Return-Path: <nifl-technology@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id g9MJFlX00931; Tue, 22 Oct 2002 15:15:47 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 15:15:47 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.4.21.0210221500440.7720-100000@shagrat.silicongoblin.com> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-technology@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-technology@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-technology@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Steve Linberg" <steve@silicongoblin.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-technology@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-TECHNOLOGY:2654] Ruling: ADA doesn't apply to Web X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Status: O Content-Length: 1660 Lines: 36 In what looks like an important and groundbreaking ruling, a federal judge has ruled that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not apply to Web sites. A blind user was suing Southwest Airline because its website did not meet accessibility standards. The judge dismissed the case with prejudice. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-962761.html I imagine this is not going to be the final word on the case, but it's the first major ruling that I've heard of that tests the applicability of the physical-space-oriented ADA to the virtual space of the Web. It's not clear to me off the bat how or whether this will impact Section 508 requirements for federally-funded sites. Validating and Bobby-checking your site's pages might not be a requirement in the face of this ruling, but it's still a good idea. We'll watch for appeals; part of the judge's ruling hinged on the fact that there is no established standard for measuring a site's accessibility, but the people who do the Web Accessibility Iniative would probably disagree. We'll see what happens. My personal sense on this is that if the courts had ruled against Southwest, then that would have opened the floodgates for a slew of lawsuits against any business that had a website that wasn't standards/Bobby-compliant, which is nearly all of them, and the courts didn't want to see that - understandably. I do think we'll see movement towards accessibility requirements in time, but this case has put the brakes on hard for the moment. -- Steve Linberg, Chief Goblin Silicon Goblin Technologies http://silicongoblin.com Be kind. Remember, everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
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