1. The voluntary cessation doctrine
In ADA Title III website cases, defendants sometimes fix the site after being sued and then argue that the request for an injunction is moot. Under the voluntary cessation doctrine, stopping the challenged conduct does not by itself end a case. The party claiming mootness carries a “heavy burden”: it must be “absolutely clear that the allegedly wrongful behavior could not reasonably be expected to recur” (Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Envtl. Servs. (TOC), Inc., 528 U.S. 167, 189 (2000)). The Eleventh Circuit (federal courts in Florida, Georgia and Alabama) applied that standard in Sheely v. MRI Radiology Network, P.A., 505 F.3d 1173 (11th Cir. 2007).
2. What the court weighed in Sheely
Sheely concerned a blind patient with a guide dog at an imaging center, not a website, and arose under Title III of the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act. The court listed three factors it considers when a defendant says it has stopped the challenged conduct:
- Whether the challenged conduct was isolated or unintentional, as opposed to a continuing and deliberate practice.
- Whether the defendant’s cessation was motivated by a genuine change of heart or timed to anticipate suit.
- Whether, in ceasing the conduct, the defendant has acknowledged liability.
The court held that the case was not moot. How these factors apply to a particular website case is a question for the defendant’s counsel and the court.
3. Technical records counsel may find useful
A website changes often, so counsel may want records showing what changed, when, and whether the fixes held. We can provide:
1. Baseline snapshot
A dated capture of the live pages before any change (web archive, screenshots and response headers), with SHA-256 hashes of the captured files.
2. Staging remediation
Source-code fixes to WCAG 2.1 Level AA made on a separate staging copy and checked with automated axe-core comparisons before anything reaches production.
3. Technical documentation
A written record of the changes made, the automated scan results and the manual assistive-technology checks.
4. Monitoring records
Dated results from regular automated scans after launch, showing whether new content reintroduced issues.
Whether these records are relevant, and how to use them, is for your counsel to decide. Automated scans do not find every accessibility issue.
Need a baseline and documented remediation?
We record a baseline before any change, remediate on an isolated staging copy (typically 48–72 hours), and provide technical documentation for you and your counsel.
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