[Nfbv-announce] Need Calls on Friday: Oppose Weakening Access to Banking Web Sites - Call members of the Virginia Senate Courts of Justice Committee Today

Fri Feb 8 04:40:14 UTC 2019

Hi Virginia Federationists,
We need you to make some phone calls right away, during business hours on Friday.

We are opposing legislation in the Virginia Senate which weakens protections for web site accessibility.

On Tuesday, February 5, the Virginia House of Delegates passed HB2296 which significantly weakens protections to ensure banking web sites are accessible. Disability advocates are united against this legislation but we need your help to oppose this bill in the Virginia Senate. On Wednesday, HB2296 crossed over the Virginia Senate and we need to work to get it stopped in the Senate. The bill is still called HB 2296.

We suspect this bill will be on the Monday morning 8:00 AM Senate Courts of Justice Committee  docket. This means we need you to call the members of the Senate  courts of Justice Committee Friday and tell them you are opposed to HB 2296. The same committee voted against an almost identical bill so we believe that the Senate Courts of Justice Committee can be convinced to stop this legislation. But, to make this happen, we need your time to make phone calls.

We believe that HB 2296 (Patron Leftwich) will be heard at the Monday morning , February 8 Senate Courts of Justice Committee meeting. We need you to take a few minutes to call the Capitol phone number   for the members of the Senate Courts of Justice committee to state you oppose HB 2296 and ask the Delegate to oppose this legislation in the committee meeting.

You do not need to give much information other than your name and that you oppose HB 2296. If you are a constituent, please highlight this important detail. They may ask where you live and if you are a constituent. However, you do not need to be a constituent to call each of the Senate offices.

Where I had notes about who is a constituent based on our Richmond Seminar attendees, this has been included.

Here are the members of the Senate Courts of Justice Committee

   - Obenshain, Mark (804) 698-7526 Republican   Chair, Courts of Justice committee, Harrisonburg (Jeff and Connie Lucas’s Senator)
   - Sturtevant, Glen (804) 698-7510 Republican Midlothian   (Mark, Mike Villafane,  Sarah Patnaude,  & Jeannette’s Senator)
   - Edwards, John S. (804) 698-7521 Democrat Roanoke; 
   - Petersen, J. Chap (804)698-7534 Democrat Fairfax City; Fred, Annette, John Bailey and Annette’s Senator)
   - Chafin, Ben (804) 698-7538 Republican Lebanon (Michelle’s Senator)
   - Reeves, Bryce (804) 698-7517 Republican Fredericksburg (Michael Kasey, Holly frisch, and Jessica Reed’s Senator)
   - Howell, Janet D. (804) 698-7532 Democrat Arlington/Fairfax
   - DEEDS, R. CREIGH (804) 698-7525 Democrat  Charlottesville
   - Peake, Mark  (804) 698-7522 Hadensville; 
   - Norment, Thomas K.  (804) 698-7503 Republican Williamsburg (Jackie Bruce and Adrianna Giddings’s Senator)
   - Stanley, Bill (804) 698-7520 Republican Moneta
   - Saslaw, Richard L. (804) 698-7535 Democrat Springfield (Senate Minority  Leader) (Sean McMahon, Sarah Blumberg, Carl Knoettner’s Senator)
   - Stuart, Richard H. (804) 698-7528 Republican Montross 
   - Lucas, Louise (804) 698-7518 Democrat Portsmouth (Mike Davis, David Moore  & Michael Kitchen’ Senator)
   - McDougle, Ryan T. (804) 698-7504 Republican Mechanicsville; (Domonique’s Senator)

If you need more information, details from our fact sheet are found below.

Priority #2: Support access to online banking by the blind.

Action: Oppose HB2296 (Patron Leftwich) which does not fix the supposed problem but does dramatically weaken protections that ensure accessibility for blind people in Virginia.

Issue: Financial institutions expect their customers to use web-based online services to perform banking functions and manage their finances in an efficient and cost-effective manner. When financial institutions provide online services properly, blind people can use assistive technology to meet their professional and personal banking needs in an increasingly web-based world. When web services are inaccessible, blind people pay fees using a phone representative, spend more time to perform functions, receive less access to services versus other members of the general public, and must reveal private and sensitive financial information to other people to complete transactions.

Web-based banking services have dramatically improved the ability to bank independently for blind people. Access to these services is covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). When accessibility problems arise as websites are updated, blind people typically inform their financial institution, and the problems are addressed because the institutions know they are expected to provide accessible services as a place of public accommodation under Title III of the ADA, which has been in effect for nearly 30 years. The bill (SB1304/HB 2296) would create confusion and not reduce so-called frivolous litigation because it only changes financial institutions’ obligations under state law, which they have not been sued under, but does not change their responsibilities under the ADA, the federal law that, when they are sued, they have always been sued under.

Solution: Oppose HB2296 which does nothing to solve the problem raised by those in favor of the bill but which sets a dangerous precedent that the rights of people with disabilities in Virginia can be ignored until someone brings a lawsuit. 

As previously stated, Virginia’s financial institutions have not been sued under state law, only under the ADA, a federal law. Thus, changing Virginia law will do nothing to reduce so-called frivolous lawsuits. 

Moreover, this bill would put in place barriers for people with disabilities to enforce their rights, for example, by preventing people with disabilities from going forward with a lawsuit under state law until a financial institution that is breaking the law has been given a warning and 120 more days to stop violating the law. This would send a message to financial institutions that they should only follow Virginia law once they have been sued instead of following it all the time. Therefore, while this bill would not stop lawsuits against Virginia financial institutions under the ADA, it would set a dangerous precedent that would undermine the Commonwealth’s desire to ensure equal access for people with disabilities.

Even though this bill would not end the so-called frivolous lawsuits brought under federal law, it would introduce a number of technical and substantive issues into Virginia law. For example, many website accessibility cases end with a settlement or court order requiring entities to implement a system to prevent future violations of the law which are monitored for compliance by the courts. This bill would all-but eliminate such settlements or court orders if any cases were ever brought under Virginia law by giving financial institutions a big incentive to fix the immediate problem without fixing the underlying problems that led to the inaccessibility in the first place. 

The ADA has been around for almost 30 years. The first version of the accessibility standards for websites identified in the bill, WCAG 1.0, has been around since 1999. Financial institutions that are currently breaking the law should not have to be told that they are in violation of a decades-old law when the guidance they wish to follow has already been around for 20 years.  

In short, this bill harms the financial institutions it intends to protect by doing nothing to stop so-called frivolous lawsuits under the ADA and creating a culture of non-compliance with the law. This legislation merely offers the financial sector a false victory while simultaneously setting a precedent that the rights of people with disabilities can be ignored until they bring a lawsuit. 

Thank you for taking the time to help us oppose this harmful legislation. We are grateful for your efforts and need you to take action on Friday to address this legislation before the Monday morning committee meeting.

Tracy Soforenko

President, National Federation of the Blind of Virginia

202 285-4595

Tracy.soforenko at gmail.com

www.nfb.org

www.nfbv.org

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