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Since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 (ADA), the business world has experienced a lifecycle of actions and reactions to requirements for accessibility. At first, building owners complained that retrofit engineering for wheelchair ramps and restrooms added significant costs. But as time went on these accommodations became common, and engineering them into the original design added only a small fraction of what was spent on retrofitting. At the same time, the overall age of the population grew. Today many fully functional people use those same ramps originally designed for wheelchairs, and use the grab bars in showers and restrooms.
ADA also applies to technology. The Justice Department in 1996 issued a legal opinion that the ADA applies to the internet. A few years ago America Online agreed to make its web sites fully navigable for the visually-impaired. Priceline.com and Ramada Hotels did the same when challenged by the New York state attorney general's office. |
SECTION 508 OBLIGATIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Section 508 of the Workforce Rehabilitation Act as amended in 1998 (http://www.access-board.gov/508.htm) requires that the web sites of federal agencies be accessible. A robust set of standards, guidelines and tools have been developed and circulated by the Federal Access Board. In 1996, U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel considered a case brought by Bruce Sexton, Jr., a blind University of California-Berkeley student, against Target. |
THE TARGET CASE
Sexton charged that Target's web site violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) because it was not fully navigable by the blind. In July 2007 the case was certified as a class action suit for all blind Californians who may have tried to use the
Target shopping site.
In August 2008 Target settled out of court with the National Federation for the Blind for several million dollars and a remediation plan. During this time, the federal judge ruled that the California anti-discrimination law known as the Unruh applied, and therefore punitive damages might apply. The penalty for failing to meet accessibility standards now had the potential to become very expensive.
Legal requirements aside, accessibility is the right thing to do. Making materials accessible to all people broadens the reach of information to a larger, more diverse portion of the population.
As the baby boom generation ages and experiences increased vision problems, such as macular degeneration, more and more of the population will use and appreciate the accessibility tools created for the blind. Just as fully functional people now use the ramps originally intended for wheelchairs, this capability will also become accepted and expected. |
ADDITIONAL BENEFITS
The same technologies needed to enable accessibility also enable mobility applications. Documents with columns and tables are adjusted to fit the screens of small PDA devices. Web pages flow down those small screens in more comprehensible formats.
These multiple benefits increase the overall advantage of undertaking accessibility projects. |
WHAT STANDARDS ARE APPLICABLE?
While ultimately usability is the test, there are guidelines that help assure usability is achieved.
In 1999, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) established the first three-tiered approach to accessibility for web products. These standards were updated in December 2008.
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/
The Federal Access Board has established criteria for many technologies and these can be found at:
http://www.access-board.gov/508.htm |
| WHAT SHOULD BE ACCESSIBLE? |
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While virtually everything electronic should be made accessible, public-facing information is the highest-return investment an organization can make. You increase the diversity of population that can understand and use your documents and your web site, therefore increasing your market exposure.
In addition, by making public data accessible you increase the ability to defend against a potential lawsuit from the most common sources. All lawsuits settled to date were certified as class action suits; the size of the class drives the potential impact of the lawsuit. Public information and documents are most susceptible of large class action lawsuits.
Public information can include:
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Healthcare information such as personal health records
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Financial and benefits information such as monthly and annual statements
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Transportation data including schedules and fares
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Online applications
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Shopping sites
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Information for the older population or people with disabilities, including veterans
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Beyond public-facing information, making internal networks accessible has the return or benefit of increasing your pool of potential employees. People with disabilities have skills and abilities that strengthen and diversify the workforce, which improves productivity. |
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THE ELEMENTS OF ACCESSIBILITY
VASTEC delivers the three crucial elements required to make web sites and documents accessible: |
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Clear Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to enable screen readers for accurate reading |
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Column re-flow to present the material in the correct flow |
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Table read-order to present the information in a comprehensible fashion. |
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Additional elements can also be applied to make charts, graphs, maps and drawings accessible. |
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THE COMPLETE SOLUTION
In 2008 VASTEC processed more than 10 million documents containing confidential information to strict federal government standards, converting paper documents and microfiche into encrypted, password protected, electronic documents. VASTEC offers a facility, processes, staff, and expertise to assist you in maximizing your investment in accessibility. |
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(813) 375-9213
(813) 902-3598