508 applies to private companies Was: Re: [thelist] (no subject)

Martin Burns martin at easyweb.co.uk
Fri May 31 13:35:00 CDT 2002


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On Friday, May 31, 2002, at 04:55  pm, Judah McAuley wrote:

> There is not at this time, as far as I know, any settled case law that
> applies the ADA to web accessibility.

I'm afraid there is - please see my post of the other day.

It's also the DOJ's repeatedly stated position.

> Since the ADA is not specific
> regarding actual implementations (it is, as you say, a general principle
> law) then all "rules" about how the ADA must be applied have to come
> from court decisions.  It also would help if Congress would provide some
> guidelines that they and the Department of Justice feel forms compliance
> with the ADA.  They have not done so.

They have provided 508 as a definitive standard for ADA. Under ADA, the
principle of being accessible isn't any different between government and
private bodies, only the scope of services it applies to. So what you
need to do to *be* accessible is the same.

>  Until the case law comes through
> the courts or the DOJ says that private companies should comply with
> section 508 to avoid going afoul of the ADA, section 508 does not apply
> at all to private companies.  Neither does the WAI.

Judah, what I wrote was that ADA applies to private companies. Anyone
bringing a case under ADA has one of 3 choices:
1) Demonstrate ADA non-compliance using 508 standards which Congress +
DOJ have accepted fulfil ADA principles
2) Demonstrate non-compliance using WAI standards which 508 standards
are based on
3) Try to define a new standard which will either mirror WAI or be
non-useful

If you're wishing to defend against or avoid an ADA case, then by
demonstrating that you meet 508 or WAI standards you'll get the case
thrown out pretty quickly or avoid it in the first place (avoidance
being by far the cheaper option).

Cheers
Martin
_______________________________________________
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