- From: Kathleen Anderson <kathleen.anderson@po.state.ct.us>
- Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 13:59:01 -0500
- To: "'Web Accessibility Initiative'" <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
In the print edition, there is also a sidebar called "Accessibility Resources" containing the following: HTML Writers Guild http://www.awarecenter.com and World Wide Web Consortium Web Accessibility Initiative http://www.w3.org/WAI The article also appears online at: http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/all/000214EBC2 Congress Considers ADA's Relevance to Web Feds expected to issue rules for users' accessibility By Patrick Thibodeau 02/14/2000 WASHINGTON The federal government is on the verge of requiring its own Web sites to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities such as impaired vision or hearing. Are business Web sites next? Next month, the government will issue accessibility rules governing the Web sites run by federal agencies. For example, streaming audio or audio files will have to be accompanied by text. The rules may also require captioning for video and restrict the use of color to display information. Advocates for the disabled say making a Web site accessible -- such as including text with audio or video files -- isn't difficult. Moreover, they say commercial Web sites that aren't accessible are losing out on customers. "What we need is achievable; what we are asking for is reasonable," said Gary Wunder, a programmer/analyst at the University of Missouri and a board member of the National Federation of the Blind. It's possible that the federal rules could become models for broader regulations affecting the private sector. But for now, the legal issues for business Web sites are "exceedingly unsettled," said Elizabeth Dorminey, an attorney at Wimberly, Lawson, Steckel Nelson & Schneider PC in Athens, Ga. The U.S. Department of Justice has determined that the ADA covers Web sites. But Dorminey said the ADA covers only "public accommodations," not the Internet. Others disagree, and the issue is now in court. In what may be the key case, the National Federation of the Blind filed a lawsuit against America Online Inc. last fall charging that the company's online service violated the ADA. At the time the lawsuit was filed, Dulles, Va.-based AOL said it was working to improve accessibility. Congress is also investigating. At a hearing last week, Dennis Hayes, creator of the Hayes modem and now chairman of the U.S. Internet Industry Association, urged the House Judiciary Committee's constitution subcommittee to focus on voluntary efforts through standards bodies. Hayes warned that basing regulation on the technologies of today could limit the development of better access tools. "It will take years to work out in courts how the ADA will apply," Hayes said. "In those same years, the standards can proceed much more rapidly." The World Wide Web Consortium, a vendor-neutral standards body, last year released technical guidelines for improving Web accessibility. Kathleen Anderson, Webmaster State of Connecticut Office of the State Comptroller 55 Elm Street, Room 101 Hartford, Connecticut 06106 voice: (860) 702-3355 fax: (860) 702-3634 email: kathleen.anderson@po.state.ct.us URL: http://www.osc.state.ct.us CMAC Access: http://www.cmac.state.ct.us/access
Received on Tuesday, 15 February 2000 13:59:09 UTC