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The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) that was signed into law in 1990 "prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, programs and services provided by state and local governmets, goods and services provided by private companies, and in commercial facilities."

Websites are included as a covered entity under the Act and must be accessible, according to a Department of Justice opinion letter dated September 9, 1996.

The Federal government has also finalized a set of procurement guidelines that form Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998. The guidelines are largely derived from the W3C guidelines. More information can be found on the Section 508 home page.

Firms that have 15 or more employees. That is the U.S. federal law, which also applies to all states. However some states havechosen to pass laws more favorable to people with disabilities. Oregon, for example, specifies that laws against discrimination toward people with disabilities apply to employers with six or more employees. Check the laws in your state to ensure compliance.

If an employee with a disability covered under the ADA, or a related state law, needs to access the firm's intranet or internet as an essential function of their job, the employee is entitled to request a reasonable accommodation.

Or, if your company is considered a "public accommodation" under Title III, then members of the public with a covered disability who access your website are entitled to equal access as are any other members of the public.

Equal access means more than just accessibility. It means giving the person communication that is as effective as that provided to others.

(The primary references for this section are Is Your Site ADA Compliant ... Or a Lawsuit-in-Waiting by Cynthia D. Waddell and Kevin Lee Thomason, and Denise M.. Spielman, ADA Program Coordinator, Independent Living Resources, Portland OR.)

How to Comply
Generally, if you follow the W3 Accessibility guidelines, you should be okay. However, there are some differences, so, to be sure, review the Section 508 Electronic and Information Technology Final Standards. Test your site using a website validator like Bobby which tests your site against the W3 accessibility guidelines. Bobby will indicate areas where your website needs work, but it isn't a sufficient test of compliance. For that you should run a full accessibility audit.

Local references
When Congress passed the ADA in 1990, they realized that a mechanism for educating the public had to be put in place -- thus were born DBTAC's. The National Institute on Rehabilitation and Research (which reports to the Rehabilitation Services Administration, which reports to the Department of Education) funded grants for ten regional Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers across the United States. There is a single phone number for them, so that anyone calling from inside the U.S. will be connected with the closest DBTAC. DBTAC's are charged with answering questions about the ADA -- if someone there doesn't know an answer to a question (a rare occurrence), he/she has access to people at the Department of Justice as well as other federal agencies who will know the answers. If you have any questions about how the ADA applies to website access and usability, call 1-800-949-4232 (or, 1-800-949-4ADA).

• Region 1: CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT: http://www.adaptenv.org
• Region 2: NJ, NY, PR, VI: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/ped/daa/dbtac.html
• Region 3: DE, DC, MD, PA, VA, WV: http://www.adainfo.org
• Region 4: AL, FL, GA, KY, NC, SC, MS, TN: http://www.sedbtac.org
• Region 5: IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI: http://www.gldbtac.org
• Region 6: AR, LA, NM, OK, TX: http://www.ilru.org
• Region 7: IA, KS, MO, NE: http://www.adaproject.org
• Region 8: CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY: http://www.ada-infonet.org
• Region 9: AZ, CA, HI, NV, Pacific basin: http://www.pacdbtac.org
• Region 10: AK, ID, OR, WA: http://www.wata.org/NWD

Accessibility Introduction | What is Accessibility? | Why is Accessibility Important? | W3 Consortium Guidelines | Section 508 Standards | ADA and Disabilities Guidelines | Accessibility Audit | References and Resources | Usability Introduction | InfoQuest!

Copyright 2000-2002 InfoQuest! Information Services
Last updated: February 19, 2002
Please send any comments to tbchad@tbchad.com or 503-228-4023.
Terry Brainerd Chadwick
InfoQuest! Information Services
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