The Lives, Faces, and Stories Behind the ADA: Beyond the Cases: 26 Years of the ADA | PDF
Settlement Agreement: YMCA of the Triangle
Website Accessibility Regulations Delayed: the Wait Continues
The National Law Review
Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires a “place of public accommodation” to ensure its goods and services are equally accessible to individuals with disabilities; Title II imposes similar requirements on public entities. DOJ has taken the position that a website is within the scope of Title III so long as it provides goods and services within one of categories of public accommodations listed in the ADA. That, in turn, would mean that entities maintaining such websites are required to ensure they are accessible.
Ensuring accessibility, however, is not a straightforward task. The ADA was implemented prior to the advent of the internet as we know it today, and its regulations do not address how a place of public accommodation might ensure its website is accessible to individuals with disabilities. Although guidelines such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) have been developed, these privately developed standards are not binding law and an entity relying on such guidelines may not necessarily rest easy. While the DOJ believes that the WCAG should be the standard for Web content, due to the lack of clear guidance courts have assessed websites’ accessibility on a case-by-case basis, causing businesses inherent uncertainty as it relates to potential legal exposure.
That uncertainty seemed likely to dissipate when on July 26, 2010, the DOJ published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) titled “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability; Accessibility of Web Information and Services of State and Local Government Entities and Public Accommodations.” In its ANPRM, the DOJ announced it was considering revising Title II and III regulations to include specific requirements for making websites accessible to individuals with disabilities.
In the fall of 2015, after reviewing the approximately 400 comments received in response to its ANPRM, the DOJ announced its plan to develop separate rules regarding website accessibility under Title II and Title III. The DOJ intended to publish the Title II Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) “early in fiscal year 2016”; the Title III NPRM was expected to be published during fiscal year 2018.
It seems the much-anticipated clarity will have to wait. On April 29, 2016, the DOJ published a Supplemental Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SANPRM), in which it announced its decision to refine its proposal and seek further public comment. The SANPRM’s title mirrors that of its earlier ANPRM publication, and specifically seeks further comment in regard to the proposed changes to the Title II regulations. The comment period closes August 8, 2016.
With the publication of this SANPRM, the light at the end of the tunnel seems to have faded – at least for now. Places of public accommodation maintaining websites subject to Title III will have to continue to wait on the guidance they have been so desperately seeking.
Advocates for the Blind Sue Over Wi-Fi Kiosks
Wall Street Journal
New York City’s public Wi-Fi kiosks aren’t sufficiently accessible to blind people, according to claims made in a lawsuit filed Thursday by attorneys representing advocates for the disabled.
The Wi-Fi kiosks replacing pay phones throughout the city violate the federal American with Disabilities Act, said Michelle Caiola, managing attorney for the group, Disability Rights Advocates. The kiosks lack the audio cues and software necessary for a blind person to use the devices independently, she said.
New ACA regulations require online accessibility
Employee Benefit Adviser
There has been a proliferation of ADA lawsuits alleging that websites are not accessible to the blind or deaf. Individuals who are blind or have low vision may require assistive devices and specialized software to access the Internet. These devices often include software that enables them to magnify the content of a web page, reads the content to them, or enables them to use a braille reader to read a website. Some individuals with disabilities cannot use a mouse and can only navigate with a keyboard, touchscreen, or voice recognition software. For persons with hearing impairments, the visual aspects of a website are accessible, but audio on a website may not be.
While we continue to wait for new regulations for state, federal, and private websites, two new regulations from the Department of Health and Human Services suggest that health care provider websites must conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 AA in order not to discriminate against the disabled.
Visually Impaired Delegates Say The DNC's Accommodations Are Severely Lacking
BuzzFeed News
Visually impaired delegates told BuzzFeed News the Democratic National Convention has done a dismal job of accommodating them, despite the party boasting about the event’s accessibility.
'Something's Wrong': Accessibility Issues Frustrate DNC Attendees
NBC 10 Philadelphia
Five convention attendees shared their frustration about a lack of accommodations for them at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this week
Disabled Cop Continues Fight for Around-the-Clock Nursing Care
WorkCompCentral
The City of Syracuse has asked a judge to overturn his order requiring it to provide 24/7 in-home nursing care to a disabled police officer.
DOJ settlement ensures equal treatment for children with diabetes at NC YMCAs
WNCN
A Raleigh dad has been fighting for three years not just for the sake of his son’s health but other kids too.
The Department of Justice announced a settlement with the YMCA of the Triangle Thursday.
The settlement requires the YMCA to make several changes because of a case involving Bruce Hatcher’s diabetic son.
What worried Hatcher was that there wasn’t anyone around to treat his son in an emergency.
But the settlement is changing that.
Hatcher’s son Christian has been living with Type 1 diabetes since the child was a toddler.
“He could be hypoglycemic, and he could come into a coma. And, if you don’t have someone to treat that or understand that or recognize that, then it could be a real problem,” Hatcher said.
Three years ago, Hatcher said Christian’s after-school program, run by the YMCA of the Triangle, was violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.