Module 1: Legal Considerations
International Standards
Standards for accessibility are created, published, and maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium Links to an external site.(W3C) Links to an external site., an international community that develops open standards for the Web. Their accessibility standards are widely referenced in legislation, and identify three levels of accessibility: A, AA, and AAA, in increasing levels of rigor.
While WCAG levels are not legally binding in and of themselves, they serve as an excellent "litmus test" for compliance with existing legislation.
The most recent revision of their Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Links to an external site.(WCAG) Links to an external site., focuses on four principles of accessibility, which can be remembered by the acronym POUR:
- Perceivable: Users must be able to perceive content via their senses. While this may seem obvious, a lot of web content is not perceivable by many users with disabilities. For example, the dialog of an uncaptioned video is not perceivable to Deaf users.
- Operable: Users must be able to get the website to take them where they want to go and do what they want to do. For example, a page that can be navigated only by using a mouse is not operable by blind users or those with some motor disabilities.
- Understandable: Even if content is perceivable, it may not be understandable to all users. Site navigation must be logical, and information must be arranged in such a way as to facilitate understanding.
- Robust: Content should be accessible across a wide variety of devices (tablets, smartphones, alternative input devices) and programs--different browsers and operating systems, for example.
USA Legislation
The three most significant pieces of legislation affecting legal accessibility requirements for US educational institutions are Section 504, Section 508, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). While this legislation has far-reaching implications for public institutions, private schools, colleges and universities are also affected, especially insofar as their web-based materials are considered "public spaces."
Compliance with federal regulations by educational institutions is overseen and enforced by the Office for Civil Rights of the US Department of Education Links to an external site.. ADA compliance falls under the jurisdiction of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. Links to an external site.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act Links to an external site. provides for basic rights of people with disabilities, and requires that all organizations that receive federal funding provide accommodations for equal access for individuals with disabilities.
"No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States […] shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance or any program or activity conducted by any Executive agency or by the United States Postal Service.”
Even if a private college receives no direct federal funding, if it participates in federal student aid programs or grants, it must comply with Section 504.
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Links to an external site.applies specifically to electronic communication and information technologies. It requires that websites, email, or web documents be fully accessible to all individuals regardless of a disability, and includes software applications and operating systems, web-based information and applications, computers, telecommunications products, video and multi-media, and "self-contained closed products," e.g., information kiosks.
Again, while this legislation may not affect private colleges and universities directly, many grants require that materials created within the funding meet Section 508 standards.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Links to an external site. prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, state and local government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and transportation. Title II of the ADA covers publicly-funded universities, community colleges, and vocational schools. Title III of the ADA includes privately-funded schools.
Title II applies to "... any and all state or local government and any of its departments, agencies, or other instrumentalities whether or not they receive federal funding." Provisions of Title II include:
- A person with a disability may not be barred from participation in a service, program, or activity on the basis of their disability.
- Institutions must eliminate eligibility standards or rules that deny individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to enjoy their services, programs or activities unless “necessary” for the provisions of the service, program or activity.
- Institutions must modify policies, practices, and procedures that deny equal access to individuals with disabilities.
- The institution must bear the financial burden of making modifications and providing services such as interpreters.
Title III extends the reach of the ADA to include "places of public accommodation," including those furnished and maintained by private entities:
"No individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any private entity who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation.”
Places of public accommodation are explicitly defined as including "private entities that offer certain examinations and courses related to educational and occupational certification," a designation that can be applied to most accredited institutions of higher education in the US. Major lawsuits against Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Links to an external site.were filed by the National Association of the Deaf Links to an external site. for failing to provide captions for their video materials.