55.565.
(a) Statutory damages under subdivision (a) of either Section 52 or Section 54.3 shall only be recovered against an entity based upon the inaccessibility of an internet website developed, procured, maintained, or used by that entity if the internet website fails to provide equally effective communication or facilitate full and equal enjoyment of the entity’s goods and services to all members of the public, including any member of the public who is a person with a disability.
(b) To be entitled to statutory damages for internet website inaccessibility, a plaintiff shall prove one of the following:
(1) That the plaintiff personally encountered a specific barrier that caused the plaintiff to experience a difference in the plaintiff’s ability to access or use the internet website as compared to other users such that the plaintiff was unable to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, or enjoy the same services with substantially equivalent ease of use, or to have the same level of privacy and independence as other users who are not persons with a disability.
(2) That the plaintiff was deterred from accessing all or part of the internet website or the content of the internet website because of the internet website’s failure to provide equally effective communication or to facilitate full and equal enjoyment of the entity’s goods and services offered to the public.
(c) (1) An entity’s internet website is presumed to provide equally effective communication and to facilitate full and equal enjoyment of the entity’s goods and services to all members of the public for the purpose of determining whether an award of statutory damages is warranted under subdivision (a) of Section 52 or 54.3 if both of the following criteria are satisfied:
(A) The internet website has a certification by a professional reviewer that all of the following are true:
(i) The internet website is designed and intended to conform to the internet website-related accessibility standard.
(ii) The internet website has been tested, in both an automated manner and a manual manner by qualified users, and has been determined to conform to the internet website-related accessibility standard.
(iii) All third-party content that is available on the entity’s internet website by means of a link from the internet website and that allows members of the public to access, view, utilize, conduct transactions with respect to, or in any other way interact with, the entity or the entity’s goods, services, or presentations, has been tested, in both an automated and manual manner, and has been determined to conform to the internet website-related accessibility standard.
(B) The certification described in subparagraph (A) meets all of the following requirements:
(i) The certification is made within the prior 12 months or after revisions to the internet website that impact accessibility, whichever is more recent, and is based on a review that includes testing by qualified users.
(ii) The certification is posted, or available by means of a clearly marked link, on the home page of the entity’s internet website.
(iii) The certification includes a statement from the professional reviewer explaining how that person qualifies to be a professional reviewer. If the professional reviewer is not a Certified Professional in Web Accessibility (CPWA) with a certificate issued by the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP), the professional reviewer shall list the type of certification that person has obtained from another source of professional training for front-end internet website developers, as well as the criteria for issuance of that certificate, in order to demonstrate that the criteria are equivalent to, or higher than, the requirements for the issuance of a CPWA certificate.
(2) The presumption set forth in paragraph (1) affects the plaintiff’s burden of proof. Upon the defendant establishing by a preponderance of the evidence that the criteria set forth in paragraph (1) are satisfied and that the entity’s internet website is therefore presumed to provide equally effective communication and to facilitate full and equal enjoyment of the entity’s goods and services to all members of the public, the plaintiff may rebut the presumption with clear and convincing evidence, showing that, notwithstanding the presumption set forth in paragraph (1), the elements of one of the violations set forth in subdivision (b) are established.
(3) A defendant who qualifies for the presumption set forth in paragraph (1) is entitled to seek a court stay and early evaluation conference, as described in Section 55.54.
(4) The Judicial Council may adopt a form, or modify its existing forms, to implement this section. Before the Judicial Council promulgates a modified form, an entity covered by this part and served with an action regarding an internet website may use or adapt the existing form implementing Section 55.54.
(d) This section does not do any of the following:
(1) Limit the rights and remedies available to persons with a disability under federal law, or any other state law.
(2) Affect whether an entity is responsible under either Section 51 or 51.5 for making its premises accessible to all members of the public, including persons with a disability and including by means of accessing and using the entity’s internet website.
(3) Resolve, or otherwise address, whether an internet website that is a standalone website-only business and not associated with a business that has a physical location in California is subject to liability under Sections 51, 54, and 54.1.
(4) Establish a presumption of liability, affect the burden of proof, or otherwise impact a court’s determination of liability if the presumption established in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) does not apply or if a plaintiff does not seek statutory damages.
(5) (A) Subject to subparagraph (B), require an entity to conform to the internet website-related accessibility standard or impose liability upon the entity for the inaccessibility of an internet website or resource that is accessed by any links that navigate the user from the entity’s internet website to a third-party internet website.
(B) An entity shall comply with both of the following:
(i) An entity shall not unduly rely on links to third-party resources as a means of evading its responsibility to provide an internet website that provides equally effective communication and facilitates full and equal enjoyment of the entity’s goods and services to all members of the public, including any member of the public who is a person with a disability.
(ii) If a user is required, in order to access, view, utilize, conduct transactions with respect to, or in any other way interact with the business of the entity or the entity’s goods, services, or presentations via the internet, to utilize a link to third-party content, the entity shall ensure that the third-party content complies with the internet website-related accessibility standard.
(6) Demonstrate an intent by the Legislature, in enacting this section, to deprive or limit the exercise of jurisdiction by federal courts over state law claims brought in conjunction with any federal claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.) or other federal law.
(e) For purposes of this section:
(1) “Conform” means that the entity’s internet website, taking into account the variety of conforming implementations, meets the criteria specified by the applicable internet website-related accessibility standard. For purposes of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA standard for the accessibility of internet websites established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Accessibility Guidelines Working Group on June 5, 2018, an entity conforms to that standard if the entity’s internet website meets all of the Success Criteria set forth in the standard, except if conformance to the standard is either not necessary or not possible due to the nature of the data sought to be presented on the internet website, and any instance of nonconformance does not impact the ability of a person with a disability to acquire information, engage in interactions, and enjoy the services of the entity’s internet website with an ease of use and level of privacy that is substantially equivalent to the experience of other users who are not persons with a disability.
(2) “Entity” means a business establishment that is open to the public, a public place, or a place of public accommodation or any other business or place that is subject to the provisions of Sections 51, 54, or 54.1.
(3) “Internet website” includes all internet web-based technology, including, but not limited to, a mobile site or application, or an app, that can be accessed by a mobile device or other electronic device.
(4) “Internet website-related accessibility standard” means the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA standard for the accessibility of internet websites established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Accessibility Guidelines Working Group on June 5, 2018, or the accessibility standards for Section 508 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 794d) in Part 1194 of Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations. To the extent that there is a difference or conflict between the applicable standards for internet websites under WCAG 2.1 Level AA and standards for information or communication technology under Section 508 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the more recent WCAG 2.1 Level AA standard shall apply, unless a more stringent update, revision, or replacement to the accessibility standards for Section 508 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 794d) in Part 1194 of Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations is adopted by any final rule of the federal United States Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board after the date of the enactment of this section, in which case, that final rule shall apply to this section.
(5) “Professional reviewer” means an expert in internet website design and accessibility who has a professional certificate in internet website accessibility issued by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), a certificate as a Certified Professional in Web Accessibility (CPWA) issued by the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP), or a certification issued by another source of professional training for front-end internet website developers with criteria for issuance that are equivalent to, or higher than, the requirements for the issuance of a CPWA certificate.
(f) This section applies to any civil action filed on or after January 1, 2024.
