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

[Fred Olver]

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> From: David Robinson via nfbmi-talk <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Date: November 25, 2015 at 7:26:38 AM CST
> To: "NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: David Robinson <drob1946 at gmail.com>
> Subject: [nfbmi-talk] Fw: doj delays again web rule making
> Reply-To: NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> 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
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> List of 1 items
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> From
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> Internet Law Resource Center
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> list end
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> 
> 
> List of 6 items
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> 
> 
> By Alexis Kramer
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> 
> 
> Nov. 23 — Disappointing advocates for sight-impaired Internet users, the U.S. Department of Justice has delayed for at least two more years regulations
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> explaining how e-commerce websites can comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act.
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> 
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> 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
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> website operators in a difficult position: incur arguably unnecessary costs to make their websites more accessible or risk litigation from blind users
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> who claim that changes are legally required now.
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> 
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> State and local governments, however, can expect DOJ to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in early 2016, according to the agency's
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> statement of regulatory priorities.
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> 
> Outrage Over Delay
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> 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
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> public accommodation include restaurants, hotels and retail establishments. The DOJ has been considering since 2010 the extent to which the ADA applies
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> to websites.
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> John Paré, executive director for advocacy and policy at the National Federation of the Blind, expressed frustration over the agency's inaction.
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> “After five years, which is already an outrageously long time period, the Department of Justice announces a further delay,” Paré told Bloomberg BNA Nov.
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> 23.
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> “The delay in this regulation suggests that someone in this administration is indifferent to the rights of disabled individuals in having the same economic
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> and educational opportunities as everybody else,” Daniel Goldstein, attorney for the NFB, told Bloomberg BNA Nov. 23.
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> 
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> The NFB recently
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> settled
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> litigation asserting that online document repository Scribd website wasn't accessible to blind individuals in violation of Title III (
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> 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
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> on making Scribd's website accessible to blind users by the end of 2017.
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> 
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> 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
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> accessibility. That development is mainly a disappointment to businesses, he said, who have been hoping to receive more clarity and guidance on how to
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> ensure their websites comply with the ADA.
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> 
> 
> Longstanding Rulemaking Process
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> 
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> The Department of Justice released an
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> advance notice of proposed rulemaking
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> in July 2010, indicating that it was considering amending its regulations implementing Titles II and III of the ADA to require website accessibility. The
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> agency solicited and received 440 public comments regarding:
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> 
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> •?accessibility standards for websites of covered entities;
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> 
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> •?coverage limitations; and
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> 
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> •?available resources to make existing websites accessible to disabled individuals.
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> 
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> To contact the reporter on this story: Alexis Kramer in Washington at
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> akramer at bna.com
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> 
> 
> To contact the editor responsible for this story: Thomas O'Toole at
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> totoole at bna.com
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> 
> 
> The Department of Justice's fall agenda is available at
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> http://www.reginfo.gov/public/jsp/eAgenda/StaticContent/201510/Statement_1100.html.
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> 
> 
> Source:
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> http://www.bna.com/doj-delays-rulemaking-n57982063920/
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