WASHINGTON − As services have increasingly moved to websites and mobile apps, too many people with vision, hearing, cognitive and manual dexterity disabilities have been left behind, government officials say.
Now, state and local governments would be required to ensure online services are accessible to people with disabilities under new standards the Biden administration proposed Tuesday.
Court information. Public library offerings. Bus schedules. Parking apps. Police services. Voter registration. Vaccine appointments. Those are some of the many services officials said need to be fully accessible to the nearly 50 million people with disabilities.
The proposed rule, which must go through a public comment period, would more specifically tell service providers how they have to do that.
“For too many years, we have heard from both the disability community and regulated entities a desire to have more clarity about what standards apply,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta.
During the pandemic, for example, people who were deaf and hard of hearing couldn’t understand video messages from governors and mayors that weren’t captioned and didn’t have American Sign Language interpretation, according to the White House. Community college students with manual dexterity disabilities had trouble navigating online courses.
The new standards, if finalized, would require enabling navigation through use of a keyboard instead of a mouse for those with limited use of their hands. Videos would have to be captioned. Screen images would need text descriptions so people using screen readers could understand the content.
The update was announced in recognition of the 33rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which protects people with disabilities from discrimination.
Under the law, people can file complaints with the Department of Justice which tries to resolve issues and can take legal action if necessary.
