[nfbcs] Legal Requirements for Website Accessibility

[John G. Heim]

I didn't comment on the practicality of getting the legal requirements enforced because Nicole didn't ask about that. She asked what the legal requirements are. 

Well, this probably isn't the best place to ask this kind of question. It's a list for computer nerds, not lawyers. But I can tell you what I've heard. I've been told by big shots at the University of Wisconsin that it considers itself to be bound by the 508 regs. Also, I know the Department of Justice issued an opinion that the ADA applies to web sites. This is more likely to be relevent to Nicole than the 508 regs. I doubt the Navy credit union is a government agency. It is probably a completely independent commercial entity. 

If it was me, I think I'd google for stuff about the DOJ saying the aDA applies to web sites and just casually hand that to them as if it's just to let them know where yu are coming from. You don't want to get into a legal argument. And if they aren't interested in fixing the problems, you aren't going to get anywhere with that kind of stuff anyway If you are going to go as far as to threaten legal action, you're going to need help from something like the NFB. The NFB has helped with this kind of thing in the past. Who was that that went after Penn State? Was that the NFB? To tell you the truth, I didn'treally pay much attention to that story.
On May 10, 2014, at 1:24 PM, Mike Freeman wrote:

> John:
> 
> You are correct. 508 regs are, at least in theory, binding upon the Federal
> government and upon sites that receive Federal funds. The problem is in
> seeing to it that these regs are enforced -- that and making pages that
> nominally follow the guidelines useful in practice as well as in theory.
> 
> You know this already, of course.
> 
> Mike Freeman
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbcs [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of John G. Heim
> Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2014 9:40 AM
> To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Legal Requirements for Website Accessibility
> 
> Are you sure the 508 regulations aren't legally binding? I think they are
> binding on entities that receive funding from the federal government. If the
> entity doesn't receive funding from the federal government, the 508
> regulations don't apply, not even as guidelines. I have never heard an
> accessibility expert say the 508 regulations work well as guidelines, quite
> the opposite in fact.
> The Web Access Initiative puts out guidelines so that may be the source of
> the confusion.
> 
> I've been told that the University of Wisconsin considers itself bound by
> the 508 regulations because we receive money from the federal government.
> I've never heard them referred to as guidelines. It seems even a bit
> contradictory to think of regulations as guidelines. But I will admit I'm
> not sure what the law says.
> 
> Anyway, Nicole asked about the navy Federal Credit Union which may or may
> not get money from the feds. You can't necessarily go by the name.
> 
> 
> On May 9, 2014, at 8:21 PM, Michael Babcock wrote:
> 
>> I don't think they are required to do anything by law. there  are section
> 508 standards, but these are just standards not laws.
>> http://www.section508.gov/
>> 
>> Let me know if you find anything, because this same situation happened to
> me with one of my banks, switched all of my accounts to a local bank, that
> takes accessibility into consideration.
>> thanks
>> michael
>> On May 9, 2014, at 6:16 PM, Nicole Torcolini <ntorcolini at wavecable.com>
> wrote:
>> 
>>> Where can I find information about legal requirements for website
>>> accessibility? A little over a month ago, Navy Federal Credit Union
>>> completely revamped there website. The layout is mostly the same, and,
>>> although a few things are the tiniest bit more accessible, many things
> are
>>> much more inaccessible, some even to the point of being unusable. I
> filled
>>> out a survey about the new website about a month ago and provided my
> contact
>>> information. However, I have not heard anything. I plan on contacting
> them
>>> again, but, before I do, I would like to know what they are required to
> do
>>> by law.
>>> 
>>> Thanks,
>>> Nicole
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