Herndon, Virginia-based Northwest Federal Credit Union prevailed Friday in a lawsuit brought against it over the accessibility of its website, according to documents filed in a Virginia District Court. 

District Judge Claude Hilton ruled that credit union websites are not public places of accommodation and that the plaintiff had no standing in the case because he wasn't eligible to join the credit union. 

"Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination in public accommodations based on disability. The statute provides for a list of entities that are considered public accommodations. Notably absent from the list is the term 'website,'" the court wrote. "Not only is 'website' not found on the list, but the statute does not list anything that is not a brick and mortar 'place.' Over the years Congress has extensively amended the ADA; however, at no point did Congress choose to add websites as a public accommodation."

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