Laws

Question 1

Civil rights laws

Answer 1

These are laws that emphasize equal rights for people with disabilities, often making it illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities under certain defined conditions, such as employment, access to buildings, government services, or “places of public accommodation” such as restaurants, retail, entertainment, etc. Sometimes these laws include technical standards. Other times they do not. The Americans with Disabilities Act is an example of a civil rights law.

Question 2

Procurement laws

Answer 2

These laws require that accessibility be taken into account when making a purchase or when contracting for services. For example, the law could state that if there are three potential products and two of them meet accessibility standards, only the products that meet the standards should be considered for purchase. It would be against the law to buy the product that does not meet accessibility standards. The most prominent procurement laws (like Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act in the United States, and EN 301 549 in the European Union) apply only to government entities, but it is possible that a future law could impact private businesses.

Question 3

Industry-specific laws

Answer 3

Sometimes an industry is so important to accessibility that the government writes a law just for that industry. Examples include telecommunications and airplane travel, both of which have accessibility-related laws in the United States, which are the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) and the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), respectively.

Question 4

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Answer 4

Civil rights law

Prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, architectural design, transportation, examinations and courses, and other services offering “public accommodation.”

Says nothing about web accessibility explicitly

Enforced by consumers (people with disabilities) filing formal complaints

Question 5

The ADA is enforced by

Answer 5

Consumers (people with disabilities) filing formal complaints

Question 6

The ADA applies to

Answer 6

• Private entities that own, operate, lease, or lease to places of public accommodation. Essentially this refers to businesses and other organizations open to the public, with the exception of religious entities and private clubs.
• Federal and state government entities.

Question 7

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act

Answer 7

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires the U.S. federal government to take accessibility into account when procuring information technologies: websites, telephones, copiers, computers, and other technologies, including both hardware and software.

The parts of Section 508 most relevant to web accessibility are
* 1194.21 — Software applications and operating systems
* 1194.22 — Web-based intranet and internet information and applications
* 1194.31 — Functional performance criteria.

Enforced by consumers (people with disabilities) filing formal complaints

Question 8

The parts of Section 508 most relevant to web accessibility are

Answer 8

• 1194.21 — Software applications and operating systems
• 1194.22 — Web-based intranet and internet information and applications
• 1194.31 — Functional performance criteria.

Question 9

Section 508 applies to

Answer 9

US federal government entities only, but the effects of Section 508 have permeated the information technology landscape because so many businesses, non-profits, and local and state governments do business with the federal government. To sell to the federal government, private entities have to offer accessible products and services.

Question 10

Section 508 is enforced by

Answer 10

Consumers (people with disabilities) filing formal complaints

Question 11

21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA)

Answer 11

The CVAA requires “advanced communications services and products” to be accessible to people with disabilities, including video communications, text messaging, web browsers on mobile devices, and other similar technologies.

All video programs presented with captions on television must be presented with closed-captions on the internet.

The CVAA does not explicitly apply to web-only videos, but the video captioning requirement in WCAG applies to videos of all kinds on the internet, whether broadcast on television or not.

Question 12

The CVAA applies to

Answer 12

All entities already covered by FCC regulations (namely: telecommunication hardware and software providers and television broadcasters and television hardware/software providers)

Question 13

The CVAA is enforced by

Answer 13

Consumers (people with disabilities) filing formal complaints

Question 14

Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA)

Answer 14

The ACAA of 1986 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in air travel and requires air carriers to accommodate the needs of passengers with disabilities.

U.S. and foreign air carriers operating flights within or to the U.S. or selling tickets to the U.S. public are required to ensure that the public-facing content of websites that they own or control conforms to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Level AA.

Question 15

The ACAA applies to

Answer 15

U.S. and foreign air carriers operating flights within or to the U.S. or selling tickets to the U.S. public

Question 16

The ACAA is enforced by

Answer 16

Consumers (people with disabilities) filing formal complaints

Question 17

The Accessible Canada Act

Answer 17

Goal of making Canada barrier-free by January 1, 2040 in the following priority areas:

• Employment
• The built environment (buildings and public spaces)
• Information and communication technologies
• Other forms of communication
• Procurement of goods, services, and facilities
• The design and delivery of programs and services
• Transportation (airlines, rail, road, and marine transportation providers that cross provincial or international borders)

Question 18

The Accessible Canada Act applies to

Answer 18

• The Canadian federal government
• Private sectors regulated by the government (e.g. banks, transportation, broadcasting, telecommunications, the Canadian Forces and the Royal Mounted Police)

Question 19

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)

Canada

Answer 19

The AODA “applies to every person or organization in the public and private sectors of the Province of Ontario, including the Legislative Assembly of Ontario” if the person or organization “provides goods, services or facilities… employs persons in Ontario… offers accommodation… owns or occupies a building, structure or premises… or is engaged in a prescribed business, activity or undertaking or meets such other requirements as may be prescribed.”

Question 20

The Equality Act of 2010 (EQA)

United Kingdom

Answer 20

One of the main laws related to web accessibility in the UK.

Prohibits discrimination in the workplace and in society in general on the basis of:

• Disability
• Race or ethnic identity
• Sex
• Pregnancy or parenthood status
• Sexual orientation or identity
• Religion, belief, or lack of religion/belief

Question 21

The Equality Act applies to

United Kingdom

Answer 21

Public authorities “and to any other organisation when it is carrying out a public function.”

Question 22

EN 301 549

Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services

Answer 22

A voluntary harmonized European standard with a broad set of requirements, originally created to provide accessibility requirements for all ICT products and services. This standard has been set up to create equal European procurement requirements in terms of accessibility.

EN 301 549 covers different technologies, not just the web. Parts of EN 301 549 relating to the web refer to WCAG 2.1 level AA.

Question 23

European Accessibility Act (EAA)

Answer 23

The main goal of this Act is to create a common set of accessibility guidelines for EU member states and fix the diverging accessibility requirements. While many EU Member States already have some form of accessibility legislation, there is no EU law on accessibility.

This act is a landmark piece of legislation because unlike many preceding accessibility laws, it covers both the public and private sector. Additionally, businesses located outside of the EU that are providing goods and services to the EU must also comply with the requirements in this act.