web accessibility and the law - a brief history
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This document provides a brief history of web accessibility and the law. It discusses several key legal cases from Australia, the United States, and Canada that established that websites must comply with disability discrimination laws and be accessible to people with disabilities such as visual impairments. The document notes that while the Australian Human Rights Commission receives complaints about inaccessible websites each year, they are typically resolved through negotiation. It outlines some Australian cases on this issue from 2009 to 2012 and suggests that the next step for Australia may be stronger legal actions to enforce web accessibility.
web accessibility and the law - a brief history
- 1. Nick Cowie @nickobec Perth Web Accessibility Camp 1 August 2014 Web Accessibility & the Law a brief history
- 2. I AM NOT A LAWYER Even if I do dress like one on occasions
- 3. Nothing in the presentation is a substitute for good legal advice
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- 6. Maguire v. SOCOG Australia 2000 Disability Discrimination Act 1992 Section 24 Goods, services and facilities (1) It is unlawful for a person who, whether for payment or not, provides goods or services, or makes facilities available, to discriminate against another person on the ground of the other person’s disability or a disability of any of that other person’s associates: http://humanrights.gov.au/disability_rights/decisions/comdec/1999/dd000150.htm
- 7. Access Now v. Southwest Airlines United States of America 2002 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 a website was a virtual construct and hence not a “public place of accommodation” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Access_Now_v._Southwest_Airlines
- 8. National Federation of the Blind v. Target Corporation United States of America 2008 “websites like Target.com must be accessible to the blind under both California law and the Americans with Disabilities Act” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Federation_of_the_Blind_v._Target_Corporation
- 9. Meanwhile in Australia Human Rights Commission received on average one formal complaint each year about inaccessible websites. These complaints are from visually impaired Australians, who can not access significant websites, all Government, except one investor having problems with a real estate site. All were resolved by negotiation.
- 10. Kerr v. Virgin Blue Australia 2009 http://www.smh.com.au/travel/virgin-blue-in-court-over-website-20090119-7kc1.html
- 11. King v. Jetstar Airlines Australia 2012 Disability Discrimination Act 1992 Section 24(2) It is not unlawful discrimination if the provision of the services or the making available of the facilities would impose “unjustifiable hardship” on the person. http://www.hwlebsworth.com.au/latest-news-a-publications/publications/transport/aviation/item/745-victory-for-low-
- 12. National Association of the Deaf v. Netflix United States of America 2012 “the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to website-only businesses” http://dredf.org/captioning/
- 13. Jodhan v. Canada Canada 2012 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms “Two systemic failures that underlie the government’s failure to provide online services in a manner that is accessible to the visually impaired were demonstrated in this case.” http://recueil.cmf.gc.ca/eng/2011/2010fc1197.html
- 14. National Federation Of The Blind v. HRB Digital LLC and HRB Tax Group United States of America 2013 “Under the terms of the five year decree, H&R Block’s website, tax filing utility and mobile apps will conform to the Level AA Success Criteria of the WCAG 2.0.” http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2014/March/14-crt-239.html
- 15. American Council for the Blind v. Tangherlini United States of America 2014 “The great irony here is that the agency charged with ensuring that others comply with the Rehabilitation Act and make their websites accessible to the blind is not itself complying with the law. GSA is effectively telling federal contractors to ‘do as I say, not as I do,’” http://www.law360.com/articles/530500/gsa-sued-scolded-for-its-blind-unfriendly- website