Joshua Stein Quoted in "Website Accessibility and ADA: Don't Wait for DOJ to Regulate to Get Compliant"

Three areas where inaccessible technology can create problems for employers are job applications, technology necessary for employees to perform essential job functions and employee portals, noted Joshua A. Stein of Epstein, Becker & Green, P.C.

Stein co-chairs the ADA and Public Accommodations Group in the firm's New York office and advises businesses on ADA and FMLA compliance issues.

Given the significant restrictions the ADA places on employers' ability to obtain medical information or to conduct medical testing prior to extending an offer of employment, "employers have to be very careful about creating some sort of online application system that, because of its inaccessibility, might have the de facto effect of identifying applicants as disabled during the preoffer stage," said Stein. Thus, if an employer only puts its application process online, then "it's going to need to be via an accessible platform" so as not to force an applicant to disclose his or her status as a person with a disability prior to the time Title I allows the employer to have that information, he explained.