There are some interesting and challenging legal issues relating to the DOJ's anticipated regulations relating to the applicability of the ADA to website access. (You can catch up and read my intro Web Accessibility and the ADA if you missed it earlier.) These are the kinds of issues that might not seem obvious - and might not seem all that important - but they are precisely the kinds of issues that make legislation and regulation in this area so difficult.
Because these issues are complicated, I'll break them down into separate posts. Today, I'll talk about the hard distinction between public and private places on the internet. Later on, I'll talk about copyright issues, as well as implications of international law. (Fun, huh?)
Showing posts with label web accessibility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label web accessibility. Show all posts
Monday, May 9, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Web Accessibility and the ADA (Intro and Links)
Rather unbelievably to me, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) celebrated its 20th anniversary last year. That's right - until 1990 there *was* no ADA. I suppose we should be pleased that I grew up in a country where I assumed that the ADA had always been in place.
But let's think about it for a minute: in 1990, there was no real Internet. (Remember AOL? and Prodigy? ha!) There was no Google. No online banking, or airline ticket booking, or library services, or entertainment of any kind. And so the ADA contains no provisions that address such scenarios. As you might expect, there have been a number of lawsuits filed in the years since attempting to seek clarification as to whether the ADA does apply to websites offering services through their sites. Courts have gone both ways, although the DOJ - charged with enforcing the ADA - routinely offered its non-binding opinion that the ADA did apply, at least in some situations. (For you lawyers and other masochists out there, check out the suits and DOJ briefs here: NFB v. Target, Access Now v. Southwest Airlines, DOJ letter to Sen. Harkin, and the DOJ brief in Hooks v. OKBridge, which I was unable to find at press time.)
But let's think about it for a minute: in 1990, there was no real Internet. (Remember AOL? and Prodigy? ha!) There was no Google. No online banking, or airline ticket booking, or library services, or entertainment of any kind. And so the ADA contains no provisions that address such scenarios. As you might expect, there have been a number of lawsuits filed in the years since attempting to seek clarification as to whether the ADA does apply to websites offering services through their sites. Courts have gone both ways, although the DOJ - charged with enforcing the ADA - routinely offered its non-binding opinion that the ADA did apply, at least in some situations. (For you lawyers and other masochists out there, check out the suits and DOJ briefs here: NFB v. Target, Access Now v. Southwest Airlines, DOJ letter to Sen. Harkin, and the DOJ brief in Hooks v. OKBridge, which I was unable to find at press time.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)