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Re: ADA Title II - websites

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From: Jonathan Avila
Date: May 3, 2016 4:32PM

Sarah, thank you for sharing this information that applies to state and local public entities.

I'll also add that the supplementary advanced notice of proposal as I read it would also address accessibility of documents as well with some exceptions for pre-existing documents (although these would still need to be made accessible on request). Pre-existing documents also that were necessary to access services would be covered though. So, if what is being proposed is adopted in general new documents would need to be made accessible and WCAG 2 A and AA conformant without the user having to request and accessible version.

Also, of significance is that the DOJ indicates they may not consider a phone line equivalent access to 24/7 website access to services. This is a trend I am seeing from the DOJ -- that you can no longer just say you can call in during business hours and we'll help you -- organizations must make their ICT accessible by default without simply saying they provide an alternative but unequal method of access. They also set a higher bar for determining when alternative content can be used in place of making web content WCAG 2 A and AA conformant.

Furthermore, the DOJ askes about mobile app accessibility and whether they should be considered for inclusion. So it would be great if people could respond to that.

Finally as Sarah points out, educational materials and information from school districts is included. This is a big issue and something that has simmered for some time. Not only would public information be required to be accessible but information behind a password would be as long as a student w/ a disability is enrolled in the course. And DOJ indicates parents w/ disabilities have rights to accessible content as well. For open courses that are generally available to the public the content would need to be accessible without a specific person with a disability enrolling.

Best regards,

Jonathan

Jonathan Avila
Chief Accessibility Officer
SSB BART Group 
<EMAIL REMOVED>
703.637.8957 (Office)

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