Businesses in South Carolina that serve the public fall under the Americans with Disabilities Act, particularly Title III, which requires equal access to the goods and services offered by places of public accommodation. Although the law was written in 1990 before modern websites existed, courts increasingly treat business websites as extensions of those services. If a customer cannot place an order, book a reservation, or schedule an appointment because the website does not work with assistive technology like screen readers, the barrier can become the basis of an ADA accessibility complaint. Many of these disputes appear in federal court through the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.
South Carolina also enforces disability protections through the South Carolina Human Affairs Law, which prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. The law does not define technical standards for website accessibility, so most accessibility disputes rely on the federal ADA and reference the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines as the working benchmark for accessible web design. Complaints usually focus on specific coding problems such as images without alt text, forms that screen readers cannot identify, navigation that requires a mouse, or scanned PDF documents that assistive software cannot read.
Frequently Asked Questions
Businesses that qualify as public accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act must provide equal access to their services. Courts often treat websites as part of those services when customers use the site to interact with a physical business location.
South Carolina does not have a statute specifically regulating private-sector website accessibility. Some legal complaints reference the South Carolina Human Affairs Law, but most cases rely on the federal ADA.
Most lawsuits and settlement agreements reference the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, usually WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
Common issues include missing alt text on images, form fields without labels, poor color contrast, navigation that cannot be used with a keyboard, and PDF documents uploaded as scanned images instead of readable text.
Accessibility testers often begin with automated scanning tools such as WAVE accessibility evaluation tool and axe DevTools, followed by manual testing using screen readers.
Healthcare providers, restaurants, hotels, retail businesses, and auto dealerships appear frequently because customers rely on their websites for appointments, reservations, online orders, or purchases.
Yes. Mobile apps connected to a business—such as restaurant ordering apps or retail shopping apps—can face accessibility complaints when disabled users cannot use them with assistive technology.
Demand letters typically describe accessibility barriers and request remediation. Many disputes end with settlement agreements requiring accessibility fixes and payment of attorney fees.
South Carolina sees fewer accessibility lawsuits than states such as California or New York, but demand letters and federal complaints still reach businesses in the state every year.
Costs vary widely. Smaller business websites may require several thousand dollars in development work, while large e-commerce platforms may require more extensive remediation and testing.
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