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Technology Accessibility. Bei-Er Cheok Indiana State Library Legal Intern. Introduction and Disclaimer. Rising 2L Law Student NOT A LAWYER Legal information, NOT legal advice. Historical Rundown. Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Federal Financial Assistance § 504 § 508
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Technology Accessibility Bei-ErCheok Indiana State Library Legal Intern
Introduction and Disclaimer • Rising 2L Law Student • NOT A LAWYER • Legal information, NOT legal advice
Historical Rundown • Rehabilitation Act of 1973 • Federal Financial Assistance • § 504 • § 508 • The American with Disabilities Act of 1990 • Not just federally-funded programs • Title II – State and Local government activities • Wide-reaching attempt at nondiscrimination
Disability Reform • 2010: 19% of American population has a form of disability1 • Major disabilities: • Visual: low-vision, color-blindness, blindness • Hearing: low-hearing, deafness • Motor: limited fine motor skills, slowed-response time • Cognitive: learning disabilities 1 U.S. Census Bureau. Report Released to Coincide with 22nd Anniversary of the ADA (CB12-134). Issued July 25, 2012. Available at https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/miscellaneous/cb12-134.html.
Fundamental Purpose • EQUAL TREATMENT • Integration into mainstream life • Ongoing Obligation • June 2003: Accessibility of State and Local Government Websites to People with Disabilities
Accessible Technology • DOJ-launched Website • Regulations • Enforcement • Technical Assistance and Guidance • Federal Technology Initiatives • Please visit http://www.ada.gov/access-technology/index.html
Regulations- Title II • 2010- Two Public Comment Periods • Accessibility of Web Information and Services Provided by Entities Covered by ADA • June 8, 2015 Update • http://www.ada.gov/regs2010/titleII_2010/title_ii_primer.html
Regulations- Title II • New Supplemental Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking • DOJ seeking MORE public comment • Further research and studies on Web accessibility • Public Comment Period closes August 8, 2016 • Get your comments in! • http://www.ada.gov/regs2016/sanprm.html
Regulations- Title II • Barriers to Web Accessibility • Captioning • Text Resizing • Timed Responses • Inaccessibility/Lack of Features • Visual CAPTCHAs • And much more! • Insufficient Voluntary Regulation
Regulations- Title II • Exceptions: (1) Archived web content; (2) Certain preexisting conventional e-documents; (3) Third-party Web content linked from a public entity’s website; and, (4) Certain Web content posted by third parties on a public entity’s Website.
Enforcement • Sacramento (CA) Public Library Authority (08/12); Free Library of Philadephia(10/12) • Failure to provide e-readers with tactile-audio feedback and text-to-speech engine • Orange County (FL) Clerk of Courts (07/14) • Failure to provide fully searchable, OCR-compliant PDF documents for blind/visually-impaired complainant • State Department (06/12) • Violation of Title II through purchase and deployment of 35,000 Amazon Kindles across the world
Technical Assistance and Guidance • WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITY • Information, Information, Information! • Equal Access and Equal Participation
Website Accessibility • Accessible Website Design • § 508 of Rehabilitation Act • Resource and Guidance • Section 508 Standards (Federal Agencies)www.access-board.gov/sec508/guide/1194.22.htm • General Services Administration online course www.section508.gov • Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) www.W3c.org/WAI
Website Accessibility – Common Issues and Solutions • Images without Text Equivalents • All images and graphics need to have a text equivalent • Alt tag (i.e. mayor’s picture) • Longdescrp (i.e. City Central Library, address, city, etc.)
Website Accessibility – Common Issues and Solutions • Highlight Image • Right-Click and Select <Format Picture> • Select <Alt Text> and enter descriptive text NO ALT TEXT HERE <Insert Alt Text Here>
Website Accessibility – Common Issues and Solutions • Document Accessibility • Inaccessible Format • Provide alternate text-based format • HTML (right-click and <Edit Hyperlink>) • RTF • PDF (Save As, PDF>Options>Document Structure Tags for Accessibility) • MUST be Adobe Acrobat Professional
Website Accessibility – Common Issues and Solutions • Microsoft Word Accessibility Check • File>Info>Check for Issues>Check Accessibility
Website Accessibility – Common Issues and Solutions • Designer’s Aesthetic Preferences • Allow users to set color and font sizes in own web browsers • Consider low-vision users • Example: Contrast Ratio
Website Accessibility – Common Issues and Solutions • Non-captioned Video and Other Multimedia • Audio descriptions of images for blind/low-vision • Text captions synched with video for deaf/hard of hearing • Computer-Assisted Real-Time Transmission (CART)
Website Accessibility – Common Issues and Solutions • Alternatives and Considerations • Skip navigation • Minimize blinking, flashing, or distracting features • Staffed Telephone Line • Additional Information on Website Accessibility • https://www.ada.gov/websites2_scrn.pdf • https://www.ada.gov/pcatoolkit/ch5_toolkit.pdf
Federal Technology Initiatives • Text telephones • Videophones/Smartphones • Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) • LUNA Language Services- State funded ASL interpreting and CART needs across Indiana • http://luna360.com/
Federal Technology Initiatives • For more information and guidance, please visit: https://www.disability.gov/resource/disability-govs-guide-assistive-technology/ http://www.peatworks.org/ https://www.ssa.gov/accessibility/bpl/default.htm (highly recommended!)
Recommendations • Inquire about PRODUCT ACCESSIBILITY with vendors • Has the product been tested for accessibility by people with disabilities? • Does the product conform to ADA standards? • Demo the product accessibility • Address accessibility in licensing agreements • ASCLA “Think Before You Buy” Toolkit • http://www.ala.org/ascla/asclaprotools/thinkaccessible/default
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Please Contact: Sylvia Watson Legal Consultant & General Counsel to the Indiana State Library (Ph) 317.232.3735 sywatson@library.IN.gov