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Rachel Pulver
Professor Comeaux
15 April 2019
December 19, 2009 I was diagnosed with an astrocytoma tumor in the cerebellum region
of my brain. At the completion of all three surgeries, I was faced with the latent factor of being
visually impaired due to the crushing impact that the brain tumor had on my optic nerves, which
caused them to atrophy. At the age of ten I had become part of a minority that would forever be
fighting an uphill battle for equal rights to live and experience the beauty of life despite having a
disability. The disabled community has fought for equal rights and was finally given their first
triumph with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 ,a civil rights law, which stated under section 504
that no person could be discriminated under any program or activity that was being funded by the
government. This was the first victory of many including the Americans with Disabilities Act,
which came latter. However, with the changing times and advancements in society there is
always unforeseen problems that come arise, which have directly impacted individuals within the
disabled community. The 21st century has unequivocally been set part by the innovations that
technology has provided to the people of the world. With technology comes the advancement of
living and changing life styles. The main concern is how these technological advancements are
not being reasonability adjusted or accommodated to the disabled community, thus, leaving them
behind in the past. Web accessibility for websites and mobile apps need to be adapted to the
individuals in the disabled community by setting clear and precise legislation for third parties to
including law makers turn to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to decide and declare
actions concerning individuals with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act was
enacted in 1990 and was amended in 2008. The purpose of these laws are to eradicate and limit
discrimination for persons with disabilities within employment, state and local government
services, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and transportation; both public and
private entities are affected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (Sauld). When looked at from
a distance, this is seen as a positive. These laws act as clear guidelines for the law and entities to
follow, thus, eliminating discrimination and providing equal opportunities for individuals with
disabilities, but how clear are these laws? Nevertheless to show this point, in 2015 there was over
40 web accessibility law suits against American businesses. One can only image the amount of
law suits today. The article titled Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Web Accessibility
“The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is the most far-reaching piece of
accessibility legislation in the US. But since it was signed in 1990, it does not explicitly
address web accessibility” (Sauld). The article goes on by saying, “It has been up to
lawyers and judges to determine how the ADA applies to online content, and while the
law remains open to interpretation, the prevailing wisdom is that the ADA extends to
This is a real big concern when addressing web accessibility when the most far reaching
piece of legislature protecting persons with disabilities, Americans with Disabilities Act, does
not concretely lay out and state rules and regulations for web accessibility for entities to follow.
Having to read between the lines and interpret something that is not there is a perfect storm for
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disaster that will unfortunately not by choice cause discrimination toward the vast community of
disabled persons.
The article titled Absence of U.S. Regulation Leads to Web Accessibility Lawsuits
emphasizes the importance of having consistent and stable laws directed toward managing web
Today the Internet, most notably the sites on the web, plays a critical role in
Increasingly, private entities of all types are providing goods and services to
under title III of the ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act]. Many websites
The changing world of today’s society undeniably relies on the internet for
work and play. Technology has downloaded its hardware into society’s blueprint
cognitive impairments, deaf, hard of hearing, those who are prone to seizers and
much more a pressing matter that can no longer be seen as a pretty suggestion that
can be shrug off as wishful thinking or a task to be done another day, another
Accessibility for the internet among the disabled community is a required necessity
Carrying out a solution for this problem is an obligation that the justice system needs to
uphold and take on as a serious matter. In the past the Department of Justice has fallen short in
their responsibilities concerning the matter at hand. On September 25, 2018 the Department of
Justice sent a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives addressed to the Honorable Ted Budd, a
congressman. The Department of Justice started out by referencing the purpose of their letter,
which was related to the congressman’s previous letter to the Department of Justice about
website accessibility for public accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The
contents of the letter reminded the reader of December 26, 2017 when the Department of Justice
Federal Registration of 82 Fed. Reg. 60932, in which two of the withdrawals were directly
related to the accessibility of web information and services under the Americans with Disabilities
Act. The following quote is taken out from the Department of Justice’s letter clearly explaining
what rulemaking statues were being renounced, “The first withdrawn rulemaking (RIN 1190-
AA61) covered accessibility of web information and services of public accommodations. The
second withdrawn rulemaking (RIN 1190-AA65) covered accessibility of web services of state
and local governments” (Feingold). Taking away rulemaking statues is not going to help with the
Additionally, the Department of Justice states that, title III under the Americans with
Disabilities Act has applied to web accessibility 20 years ago (Feingold). If that is so then why is
the congressman, Ted Budd, writing to the Department of Justice about this topic? The
Department of Justice has the audacity in their letter to further state that they are still considering
if implementing set rules and regulations toward web accessibility is appropriate due to title III’s
existence, but title III does not mention the internet once, so yes, it is appropriate. Later on, in the
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body of the letter, the Department of Justice says, “The Department has consistently taken the
position that the absence of a specific regulation does not serve as a basis for noncompliance
with statute’s requirements” (Feingold). This is apparently not true, because web accessibility in
America even with the Americans with Disabilities Act is still presenting problems for the
As a result of this problem is the necessity for a solution that needs to be enacted within
the American justice system and the legislative process. The Americans with Disabilities Act
needs to be amended with an additional title that includes web accessibility rules and regulations
for third parties to reference and enforce in their cyber spaces. This is the first step to fixing this
broken system and providing equal opportunities for individuals in the disabled community.
Now the question is what type of rules and regulations should be permanently written down in
the scrolls of web accessibility to make certain that these rules are clear and precise for
There is a third-party organization by the name of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C),
which has produced guidelines for web developers and designers along with any other entities
that use web platforms. This document is called WCAG 2.1 which stands for Web Content
Accessibility Guideline. The document has twelve guidelines, which fall under four principles;
perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. The guidelines cover alternative text, captions,
content that can be presented in alternative ways and formats, provides ways to make it easy for
individuals to see and hear content, educates creator on how to embed keyboard commands,
shows how to give enough time for users to read and see content, instructs how to create content
that does not cause seizers or physical reactions, and conveys to creators how to make content
Moreover, to make sure that the rules and regulations of the new amendment concerning
web accessibility toward the Americans with Disabilities Act is efficiently sustainable the World
Wide Web Consortium’s WCAG 2.1 should be the new amended added to the Americans with
Disabilities Act under web accessibility. This would be a beneficial action on behalf of web
accessibility statues, because it has already been established and is already being used by third
party entities to withhold their cyber spaces. As of right now, the guidelines in the WCAG 2.1 is
a optional tool, but once integrated as an amendment companies will have to abide and follow,
thus, eliminating the discrimination toward the disabled community. This is a fight that needs to
be fought and to be realized is a problem that many face on a daily. The solution will not be easy,
Works Cited
Feingold, Lainey. “Department of Justice Affirms ADA's Coverage of Websites.” Law Office of
Lainey Feingold, 28 Sept. 2018, www.lflegal.com/2018/09/doj-cut/.
Sauld, Samantha. “Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Web Accessibility Requirements
for Video.” 3Play Media, 26 Feb. 2019, www.3playmedia.com/2019/02/26/ada-video-
requirements/.
“Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Overview.” World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C), www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag-new.