[nfbmi-talk] Fw: doj delays again web rule making

[David Robinson]

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From: joe harcz Comcast 
To: David Robinson NFB MI 
Cc: terry Eagle ; Mark Eagle ; Mary Ann Robinson NFB MI 
Sent: Wednesday, November 25, 2015 6:26 AM
Subject: doj delays again web rule making


DOJ Delays Rulemaking on Website Accessibility

List of 1 items

From

Internet Law Resource Center

list end

 

List of 6 items

 

By Alexis Kramer

 

Nov. 23 — Disappointing advocates for sight-impaired Internet users, the U.S. Department of Justice has delayed for at least two more years regulations

explaining how e-commerce websites can comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

 

The DOJ announced Nov. 19 that it will put off until 2018 the release of website accessibility regulations for businesses. The government's delay puts e-commerce

website operators in a difficult position: incur arguably unnecessary costs to make their websites more accessible or risk litigation from blind users

who claim that changes are legally required now.

 

State and local governments, however, can expect DOJ to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in early 2016, according to the agency's

statement of regulatory priorities.

 

Outrage Over Delay

 

Title III of the ADA, at 42 U.S.C. §12182(a), provides that individuals shall not be discriminated against in places of public accommodation. Places of

public accommodation include restaurants, hotels and retail establishments. The DOJ has been considering since 2010 the extent to which the ADA applies

to websites.

 

John Paré, executive director for advocacy and policy at the National Federation of the Blind, expressed frustration over the agency's inaction.

 

“After five years, which is already an outrageously long time period, the Department of Justice announces a further delay,” Paré told Bloomberg BNA Nov.

23.

 

“The delay in this regulation suggests that someone in this administration is indifferent to the rights of disabled individuals in having the same economic

and educational opportunities as everybody else,” Daniel Goldstein, attorney for the NFB, told Bloomberg BNA Nov. 23.

 

The NFB recently

settled

litigation asserting that online document repository Scribd website wasn't accessible to blind individuals in violation of Title III (

Nat'l Fed. of the Blind v. Scribd Inc., D. Vt., No. 2:14-cv-00162-wks, settlement entered, 11/17/15). Under the settlement agreement, the parties will collaborate

on making Scribd's website accessible to blind users by the end of 2017.

 

Goldstein, a partner at Brown Goldstein & Levy LLP in Baltimore, Md., said the DOJ's delay will have no impact on current litigation over the issue of website

accessibility. That development is mainly a disappointment to businesses, he said, who have been hoping to receive more clarity and guidance on how to

ensure their websites comply with the ADA.

 

Longstanding Rulemaking Process

 

The Department of Justice released an

advance notice of proposed rulemaking

in July 2010, indicating that it was considering amending its regulations implementing Titles II and III of the ADA to require website accessibility. The

agency solicited and received 440 public comments regarding:

 

•?accessibility standards for websites of covered entities;

 

•?coverage limitations; and

 

•?available resources to make existing websites accessible to disabled individuals.

 

To contact the reporter on this story: Alexis Kramer in Washington at

akramer at bna.com

 

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Thomas O'Toole at

totoole at bna.com

 

The Department of Justice's fall agenda is available at

http://www.reginfo.gov/public/jsp/eAgenda/StaticContent/201510/Statement_1100.html.

 

Source:

http://www.bna.com/doj-delays-rulemaking-n57982063920/