CE Disabled Services
Dr Clyde Shideler, Director
P.O. Box 495
San Luis Rey, CA 92068
(760) 967-8109

Friends,

We wish to commend you for providing the news and other important information on
your web site.  An accessible site makes all this material available to many
people with disabilities, who otherwise would have no access to such
information.  Besides those people with visual impairments, people with various
learning disabilities and some of those with brain injuries also benefit from
such access.
Please help us inform those in our community about the importance of www access
for everyone.

If we can be of further assistance, please contact us.

Thank you

Dr Clyde Shideler
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                        The Honorable Tom Harkin
                            United States Senate
                        Washington, D.C. 20510-1502

Digest of Inquiry
(July 31, 1996) To what extent does the ADA require that Internet web pages be
accessible to people with visual disabilities?

Digest of Response
(September 9, 1996)

ADA Accessibility Requirements Apply To Internet Web Pages

Entities subject to title II or III of the ADA must provide effective
communication to individuals with disabilities, and covered entities that use
the Internet to provide information regarding their programs, goods or services
must be prepared to offer those communications through accessible means. Such
entities may provide web page information in text format that is accessible to
screen reading devices that are used by people with visual impairments, and they
may also offer alternative accessible formats that are identified in a
screen-readable format on a web page.

Text of Inquiry

I have recently been contacted by one of my constituents who has a concern over
the administration's policy on making Web pages compatible for the disabled. I
respectfully ask you to review the administration's policy on this issue and
send me a clarification so that I might be able to respond to my constituent's
questions. It would be helpful if you could mark your correspondence with my
office to the attention of Laura Stuber.

Thank you in advance for your assistance on this matter.

Text of Response

I am responding to your letter on behalf of your constituent, {}, regarding
accessibility of "web pages" on the internet to people with visual disabilities.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires State and local governments
and places of public accommodation to furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and
services where necessary to ensure effective communication with individuals with
disabilities, unless doing so would result in a fundamental alteration to the
program or service or in an undue burden. 28 C.F.R. ? 36.303; 28 C.F.R. ?
35.160. Auxiliary aids include taped texts, Brailled materials, large print
materials, and other methods of making visually delivered materials available to
people with visual impairments.

Covered entities under the ADA are required to provide effective communication,
regardless of whether they generally communicate through print media, audio
media, or computerized media such as the Internet. Covered entities that use the
Internet for communications regarding their programs, goods, or services must be
prepared to offer those communications through accessible means as well.

Mr. [] suggests compatibility with Lynx browser as a means of assuring
accessibility of the Internet. Lynx is, however, only one of many available
options. Other examples include providing the web page information in text
format, rather than exclusively in graphic format. Such text is accessible to
screen reading devices used by people with visual impairments. Instead of
providing full accessibility through the Internet directly, covered entities may
also offer other alternate accessible formats, such as Braille, large print,
and/or audio materials, to communicate the information contained in web pages to
people with visual impairments. The availability of such materials should be
noted in a text (i.e., screen-readable) format on the web page, along with
instructions for obtaining the materials, so that people with disabilities using
the Internet will know how to obtain the accessible formats.

Cc: Records, Chrono, Wodatch, McDowney, Hill, FOIA n:
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policylt
harkin.ltr
sc. Young-parran

The Internet is an excellent source of information and, of course, people with
disabilities should have access to it as effectively as people without
disabilities. A number of web sites provide information about accessibility of
web pages, including information about new developments and guidelines for
development of accessible web pages. Examples include:

http://www.gsa.gov/coca/wwwcode.htm
Center for Information Technology Accommodation General Service
Administration

http://www.trace.wisc.edu/text/guidelns
Trace Center, University of Wisconsin

http://www.webable.com/index.html

http://www.psc-cfp.gc.ca/dmd/access/welcomi.htm

These sites may be useful to you or your constituent in exploring the
accessibility options on the Internet. In addition, the Department of Justice
has established  an ADA home page to educate people about their rights and
responsibilities under the ADA and about the Department's efforts to implement
the ADA. The address of the ADA home page is

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahomi.htm.

I hope this information is helpful to you in responding to your constituent.

Deval L. Patrick
Assistant Attorney General
Civil Rights Division