[Nfbnet-members-list] National Federation of the Blind Condemns Delay of Web Accessibility Regulations

Danielsen, Chris CDanielsen at nfb.org
Fri Apr 29 20:25:38 UTC 2016


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Chris Danielsen
Director of Public Relations
National Federation of the Blind
(410) 659-9314, extension 2330
(410) 262-1281 (cell)
<mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org

National Federation of the Blind Condemns Delay of Web Accessibility 
Regulations

Baltimore, Maryland (April 29, 2016): The 
<http://www.nfb.org/>National Federation of the Blind, the nation's 
leading advocate for equal access by the blind to information and 
technology, today condemned the 
<http://www.ada.gov/regs2016/sanprm_statement.html>announcement by 
the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) that it will further 
delay issuing regulations under Title II of the Americans with 
Disabilities Act (ADA) and instead seek further comments from the 
public on what those regulations should contain. The original 
Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking expressing the intent to issue 
regulations was published on July 26, 2010. At that time, President 
Obama said that the regulations would be "the most important updates 
to the ADA since its original enactment." This is the DOJ's 
<http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/civil-rights/266943-inequality-and-indifference>second 
recent announcement of a delay relating to the issuance of ADA 
regulations on internet access.

<https://nfb.org/mark-riccobono-bio>Mark A. Riccobono, President of 
the National Federation of the Blind, said: "This deplorable 
announcement by the Department of Justice is another example of 
inexcusable foot-dragging on the issue of web accessibility, which is 
critical to the education, employment, and daily life of blind 
Americans. Delaying the equal access of the blind to American society 
by failing to provide clarity in technology accessibility is 
inconsistent with the administration's goal of full participation by 
people with disabilities. This failure also puts public entities 
seeking clear guidance on how to meet their obligations to consumers 
and constituents with disabilities at a severe disadvantage, with no 
direction on how to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act 
in the provision of information and services over the internet. The 
questions that DOJ raises in the Supplemental Advanced Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking did not newly arise in the six years since the 
original Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, nor is the 
continuing evolution of technology an excuse for revisiting them. The 
National Federation of the Blind unequivocally condemns today's 
action and urges the administration to issue proposed rules with 
regard to equal access under Titles II and III of the Americans with 
Disabilities Act without further delay. We further urge all political 
and civic leaders to join with us in calling on this administration 
to fulfill the promise made and bring clarity to the accessibility of 
public information, commerce, and education in the twenty-first 
century. Let's 
<https://nfb.org/blog/vonb-blog/time-white-house-upload-internet-regs>#UploadTheRegs."

###

About the National Federation of the Blind

The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the 
characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise 
the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create 
obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life 
you want; blindness is not what holds you back.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfbnet-members-list_nfbnet.org/attachments/20160429/9257e97b/attachment.html>


More information about the NFBNet-Members-List mailing list