The ADA issues at play in the lawsuit largely stem from ADA claims against websites.

It’s a real issue where some small business makes a non-ADA compliant website and gets shaken down by sketchy law firms that hire disabled people to be straw plaintiffs (AKA “testers”) to find websites that are in violation.

From the article:

The ADA permits a plaintiff challenging a violation of this rule to obtain an injunction requiring a non-compliant hotel to fix its website, and it allows that plaintiff to have their attorney’s fees paid by the defendant if the plaintiff prevails in court. But the plaintiff may not obtain money damages if they prevail.

So some small business has to fix their website that the “tester” never would have used on their own, and they have to pay the law firm that hired the tester’s legal fees too. And then the law firm pays the tester.

The ADA is a pre-internet rule, and its enforcement mechanism and regulations around have never been updated for the digital age, so scummy lawyers are making a killing off it.

For the record, the solution is easy: update the ADA like disability advocates have been calling for ages.