Some people look at a law firm's website and see a directory of lawyers' bios and contact information. Others see Americans with Disabilities Act violations ripe for litigation.

Despite likely employing lawyers well-versed in the ADA, many law firms aren't dedicating resources to ensure their website is ADA compliant. Observers say a false sense of compliance and placing the website as a low priority are the key factors fueling the disengagement.

Defense attorneys have noted a steep increase in ADA violation lawsuits targeting companies' websites. Plus, a few plaintiffs attorneys are adding trespass claims to their ADA suits, arguing that screen readers don't verbalize cookie consent on websites.

Despite the uptick, Moses & Singer intellectual property partner Gregory Shatan said many law firms wait until they are served a complaint or demand letter to address their website's accessibility.

"I would say the vast amount of law firm websites have substantial ADA violations," Shatan said. Still, he has seen a slow improvement.

"I've had a few clients that decided web accessibility was inherently a good thing they should achieve, but a vast majority have come to me after they've received a demand or a complaint was filed against them," he said.

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough is one of Shatan's clients. However, as COVID-19 spreads across the U.S., Nelson Mullins decided to pause its progress plan after its webmaster became occupied updating their resources page, said the firm's marketing director, Beth Huffman. Still, Nelson Mullins plans to enhance the website's accessibility, Huffman said.

The recent uptick in professionals working remotely and leveraging cloud- and internet-based platforms highlights the need for web portals and websites to be accessible for all, observers noted.

"We in the last week have seen a huge push to work online, and we will be reliant on internet presence and those law firms that close themselves off to a portion of the market, it won't be good for their brand and in the long term good for their business," said Lawrence Shaw, CEO of compliance management service AAAtraq, which last week launched an automated ADA compliance platform.

Despite regulations requiring accessibility, many law firms view their websites as cost centers, and obtaining outside resources to work on accessibility is difficult, said Victoria Silecchia, marketing & partnerships vice president of law firm website design company Zola Creatives. In turn, efforts may unknowingly fall short of ADA compliance, she noted

To be sure, many law firms have legacy content on their websites that's difficult to make accessible for all, Shatan explained. That content includes PowerPoint presentations, PDFs and other files linked to a lawyer's bio. Law firms can also struggle with adding alternative tags describing non-decorative photos and properly labeling buttons and menus, he said.

While some firms and companies may get stuck on the color contrast, font weight and other technicalities of being compliant, Shatan argued usability should be a firm's biggest concern.

"What's more important is that a person navigating the site will be able to accomplish what they want to accomplish. That is a fuzzier concept but what you should be shooting for in the long run."