[thelist] US Judge rules that ADA applies to websites
alan herrell - the head lemur
headlemur at lemurzone.com
Tue Sep 12 12:30:51 CDT 2006
Tab Alleman wrote:
> This section 508 seems to apply only to the Federal Government (and its contractors, perhaps). We're just a private company that's about to become a publicly traded one, so I don't think this applies to us.
>
Here we go once again.
Strictly speaking, The Section 508 standards do currently apply to
federal government websites.
Here is where you keep misssing the fine print.
The pixel shotgun which will be blasting a whole lot of you into
oblivion is this:
In a Letter Dated September 9, 1996, to Sen. Tom Harkin, Deval L.
Patrick, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division had this to say,
“The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires State and local
governments and places of public accommodation to furnish appropriate
auxiliary aids and services where necessary to ensure effective
communication with individuals with disabilities, unless doing so would
result in a fundamental alteration to the program or service or in an
undue burden. 28 C.F.R. . 36.303; 28 C.F.R. . 35.160. Auxiliary aids
include taped texts, Brailled materials, large print materials, and
other methods of making visually delivered material available to people
with visual impairments.
“Covered entities under the ADA are required to provide effective
communication, regardless of whether they generally communicate through
print media, audio media, or computerized media such as the Internet.
Covered entities that use the Internet for communications regarding
their programs, goods, or services must be prepared to offer those
communications through accessible means as well.”
Let's review.
1. Federal Government websites
This oughta be a no brainer...
2. State and Local Government websites
These websites are included by extension as they are partially supported
by Federal Tax Dollars, and are branches on the 508 Tree.
This not only means the departments of redundant information, but also
includes Educational institutions that receive federal money.
Universities, colleges, and any other educational school.
3. Companies who have contracts with the Federal Government. Soup to
nuts, guns, and ammo. If you do business with the Federal Government
your website needs to be accessible.
*Places of public accommodation.*
This seems to be the whipping boy for every flash and AJAX designer on
the planet to seek refuge from getting off their asses and actually
think about accessibility as a profit center.
You will see this material again.
If you have a brick and mortar business which is open to the public for
as little as 15 minutes a day, you fall under the ADA.
Congratulations! You are a public accomodation!!
That means wide potty doors, grab bars, and parking for cripples. Get
over the fact they get the best parking spots.
It doesn't matter how they became handicapped, self abuse, accident, got
wounded in a theater of war.
The bottom line of the ADA is to *include* these people in our society.
What part of this is the problem?
wheelchairs give you the willies?
blind folks can't see your color choices?
you cannot think beyond your own able bodied self interest?
you are still pissed about the parking deal?
That being said, let's move on to the:
> effective communication, regardless of whether they generally
communicate through print media,
audio media, or computerized media such as the Internet.
Is the Internet a Public accomodiation?
No it is not, despite all the pleadings, wishes and desires. You need an
computer of some sort and a connection.
Before you break your arms patting yourselves on the back, using this
argument to continue to develop sites, requiring a thousand plugins,
horsepower equal to your development boxes and monitors, remember this:
*A Website is a communication medium for expanding businesses.*
is that the sound of public accomodation in the background?
Since you are spending your days selling businesses on the magic of the
internet for either making money in the case of selling directly,
generating leads, for offline sales, or getting them to save money by
producing and generation White papers, data sheets, FAQ's, and any other
materials to turn lookers into buyers, or to inform visitors that your
products and services are either a good fit, shorting the sales cycle,
or providing information sufficient to have visitors to look elsewhere
to find products and services that are a better fit, thereby saving the
company money by not chasing down leads that suck time, energy and money
that does not result in a sale, which for a lot of *designers* seems not
to matter in moving pixels.
POP QUIZ!
Where does the money come from to pay developers and designers to build
sites?
The most ironic part of the whole accessibility issue, it that the
companies that are being sued stand to make the most money with
accessible websites. Target, Southwest Airlines, AOL, to name a few.
All of the bitching that takes place around accessibility comes down to
several justifications.
Accessibility is not cool.
Cool for who? Certainly not cool for the company who has gone online to
expand their business. Since their sites are not accessible in whatever
degree, that closes the door on those potential sales.
Remember where the money comes from for you to build sites.
Accessibility is hard.
Since when? ALT tags have been with us since the IMG tag was invented.
I need javascript for session infomation!
Since when? Your customer needs contact information to close sales.
I need cookies to track visitors!
You were a web designer a few minutes ago, now you are a stalker?
Accessibility is not required.
Right now, you can make that case, but the designers who build
accessible websites, will dance on your Flash enabled, Ajaxian whizbang
graves.
5 years ago most of you did not have jobs anywhere near the internet.
You have the ability to create an environment that is inclusive,
available to a global audience, that can promote your client's
business, keep you in chips and beer, and you want to build things that
can only be seen by 50 people on the planet?
5 years from now most of you will be gone.
alan herrell - the head lemur
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