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Re: NFB files complaint re US Small Bus Admin websiteinaccessibility

for

From: Cynthia Waddell
Date: Jul 26, 2009 12:40AM

Everyone,
It is not true that there is no path for remedies under Section 508.

An individual with a disability can file an administrative complaint against
a federal agency - such as the one filed against the US Small Business
Administration, or the individual can file a civil case in Federal Court
against the federal agency for noncompliance with Section 508.

Perhaps it would be helpful to refer everyone to the Speak Out! Tool
published under a federal grant by ITTATC at
http://www.ittatc.org/technical/speakout/508.php. This publication explains
how to file complaints about inaccessible information and telecommunication
technology.

In some cases, a Section 501, 504 and/or Section 508 case may need to be
filed to seek remedies. The complaint process for Section 508 follows the
Section 504 procedures.

Anyone interested in basic guidelines for speaking out might want to check
out this tool. It contains decision paths for filing complaints under the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended (Sections 501, 504 and 508), the
Communications Act of 1934 (Sections 255 and 713), The Americans with
Disabilities Act, and other legislation such as the Hearing Aid
Compatibility Act, the Television Decoder Circuitry Act and the Televised
Emergency Programming Rules.

Best regards,
Cynthia Waddell

--------------------------------------------------
Cynthia D. Waddell, JD
Executive Director and
Law, Policy and Technology Consultant
International Center for Disability Resources
on the Internet (ICDRI) Phone: (408) 691-6921

ICT Accessibility & Government Services Expert
United Nations Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs
www.g3ict.com

ICDRI is based in
Raleigh, North Carolina USA
http://www.icdri.org/CynthiaW/cynthia_d.htm

See My Books!
Web Accessibility: Web Standards and
Regulatory Compliance by Apress 2006
at www.icdri.org/WSR_Book.htm
See also Constructing Accessible Web Sites
www.icdri.org/constructing_accessible_web_site.htm

Is your Web Site Accessible?
Find out now with Cynthia Says! www.cynthiasays.com
Endorsed by the American Council of the Blind,
the CynthiaSaysTM portal is a joint Education
and Outreach project of ICDRI, The Internet
Society Disability and Special Needs Chapter,
and HiSoftware.
-----Original Message-----
From: Jared Smith [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2009 6:45 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] NFB files complaint re US Small Bus Admin
websiteinaccessibility

On Sat, Jul 25, 2009 at 7:26 AM, Jennison Mark Asuncion wrote:

> filed an administrative complaint today with the
> Small Business Administration (SBA).  The complaint asserts that the
> SBA's Web site violates Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act

This will be very interesting to follow. There is no path for remedies
in Section 508 or even a real administrative body that enforces
Section 508. In other words, I you can't as a consumer really sue
somebody because a government web site is not Section 508 compliant.
So this really is just a very formal complaint and hopefully it will
get the SBA to do what's right. But if they do not act, I wonder what
the next step would be - it certainly wouldn't involve Section 508.

Jared Smith
WebAIM