Revisions to ADA requirements may directly affect local government websites

Big news on potential revisions to requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) may affect local governments and their websites. While Federal agencies must comply with ADA rules on making their websites accessible to people with disabilities, local governments are currently not required (well, technically they are if they receive Federal funds).

The U.S. Department of Justice announced that it is considering revising ADA regulations to establish specific requirements for State and local governments.

From the government web administrator’s perspective, I’ll tell you that it’s never a question of – why should we care about doing that? We all want our websites to be accessible to everyone, period. Instead, the issue always revolves around the ability, cost and ultimate usability of ensuring complete accessibility. Content management systems (CMS) that help generate webpages are just one component. In many cases the CMS is just the shell of the website, especially for large communities offering numerous services. Many of our websites interface with multiple proprietary systems for permitting, payment systems, and you name it. This will be an interesting discussion for sure, and I’m looking forward to watching it unfold.

So the DOJ wants to know what everyone thinks. They are “seeking information regarding what standards, if any, it should adopt for website accessibility.” They say comments will be available for public review at www.regulations.gov.

Share your ideas on potential standards here:
http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#documentDetail?R=0900006480b20b1a
(It took me a long time to find this page!)

Read the DOJ notice:
http://www.ada.gov/anprm2010/web%20anprm_2010.htm

(Thanks Steve Fisher of Washoe County, Nevada, for notifying other local gov webmasters of the proposed regs.)

About Kristy

Kristy is a city government web manager who has a passion for local government, social media and technology. She loves to share knowledge with other govies and think of creative ways to get citizens involved. She is also a bit of a ham.