What are the USA Digital Accessibility Laws?

1. Web Accessibility Laws in the USA: ADA and Section 508 By Who Is Accessible?

2. Introduction The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in four people in America has a disability. These disabilities could be visual, hearing, cognitive, movement, and photosensitivity impairments and combinations of these. Did you know there are about 61 million people in the United States of America living with a form of disability? Over 10% of those have a cognitive disability. There are also an estimated 13.7% with ambulatory disabilities while 5.9% have a hearing disability. The disability populations in the U.S.A are estimated to have over $645.3 Billion in disposable income.

3. US Web Accessibility Laws The US government has long-established fundamental laws to ensure equal rights and promote inclusiveness across all standards of life. As regards web accessibility, the US web accessibility laws ensure people with various forms of impairments whatsoever can access information and communication technologies. America has two standard laws for web and digital accessibility: Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)

4. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation of Act 1973 Section 508 of the Rehabilitation of Act was first adopted in 1973 with the refreshed rule taking effect on January 18, 2018. It mandates federal agencies to ensure all electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained, or used are accessible to users with disabilities. The guidelines also affect all vendors, contractors, and partners of those American federal agencies operating within and outside the U.S. Section 508 could affect: Financial institutions Legal organizations Customer service Private contractors Education Healthcare Any organizations that need to communicate with people

5. Section 508 (Cont’d) Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act has also been harmonized with other guidelines in America and globally recognized standards for web content and ICT, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) Level AA. Section 508 covers information and communications technologies such as: Telephones, smartphones, tablets, laptop, computers and their operating systems Internet and Intranet websites Videos, multimedia, and all other digital content PDF versions of traditionally printed assets Online training Technical support call centers Copiers, printers and fax machine

6. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) is an American civil right law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities and ensures equal rights and opportunities. The Act covers goods, services (transportation, education, employment opportunities, and public accommodations), communications, and government activities. ADA is a non-discrimination law that applies to public services and products and services from private businesses. The aim of the legislation is to eliminate the barriers that people with disabilities confront when accessing digital content, product, and services. The Act interprets (Title III) to include websites as places of public accommodation.

7. ADA (Cont’d) The Americans with Disabilities Act mandates: Businesses with 15 full-time employees that operate for 20+ weeks every year State and local governments’ programs, activities, and services Organizations that provide public accommodation or commercial facilities including hotels, public transportation, restaurants, retail merchants, sports stadiums, and movie theaters. To take steps necessary to communicate effectively with customers with any form of disability and remove any form of barriers to accessibility in their websites. U.S. courts have consistently ruled that ADA requires commercial websites to be accessible for disabled users and to follow WCAG 2.0 AA for compliance. Any organization that fails to have an ADA-compliant website could be open to lawsuits, financial liabilities, and damage to brand reputation.

8. ADA (Cont’d) In general, the U.S web accessibility laws focus on public sector bodies but the Americans with Disabilities Act (Title III) has ensured requirements for web accessibility have splashed to private sector websites. According to Seyfarth Shaw, an international law firm in the U.S.A, the number of ADA and Section 508 federal lawsuits filed in response to web inaccessibility tripled from 814 to 2,258! From 2017 to 2018, a 177% increase from the year before. In most non-conformance cases, business is being forced to comply with WCAG 2.0 Level AA, pay attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of the plaintiff’s legal fees all ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 or more (see Juan Carlos Gil v. Winn-Dixie in 2017).

9. ADA and Section 508 Compliance To be ADA, Section 508 and WCAG 2.0 AA compliant, your website, apps, and web content must be: Perceivable – Content, information and interfaces must be presented in a way that all users can easily perceive. Operable – Users of all abilities must be able to navigate the user interface. Understandable – All information, content, and design within a website should be easily understandable. Robust – All content on a website should be both accessible to users of assistive technology and should be able to keep pace with improved standards.

10. Conclusion Together, the ADA and Section 508 serve as the major web accessibility laws in the U.S.A and comprehensively address accessibility issues in America. This means services/businesses that provide information for the public must improve access to individuals with disabilities in the USA by using the WCAG 2.0 AA checklist to be easily perceivable, operable, and understandable. The two laws also reduce barriers to entry in education, creates a greater variety of accessible products in the market while enabling businesses to extend market reach to the disabled people and protect their brand reputation. Time to be ADA and Section 508 compliant is now!