CPACC Global Accessibility Laws 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What does Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) require?
- Federal agencies must have accessible websites
- Public accommodations and commercial facilities must not discriminate against people with disabilities (Correct answer)
- Employers with more than 50 employees must provide accommodations
- Telecommunications companies must provide relay services
Correct answer: Public accommodations and commercial facilities must not discriminate against people with disabilities
ADA Title III prohibits discrimination in places of public accommodation and requires goods, services, and facilities be accessible.
Title III covers businesses open to the public: restaurants, hotels, theaters, retail stores, doctors' offices, and private schools. Courts have increasingly interpreted Title III to include websites. The DOJ's 2024 rule specifically addressed web accessibility under Title II.
Question 2: What is EN 301 549 and which regions does it primarily affect?
- A US military accessibility standard
- The European standard specifying accessibility requirements for ICT products and services, referenced by EU member states in procurement (Correct answer)
- A Japanese standard for accessible electronics
- An international standard for accessible buildings
Correct answer: The European standard specifying accessibility requirements for ICT products and services, referenced by EU member states in procurement
EN 301 549 is the European harmonized standard for ICT accessibility, referenced by the EU Web Accessibility Directive and European Accessibility Act.
EN 301 549 covers websites, non-web software, hardware, and documentation. It incorporates WCAG 2.1 Level AA for web content and extends requirements to non-web software and hardware. Referenced by the EU Web Accessibility Directive and European Accessibility Act.
Question 3: What does the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) require?
- Only government buildings in Ontario must be accessible
- Organizations in Ontario must meet accessibility standards in customer service, information, employment, transportation, and built environment (Correct answer)
- Only websites of Ontario companies must be accessible
- Only organizations with more than 500 employees must comply
Correct answer: Organizations in Ontario must meet accessibility standards in customer service, information, employment, transportation, and built environment
AODA requires organizations in Ontario to meet standards across five areas: customer service, information and communications, employment, transportation, and public spaces.
Enacted in 2005, AODA aims to make Ontario fully accessible by 2025. Compliance is phased by organization size. Non-compliance can result in daily fines up to $100,000 for corporations.
Question 4: What is the purpose of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA)?
- To regulate accessible building construction
- To ensure modern communications technologies including advanced communications services and video programming are accessible (Correct answer)
- To provide funding for assistive technology research
- To create a database of accessible mobile applications
Correct answer: To ensure modern communications technologies including advanced communications services and video programming are accessible
The CVAA (2010) updates US communications law to ensure modern technologies are accessible to people with disabilities.
Title I covers VoIP, messaging, email, and mobile browsers. Title II requires video programming captioned on TV to also be captioned online and expands video description requirements. The FCC enforces the CVAA.
Question 5: How does the UK Equality Act 2010 address accessibility?
- It only covers physical accessibility in government buildings
- It prohibits discrimination and requires service providers, employers, and education providers to make reasonable adjustments (Correct answer)
- It exclusively addresses website accessibility
- It only applies to organizations with more than 250 employees
Correct answer: It prohibits discrimination and requires service providers, employers, and education providers to make reasonable adjustments
The UK Equality Act prohibits disability discrimination and requires a proactive duty to make 'reasonable adjustments' to remove barriers.
The Equality Act consolidated previous legislation including the DDA 1995. The reasonable adjustment duty has three requirements: changing discriminatory practices, removing physical barriers, and providing auxiliary aids. Courts have applied this to digital services.
Question 6: Which court cases have established that commercial websites must be accessible under ADA Title III?
- No court cases have addressed this issue
- It is not a significant area of digital accessibility law
- Cases involving hospitality and retail businesses have reinforced that commercial websites must be accessible (Correct answer)
- Only cases involving government websites are relevant
Correct answer: Cases involving hospitality and retail businesses have reinforced that commercial websites must be accessible
Cases like Gil v. Winn-Dixie (2017) and Robles v. Domino's Pizza (2019) have established website accessibility under ADA Title III.
Key cases include Gil v. Winn-Dixie (2017, 11th Circuit), Robles v. Domino's Pizza (2019, 9th Circuit), and thousands of federal lawsuits yearly. These collectively established that commercial websites must be accessible, typically referencing WCAG 2.0/2.1 Level AA.
CPACC Global Accessibility Laws 2
What does Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) require?