This year marks the 26th anniversary of the signing of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Each year, advocates look for ways in which to properly commemorate the ADA and to celebrate the promise of equal access that it represents. We at the American Foundation for the Blind are also weighing in, not only with praise for the barriers that the ADA has broken down, but also with concern about the work that still needs to be done.
We are deeply disappointed that we're celebrating yet another ADA anniversary without the long-overdue clarifications of the ADA's application to cyberspace that the Obama Administration promised us years ago. Sadly, the latest failings concerning web accessibility are all-too-consistent with a pattern throughout the Obama presidency to neglect the vital intersection between disability policy and technology.
The Obama Administration has determined, yet again, to delay movement on the issuance of regulations clarifying the application of the ADA to online-only places of public accommodation. Most recently, the Administration scuttled a set of proposed federal regulations developed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) which would have provided even greater clarity about the web accessibility obligations of state and local governments. Now, to try and pick up the pieces, the DOJ is asking advocates yet again to weigh in and share our views on the importance of web access to governmental programs and services.
Such questions are insulting because, as a civil rights law, the ADA should mean that people with disabilities have a right to expect society to accommodate their individual needs. Rights aren't up for grabs based on a cost-benefit analysis. As our colleagues in the American Council of the Blind put it recently in a resolution unanimously adopted at their annual national conference and convention, "No civil right--whether started at Seneca Falls, Selma or Stonewall, or sought in Silicon Valley or cyberspace--no civil right should ever be sold at auction."
It is true that the ADA was enacted when the Internet was still in its infancy, but over the years, an array of court decisions continues to muddy the waters for the application of the ADA to the Internet, particularly to online-only places of public accommodation such as "clicks and no bricks" retail stores, banks, insurance companies, and the like. On the 20th anniversary of the ADA in 2010, the Obama Administration acknowledged the need for clarifying regulations in this area but has consistently thwarted efforts by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to make progress on this critical regulatory agenda.
There is a lot to celebrate about the positive changes that the ADA has brought to our country, and federal agencies with responsibility to enforce the ADA have aggressively championed civil rights enforcement under the Obama Administration's leadership. The same most definitely cannot be said for this Administration's web accessibility policy agenda for people with disabilities.
At this point in the Obama Presidency, we can be nearly certain that we won't see any meaningful progress in this area prior to Mr. Obama's last day in office. That is why AFB is joining a growing chorus of appeals to the major party candidates for President of the United States to demand issuance of regulations clarifying that online-only places of public accommodation are covered by the ADA. If you would like to share your frustration on the lack of progress on web access regulations, you can send an email to comments@afb.net. Please include your home address, and we will file your comments with the Department of Justice.
Surely by the 27th anniversary of the ADA there should be no doubt about the right of people who are blind or visually impaired to shop, communicate, and otherwise take full advantage of the tremendous online opportunities that most Americans today take for granted.
