{"id":14766,"date":"2018-09-19T10:39:13","date_gmt":"2018-09-19T17:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.primeview.com\/?p=14766"},"modified":"2024-08-30T15:04:31","modified_gmt":"2024-08-30T22:04:31","slug":"ada-compliant-websites-and-the-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.primeview.com\/blog\/ada-compliant-websites-and-the-law\/","title":{"rendered":"ADA Compliant Websites and The Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ADA-Compliant-Websites-and-The-Law\"<\/p>\n

On the 26th of July, 1990, former US President George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act. Its top priority was to avoid discrimination due to a person\u2019s disability. Like its predecessor, The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which focused on race, color, sex, national origin, and religion, ADA made unjust treatment of people with disabilities illegal and punishable by law.<\/p>\n

Today, it\u2019s had a significant impact on American society. Public buildings, transportation, schools, and even jobs are required to follow the ADA Guidelines and Checklists.<\/p>\n

ADA Extended to the World Wide Web<\/h2>\n

When Congress enacted the ADA in 1990 the internet as we know it today didn\u2019t exist. So, the ADA or the regulations the DOJ promulgated under the ADA, did not specifically address access to websites for the disabled.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until July 26, 2010, that the US Department of Justice issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) addressing the accessibility of Web information and services of state and local government entities (title II) and public accommodations (title III).<\/p>\n

Web Accessibility Under the ADA<\/h3>\n

The statute\u00b4s nondiscrimination mandate broadly reached goods and services provided by covered entities on websites over the Internet.<\/p>\n

Title III of the ADA provides that:<\/p>\n

\u201cNo individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Title III of the ADA and its corresponding regulations define a \u201cplace of public accommodation\u201d as a facility whose operations affect commerce and that falls within at least one of the following 12 categories:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. An inn, hotel, motel, or other places of lodging, except for an establishment located within a building that contains not more than five rooms for rent or hire and that is actually occupied by the proprietor of the establishment as the residence of the proprietor.<\/li>\n
  2. A restaurant, bar, or other establishment serving food or drink.<\/li>\n
  3. A motion picture house, theater, concert hall, stadium, or other places of exhibition or entertainment.<\/li>\n
  4. An auditorium, convention center, lecture hall, or other places of public gathering.<\/li>\n
  5. A bakery, grocery store, clothing store, hardware store, shopping center, or other sales or rental establishment.<\/li>\n
  6. A laundromat, dry-cleaner, bank, barber shop, beauty shop, travel service, shoe repair service, funeral parlor, gas station, the office of an accountant or lawyer, pharmacy, insurance office, professional office of a health care provider, hospital, or other service establishments.<\/li>\n
  7. A terminal, depot, or other station used for specified public transportation.<\/li>\n
  8. \u00a0A museum, library, gallery, or another place of public display or collection.<\/li>\n
  9. A park, zoo, amusement park, or another place of recreation.<\/li>\n
  10. A nursery, elementary, secondary, undergraduate, or postgraduate private school, or another place of education.<\/li>\n
  11. A day care center, senior citizen center, homeless shelter, food bank, adoption agency, or other social service center establishment.<\/li>\n
  12. \u00a0A gymnasium, health spa, bowling alley, golf course, or another place of exercise or recreation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Does your business website fall within any of these categories? It most likely does. If so, you need to have an ADA compliant website.<\/p>\n

    What A Tangled \u201cWeb\u201d We Weave<\/h3>\n

    It is important to have some understanding of the Rule Making Process the Federal Government has to go through. This ANPRM, Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, is just a \u201cnotice of intent\u201d or simply a \u201crequest for comments.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Next would be the issue of a\u00a0Notice of Proposed Rulemaking\u00a0(NPRM).\u00a0At no point do these notices set into law any rules regarding what an ADA compliant website should do. That is up to Congress upon the recommendations of the Department of Justice that are gathered from these notices.<\/p>\n

    The responses they got and the many issues that arose trying to create a firm set of rules for ADA website compliance becomes very complicated. For example:<\/p>\n