Who tests the ADA testers?

ADA and digital accessibility litigation are full of claims filed by “testers.” How far should that be allowed to go?

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Testers are individuals who have no intention of ever buying the product or visiting the location the website revolves around.

Testers only visit websites or physical locations to determine whether or not they are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act or a soft target for a demand letter or lawsuit. They then pass their test results along to their associated law firm, which generates the official paperwork identifying the tester as the potential plaintiff.

A less nice term for “ADA tester” is “serial plaintiff” — some of these individuals are listed as plaintiffs on hundreds of lawsuits, with dozens being filed in a single day.

An even less nice term is troll. I can’t put the other terms I’ve heard used in a family publication.