The City of Leesburg is revamping its website to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. City commissioners last week voted to spend up to $100,000 to rework the site after settling a lawsuit alleging documents weren’t accessible to blind people. Specifically, the suit said, the documents weren’t compatible with text-to-voice assistive technology. Joel Price, a legally blind Daytona Beach man, filed suit in January, saying the city denied “his fundamental right to observe and participate in the democratic process of self-government,” according to court documents. The city settled for $7,500 in April and agreed to fix the website within 12 months. To do that, the city will have to update the program that publishes its board agendas and bring existing content on the site up to compliance. Commissioners also voted last week to hire a contractor to do that. Leesburg isn’t alone. Price has brought ADA suits against scores of cities including Ocala, Orlando and Clearwater as well as Marion, Sumter and Lake Counties, among others, according to court documents.
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