US Law and Accessible Web Design

The list may be interested in a November 1998 article I co-authored for The
Internet Lawyer entitled "Is Your Site ADA-Compliant or a
Lawsuit-in-Waiting?"  It can be found at 
http://internetlawyer.com

It is a follow-up to the June 1998 article written at the request of the
American Bar Association entitled "Applying the ADA to the Internet:  A Web
Accessibility Standard" at
http://www.rit.edu/~easi/law/weblaw1.htm

The list may also be interested to know that the U.S. Commission on Civil
Rights has identified technology and accessible web sites to be an emerging
issue that needs to be addressed in complying with the Americans with
Disabilities Act.  Their September 1998 Report entitled "Helping State and
Local Governments Comply with the ADA" recommends that the US Department of
Justice, Disability Rights Section "should become more active in its efforts
to ensure equal access to State and local government Web sites for
individuals with disabilities."  

Although the report addressed governmental entities covered under Title II
of the ADA, the list should be aware that the same "effective communication"
rule for accessible web sites applies equally to US private sector entites,
with only a few exceptions.

Cynthia D. Waddell



---------------------------------
Cynthia D. Waddell   Cynthia.Waddell@ci.sj.ca.us
ADA Coordinator       City of San Jose, CA

801 North First Street, Room 460
San Jose, California 95110-1704
(408)277-4034
(408)971-0134 TTY
(408)277-3885 FAX

Received on Tuesday, 1 December 1998 15:59:35 UTC