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Re: Proper Markup on Web Pages

for

From: Jonathan Avila
Date: May 13, 2016 10:57AM

> If there is anyone on this list that who is responsible in whole or in part for actively excluding software manufacturers from obligations under the proposed ADA update (recent ADA SANPRM), I would genuinely value an explanation for why you believe exclusion of these integral parties makes sense.

Brooks, while I was NOT involved in the process or decisions that went around the language in the SANPRM I can guess that trying to regulate makers of frameworks including open source frameworks is a jurisdictional issue that the DOJ may not have the ability to regulate. That is, goods and services are typically regulated around things such as interstate commerce (e.g. CVAA), places of public accommodation (e.g. ADA Title III), etc. Frameworks by themselves would likely not be covered until they are sold or used by organizations. A report and order from the FCC did hint that perhaps peer-to-peer communication services could be covered under the CVAA and the maker of the peer-to-peer software could be considered a service provider even though they did not host the service -- but I'd imagine this might face quite a challenge in our judicial system.

Ultimately I believe accessibility in frameworks, user agents, authoring tools, and software is very important and a critical piece of the puzzle -- but finding the right way to address the issue has and will continue to be a challenge.

Jonathan

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