5th European eAccessbility Forum
Cynthia D. Waddell, Juris Doctor
Executive Director ICDRI
28 March 2011
Paris, France
Overview
 Legal Framework
 Sections 504 and 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973
 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
 21st Century Communications & Video
Accessibility Act
Overview
 Litigation for eAccessibility
 Walt Disney Website Case
 NFB v. Target Settlement
 Kindle eBook Litigation against U.S.
Universities & Settlement
 Other Accessible Web
Litigation (If Time Allows)
Legal Framework
 Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Legal Framework
 The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Legal Framework
 1998 Amendments to
Rehabilitation Act of 1973
(Section 508)
(Section 508)
Legal Framework
 21st Century Communications and Video
Accessibility Act
Litigation for eAccessibility
 Walt Disney Company Websites: Disney
Online and Walt Disney Parks & Resorts
Complaint Filed September 2010
 Alleges Disney Websites not Accessible to
Screen-reading Technologies
 Seeks Remedies under ADA and California
Disability Rights Laws
Litigation for eAccessibility
 Motion for Class Action Filed February 2011
 Class Action Hearing Set for April 11, 2011
 Arguments based on NFB v. Target and
Enyart v. National Conference of Bar
Examiners
Litigation for eAccessibility
 NFB v. Target- ADA Title III Brick and
Mortar Businesses with Websites Shall be
Accessible under Nexus Theory
 Risk is Injunctive Relief and Attorneys
Fees as well as Possible Damages via US
Department of Justice Enforcement
Litigation for eAccessibility
 NFB v. Target Filed 2/2006; Settled 8/2008
 Target To Make Web Site Accessible
 $6 Million Paid to Members of CA Class; Up
to $7,000 each person
 $20,000 to establish CA Center for the Blind
 $3.7 Million Attorneys Fees & Costs
Litigation for eAccessibility
 NFB v. Target – CA Unruh Civil Rights Act &
Disabled Persons Act
 All Business Websites for California
Residents Shall be Accessible
 If Business Websites are Not Accessible,
Businesses Risk Treble Damages and
Liability Starting at $4,000 Per Incident
Litigation for eAccessibility
 Kindle eBook Litigation
Kindle
(3G Wireless)
Electronic Book Litigation
Electronic Book Litigation
Litigation for eAccessibility
 April 2009 Six Colleges & Universities
announce pilot projects with Amazon to use
the Kindle DX in classes
 University of Washington, Withrop University
and Concordia College joined
 Other colleges bought Kindles for their
libraries
Litigation for eAccessibility
 Kindle DX featured text-to-speech technology
that could read textbooks aloud but the menu
controls were not accessible
 Blind students could not purchase books from
Amazon’s Kindle store, select a book to read,
activate the TTS nor use advanced features
Litigation for eAccessibility
 June 2009- NFB and American Council of the
Blind File Complaint against Arizona State
University to prevent deployment of Kindle
DX electronic reader as a means of
distributing textbooks because the device
could not be used by blind students
Litigation for eAccessibility
 NFB & ACB Complaints also filed against 5
institutions: Case Western Reserve
University; the Darden School of Business at
the University of Virginia; Pace University;
Princeton University; and Reed College
Litigation for eAccessibility
 USDOJ Settlements made by January 2010
 Colleges will not purchase, promote,
recommend or require a Kindle DX or any
other dedicated ebook reader for use by
students until 1) device is fully accessible or
2) Reasonable accommodation or
modification is provided on a case by case
basis
Litigation for eAccessibility
 eReader Market Response
 April 3, 2010: Apple Launches iPad with
Extensive Accessibility Features
 July 29, 2010: Amazon Releases Kindle 3
with Talking Menus; but web browser is not
accessible , ebooks must be downloaded via
a PC, and traditional page numbering is
lacking as well as full
navigation features
Litigation for eAccessibility
 Darla Rogers v. State of Florida (ADA
Employment Title & Section 508 ICT)
 Filed August 2009; Settled June 2010
 Awarded Back Pay & Compensatory
damages; State agreed to purchase JAWS
11 and to remediate web-based software
 Expert Witness
Litigation for eAccessibility
 National Federation of the Blind v. Small
Business Administration
 Violates Section 508
 Complaint filed July 22, 2009: Blind users
cannot fill out forms or take online courses;
business owner could not apply for
certification
Litigation for eAccessibility
 Boggs v. LA County Metro
 2006 Complaint that Website Not
Accessible; Served as Expert Witness
 2010 Notice of Class Action & Proposed
Settlement Pending
 Website Bus Schedule, Fare & Route Info,
Trip Planner & Online Customer Comment
Form to meet W3C WCAG
Litigation for eAccessibility
 NFB v. Social Security Administration
 Section 508 Administrative Complaint Filed
August 24, 2009
 Blind users cannot fill out forms and
questionnaires on the website or access
information about their benefits
Contact Information
Cynthia D. Waddell, Juris Doctor
Executive Director & Law Policy and
Technology Subject Matter Expert
International Center for Disability
Resources on the Internet (ICDRI)
Email: Cynthia.Waddell@icdri.org