Accessibility Laws

[Author: Bill Fischer]

Overview

Legally, it is required for 'places of public accommodation', educational institutions, government and federally funded organizations are required to comply with the regulations listed below. There has been a general lack of awareness and compliance by media creators. This is especially true in the public-sector web space. Accessibility rights advocacy groups have been ramping up lawsuits in an attempt to drive compliance. UsableNet's accessibility lawsuit report (external link) provides an excellent snapshot of the current state of the activity. Photo Illustration by Bill Fischer.


a photo of 2 lawyers built from legos

Title II & III of the ADA

Title II sets requirements for Local government, state government, private and public education. Title III sets requirements for places of public accommodation. These laws Prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability in all cases. This means media must meet WCAG 2.1 level AA requirements for electronic media. In general, “courses and examinations related to professional, educational, or trade-related applications, licensing, certifications, or credentialing must be provided in a place and manner accessible to people with disabilities, or alternative accessible arrangements must be offered”.

For commercial media, what constitutes a "place of public accommodation appears to be unsettled law. As explained in depth by the American Bar Association in its assessment of websites and Title III:

"Are websites covered by the ADA?: The answer depends on which federal Circuit Court of Appeals is answering the question and whether the business that owns the website has a physical place or location where it offers goods and/or service to the public. So far, the general agreement is that a website belonging to a business with a public-facing brick-and-mortar presence is covered by the ADA."

"What's Next?: Website accessibility law will continue to evolve—slowly. There are few appellate decisions, and each one prompts a flurry of questions from businesses eager for more guidance in this uncertain landscape. A few things are clear, however. Plaintiffs will continue to file lawsuits. They are pushing for coverage of sites that only provide information (e.g., news and pharmaceutical websites), investor-facing websites, B2B websites and websites unconnected to physical locations where goods and services are offered. Plaintiffs are also expanding their lawsuits to other digital assets, such as mobile apps and games. These areas are all uncharted territories ready to be mined by industrious lawyers and plaintiffs. Digital accessibility is here to stay, and businesses should proactively consider accessibility when acquiring, building and maintaining all digital assets."

These quotes are from a comprehensive analysis from the American Bar Association (external link)

The Title III Definition of "Place of Public Accommodation"

Places of Public Accommodation are defined on the ADA website as: businesses that are generally open to the public and that fall into one of 12 categories listed in the ADA:



Rules for Federal Agencies and Funded Organizations

Rehabilitation Act Section 504

Requires federal departments, agencies, and public schools to ensure accessibility of their “electronic and information technology” to individuals with disabilities unless to do so would result in an undue burden, in which case multiple modes of access can be employed (see below). Aids, benefits, and services must be “equally effective”—i.e., they must provide persons with disabilities “an equal opportunity to obtain the same result, gain the same benefit, or reach the same level of achievement."

Rehabilitation Act Section 508

Federal departments and agencies, some state governments and educational institutions, and federal grant recipients, are required to meet WCAG 2.2 level AA requirements plus additional section 508 regulations, which were last update in 2018.  Websites, Multimedia mobile apps, and desktop multimedia will all need to comply or multiple modes of access will need to be offered. The three main components are:



FCC CVAA (21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act) 

Title I of the CVAA

Requires advanced communications services and products to be accessible by people with disabilities. This includes, for example, text messaging, e-mail, instant messaging, in-game, and video communications. It also requires access to web browsers on mobile devices by people who are blind or visually impaired.

Title II of the CVAA

Requires television programming that is repurposed for online delivery to have captioning and audio descriptions available. It does not cover user-generated content (e.g., YouTube videos posted by individuals). 



Legal Activity

Below are some of the important legal events that have defined the trajectory of media accessibility.