Accessibility Laws, Regulations, and Guidelines

Published August 23, 2021

Ensuring digital content is accessible can be a challenge. Removing barriers for assistive technology requires coordination among leaders across the organization and technical expertise in several technical disciplines. However, before accessibility work can begin, coordinators and managers championing the effort should know which laws, regulations, and guidelines are applicable to their organization and technology. 

Laws and regulations

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act

Amended in 1998, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires Federal departments and agencies, when developing, procuring, maintaining, or using electronic communication technology, ensure individuals with disabilities who are Federal employees or individuals with disabilities who are members of the public, have access to and use of electronic information technology, unless "an undue burden would be imposed on the department or agency." 

In 2017 the United States Access Board adopted the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) as the design standard for Federal departments and agencies that must adhere to Section 508 requirements. Although the law applies to Federal agencies and recipients of federal funding, WCAG 2.0 has become the defacto standard for enforcement agencies such as the Department of Justice (DOJ) and is often referenced in settlement agreements with covered entities. 

Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act

Effective 1996, Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act requires telecommunications products and services to be accessible to persons with disabilities if such access is readily achievable. Products covered under Section 255 include all hardware and software telephone network equipment, such as telephones, handsets, fax machines, and pagers. If equipment cannot be made accessible, service providers must adapt their equipment to be usable by assistive technology. The law also covers services such as telephone calls, caller identification, voicemail, and call-waiting. 

Air Carrier Access Act

In 2013 the Department of Transportation amended its rules for implementation of the Air Carrier Access Act requiring all "web pages that provide core air travel services and information" conform to WCAG 2.0 by December 12, 2015, with remaining pages on a carrier's website mandated to meet the requirement by December 12, 2016. 

The rule, titled "Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Air Travel: Accessibility of Web Sites and Automated Kiosks at U.S. Airports" also requires US and foreign air carriers to ensure that at least 25 percent of all kiosks meet detailed accessibility design standards at U.S. airports with 10,000 or more annual enplanements.

21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act

Signed into law in 2010, the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) requires advanced communications services and products, such as VoIP, non-interconnected VoIP, electronic messaging, and interoperable video conferencing services to be accessible to persons with disabilities. CVAA authorizes the FCC to ensure "reliable and interoperable access" for persons with disabilities regarding next-generation 9-1-1 services, a frequent Department of Justice enforcement sticking point in Project Civic Access settlement agreements. 

In regards to web accessibility, CVAA also requires internet video originating from TV to be closed captioned but does not cover video exclusively developed for the internet. Although there is no provision that specifically addresses online video produced for the internet, the Americans with Disabilities Act requires content to be made accessible for persons with disabilities - enforcement activity is common for uncaptioned video content when requests for accommodation are denied or never addressed. 

Americans with Disabilities Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) generally requires that State and local governments provide equal access to programs and services, which includes programs, services, and activities offered online unless doing so would fundamentally alter the nature of their programs or services, or impose an undue burden. The Department of Justice has also interpreted the ADA to apply to the accessibility of business websites, arguing that absent an official technical standard for web accessibility, covered entities have flexibility in how to implement accessible information technology but ultimately must make online content accessible for persons with disabilities. 

In addition, the Department of Justice, the premier Federal agency responsible for enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act, has consistently referenced WCAG as the standard for which covered entities must meet to satisfy the requirements of consent decrees reached through Project Civic Access

Guidelines

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

Since its first publication in 1999 (WCAG 1.0), the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines have continued to shape online accessibility. In 2008, W3C published WCAG 2.0, which included core web accessibility principles that have been carried into the revised guidelines (WCAG 2.1), including: 

  • Perceivable - Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive
  • Operable - User interface components and navigation must be operable
  • Understandable - Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable
  • Robust - Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies

WCAG 2.1 and WCAG 3.0 (currently published as a draft) will effectively replace WCAG 2.0, however, WCAG 2.0 is still used frequently by Federal enforcement agencies as an accessibility threshold. 

Portable document format universal accessibility (PDF/UA)

Adopted as an ISO standard in 2012, PDF/UA (Universal Accessibility) provides a set of guidelines for creating accessible PDFs. In general, the standard requires that meaningful content is tagged, illogical headings and color as a method to convey information are prohibited, meaningful graphics include text descriptions, security settings must not be restrictive to assistive technology, and fonts be embedded. While PDF accessibility can be achieved without strict adherence to the standard, as is the case of WCAG 2.0 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, in lieu of a technical standard to replace it, PDF/UA has become a defacto standard for PDF accessibility. 

 

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