Web Accessibility
ATAC Meeting November 13, 2012
Janet Jendron, SC Assistive Technology Program,
Assistive Technology Advisory
Committee (ATAC)
Janet.Jendron@uscmed.sc.edu
http://accessibility.sc.gov/
The LAWS
WebAIM Summary of US Laws
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Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
Americans with Disabilities Act - ADA
Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act IDEA
Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act
Web Accessibility and Individuals with
Disabilities in Postsecondary Education: The
Legal Issues - 2002
Dear Colleague……
US DOE, Office of Civil Rights
 US DOE OCR Dear Colleague Letter – January
2012
 FAQ about the Dear Colleague Letter - May 2011
 US DOE OCR Dear Colleague Letter – co-signed
by the Department of Justice - June 2010
 Questions and Answers about the Law, The
Technology, the Population Affected - June 2010
 US DOE Case Processing Manual
Important Phrases
 …equal access to the educational opportunities
and benefits provided to all students, the
alternative media must provide access to the
benefits of technology in an equally effective and
equally integrated manner.
 …afforded the opportunity to acquire the same
information, engage in the same interactions, and
enjoy the same services….
 …substantially equivalent ease of use…
Keeping an eye on things…
 Disability.gov – News and Events
 National Federation of the Blind
 U Illinois Chicago
 Law Office of Lainey Feingold
 US DOE OCR
DOJ Section 508 Report
DOJ Section 508 Report - September 2012
Survey Findings
 11 years after Section 508 regulations became law just over 50% of agency
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components had established a general policy to implement Section 508.
70% had a Section 508 coordinator, but only 35% had a Section 508 office or
program.
Of agencies with a Section 508 office or program the average staffing level
was 2.5 full-time equivalents (FTE) with a median budget of $35,000.
Just 40% of agencies provide training to their employees, with EIT
developers receiving a little over an hour of training in accessibility.
Agencies experienced difficulty establishing a mechanism to ensure EIT
used in a program or activity receiving federal financial assistance is
accessible to persons with disabilities.
Few agencies use specific, applicable requirements regarding procurement,
nor do they test vendors products for accessibility.
DOJ Section 508 Report
Complaints against Federal Agencies
 Federal agency components have received 140 administrative
complaints and 7 civil actions regarding Section 508 compliance.
 Just over 30% of agencies have procedures to receive complaints;
others use Section 504 processes to handle Section 508 complaints.
Regarding Website and PDF Accessibility
 70% of agency components reported accessibility policies for websites
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and claimed their sites were generally accessible.
28% reported routine automated/manual checking and remediation.
24% reported manual remediation.
Agencies reported PDF (along with video content) as most frequently
used content on their websites.
95.8% of federal websites surveyed used PDF files; majority of agency
components reported web accessibility policies addressing the use of
PDF files.
Some Lawsuits/Complaints
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February 2006 - August 2008 - Target Law Suit Settlement – ADA
July 2009 - Small Business Administration – 508
August 2009 - Social Security Administration – 508
October 2009 - US Department of Education – 508
May 2010 - National Federation of the Blind Files Complaints Against Nine
Law Schools - ADA, Section 504
June 2010 - NFB and Blind Students Sue Four CA Law Schools Over
Online Applications - ADA and CA State laws
October 2010 - Unfriendly Skies? Blind Passengers Sue United : NPR –
ADA
October 2010 - Accessibility Lawsuit Filed Against JetBlue Airways - Law
Office of Lainey Feingold – ADA
November 2010 - National Federation of the Blind Files Complaint Against
Penn State – ADA
February 2011 - Class Action Lawsuit Against Disney Alleges Inaccessible
Websites. Lawsuit Against Disney For Lack Of Accessibility - ADA
July 2011 - Disability Policy Consortium filed suit against MassHealth
Lawsuits/Complaints …
 October 2012 – Netflix Captioning
 October 2012 - Free Library of Philadelphia (Nook)
 October 2012 – HathiTrust
 August 2012 – Sacramento Public Library
 June 2012 - US State Department (Kindle)
 May 2012 – Mesa Community College (web accessibility)
 May 2012 – Charles Schwab (web accessibility)
Who’s affected?
Everyone!!!
A guide to understanding and implementing Web Content
Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 - W3C Working Group Oct
2010
How Does Accessible Web Design Benefit All Users? DO-IT from U of Washington