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Re: NFB files complaint re US Small Bus Admin websiteinaccessibility

for

From: Jared Smith
Date: Jul 26, 2009 5:40AM

On Sun, Jul 26, 2009 at 12:37 AM, Cynthia
Waddell< <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> Everyone,
> It is not true that there is no path for remedies under Section 508.

Thank you for the clarification. Maybe you could provide a bit more.
It's my understanding that while you can file a complaint with the
agency, there's no requirement that the agency actually do anything
about it. In other words, Section 508 doesn't say, "If someone
complains, you have to do what they ask for." Now the agency should
have internal procedures for handling the complaint, but there's no
requirement to do so in Section 508. As such, it's quite possible that
an agency can ignore you or tell you "sorry", right?

There is no "508 police" that enforces Section 508 accessibility for citizens.

So then the only option is to file a civil suit, but because the scope
of Section 508 is really federal procurement, it isn't really the best
option to bring such action - at least I'm not aware of a citizen
successfully suing under Section 508. Section 501 or Section 504 would
be better, but they often don't have scope over citizens. The ADA is
another option, though that one is even questionable when it comes to
the web and non-employees.

Thank you for pointing out the Speak Out! Tool. It's a great resource.

Jared Smith
WebAIM