowing one person into a fitting room at a time without an accommodation for a customer with a disability;
• Signs in the business that are not readable by accessibility devices, or that do not have Braille; and
• Websites that are not compatible with screen readers.

Contact a Palm Beach Gardens ADA Violation Attorney Today 

If you believe a local business in the Palm Beach Gardens area is failing the blind community, you can take action. Our firm is committed to holding businesses accountable for ADA violations and to ensuring that local businesses are accessible to all customers and community members regardless of whether they are blind, have low vision, or have visible or invisible disabilities. One of the experienced Palm Beach Gardens ADA violation attorneys at Sconzo Law Office can speak with you today. Contact our firm to learn more about how we help members of the blind community in South Florida.

Source:

ada.gov/topics/title-iii/