US Department of Justice Looks to Extend Website Accessibility Rights

State and Local Governments and Private Sector to be Included in New Regulations

Thank you for your continued support of HiSoftware. As your partner for accessibility we wanted to make you aware of news coming from Washington, DC which promises to impact how our customers address accessibility. On Friday, July 23, 2010, the United States Department of Justice issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to help inform the Department on new regulations clarifying how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) should apply to the internet and websites (see http://www.ada.gov/anprm2010.htm). 

The ADA has been described as the most important civil rights legislation since the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title II of the ADA requires state and local governments to ensure equal access to every program, service, or activity by qualified people with disabilities. Title III of the ADA applies broadly to almost every public-facing business and requires nondiscrimination towards people with disabilities. Both Title II and III include a myriad of requirements. For instance, both Titles include very specific standards for new construction and alterations of buildings. Violating Title II or III opens a business or state or local government to administrative complaints or lawsuits by private individuals or the Department of Justice. Private businesses sued by the Department frequently are required to pay civil penalties.

For several years, the Department of Justice has publicly indicated their interest in eventually clarifying the ADA’s coverage of websites—this ANPRM is the first step in the process. After a 180-day comment period, the Department will review the comments it has received and develop a more specific Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). Once this is issued, OMB regulations require an additional 90-day comment period. After the second comment period closes, the Department will issue its final regulations. Although many factors affect the timing of rulemaking, it would be prudent for organizations to prepare for new enforcement in one to two years.

When the new regulations are issued, they are likely to have a profound impact on private businesses and state and local governments. These regulations could have an impact similar to the accessibility standards for buildings with the result that all new or altered web content would be required to meet very stringent accessibility standards as soon as the content is posted. New regulations would also offer a yardstick that private advocates and the Department of Justice will apply to both private business and public sector websites.

There is existing litigation in this area as Target Corporation was sued by the National Federal of the Blind. The case was settled for an estimated $6 million, and included a number of contingencies around on-going automated monitoring and website scanning (See https://www.hisoftware.com/whitepapers/Targetwp.html). 

HiSoftware has worked with over 4,000 organizations including retail, financial services, healthcare, technology, higher education, state and local governments and most US Federal agencies to ensure website compliance within the current ADA Act. HiSoftware provides customers with automated testing, monitoring and auditing of their public facing websites and intranets for social computing and web content compliance issues including US and world-wide standards for accessibility.

In response to this significant announcement by the Department of Justice, HiSoftware plans to host a webinar on Wednesday, September 8th at 2:00pm EST to help our customers plan and prepare for the coming changes. Ken Nakata, HiSoftware’s Director of Accessibility Consulting Practices and a former 12-year veteran of the Disability Rights Section (the same office that is creating these groundbreaking new regulations), will provide insight into how these regulations will affect our customers. To learn more or to register for the Webinar go to www.hisoftware.com/events/ADAChangesWebinar.html. 

If you have immediate concerns on how these pending changes may affect your organization, please contact HiSoftware at +1.603.578.1870 or send an email to info@hisoftware.com.  To stay informed on the latest news on accessibility follow our blog www.accessibilitywatch.com. 

*This customer alert is for informational purposes only and intended to briefly discuss the significance of this ANPRM − and how customers can prepare for upcoming changes. The alert is not considered legal advice.