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Americans with Disabilities Act

Even if you are not interested in selling electronic and information technology to the US government, accessibility law as it relates to information technology could still affect you.

More and more, the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are having an impact on web developers and software publishers. Signed into law in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush, the ADA "prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, programs and services provided by state and local governments, goods and services provided by private companies, and in commercial facilities."

Increasingly the ADA, which is enforced by the United States Justice Department, is being successfully applied to websites. In an opinion letter issued in September 1996, the Justice Department determined that "Covered entities under the ADA are required to provide effective communication, regardless of whether they generally communicate through print media, audio media, or computerized media such as the Internet. Covered entities that use the Internet for communications regarding their programs, goods, or services must be prepared to offer those communications through accessible means as well."

Applying the ADA to websites opens the door for assessing websites and technology companies with high-profile civil penalties. Indeed, some high-profile cases have recently brought that point home.

In August 2004, Cendant Corporation, owner of Ramada.com and Priceline.com, settled a lawsuit brought by the state of New York and Attorney General Elliot Spitzer. In the settlement, Cendant agreed to make Ramada.com and Priceline.com easier to use for the blind and visually impaired. In addition, Cendant will pay New York state $77,500 for the cost of the state's investigation.

The law is being applied to all manner of disabilities and technologies. In September 2005, the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and the law firm of Outten & Golden filed a class-action discrimination complaint in Connecticut after Morgan Stanley refused to accept a stock trade order from a deaf account holder, Donald A. Bruner, Jr., who called using a telecommunications relay service.

In February 2006, a blind UC Berkeley student filed a class-action lawsuit against the website hosted by Target Corporation, the Minnesota-based retailer. The suit alleges violations of the ADA, stating, "Target thus excludes the blind from full and equal participation in the growing Internet economy that is increasingly a fundamental part of daily life." Joining in the suit is the National Federation of the Blind.

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The Canadian Human Rights Act recognizes that persons with disabilities must have
access to premises, services and facilities.

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"The provision of information and online services through the Worldwide Web is a service covered by the DDA. Equal access for people with a disability in this area is required by the DDA where it can reasonably be provided.

This requirement applies to any individual or organisation developing a Worldwide Web page in Australia, or placing or maintaining a Web page on an Australian server. This includes pages developed or maintained for purposes relating to employment; education; provision of services including professional services, banking, insurance or financial services, entertainment or recreation, telecommunications services, public transport services, or government services; sale or rental of real estate; sport; activities of voluntary associations; or administration of Commonwealth laws or programs. All these are areas specifically covered by the DDA.

In addition to these specific areas, provision of any other information or other goods, services or facilities through the Internet is in itself a service, and as such, discrimination in the provision of this service is covered by the DDA. The DDA applies to services whether provided for payment or not.”

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every website built for a government agency is required by law to use
* valid HTML 4.01 or XHTML 1.0
* CSS and semantic HTML and separation of structure and presentation
* progressive enhancement
* the W3C DOM (instead of the old Microsoft document.all)
* meaningful values of class and id
* meaningful alt attributes on all images

Furthermore:

* scripts that work on links should extend the basic link functionality (think accessible popups)
* if a link makes no sense without a script, it shouldn't be in the HTML (but be generated by JavaScript)
* use of forms or scripts as the only means of getting certain information is prohibited
* removing the focus rectangle on links is prohibited
* information offered in a closed format (think Word) should also be offered in an open format
* the semantics of many HTML elements are explicitly defined