The DOJ still doesn’t have a regulation standard for ADA website accessibility, but its new webpage explains how businesses can comply under existing standards.
WASHINGTON – On Friday, March 18, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) published information on web accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
DOJ doesn’t have a regulation with detailed standards, but the new webpage offers information for state and local governments (covered by ADA Title II) and public businesses (covered by ADA Title III). Those existing standards can help make websites accessible to people with disabilities in line with ADA requirements.
In the absence of a formal regulation, businesses have flexibility in how they comply with ADA’s general requirements of nondiscrimination and effective communication – but they must comply with ADA requirements.
The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) recommends that real estate professionals identify and address accessibility deficiencies on their business websites, ideally working with their website vendors to conduct accessibility audits. Existing technical standards provide helpful guidance, including Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the Section 508 Standards, which the federal government uses for its own websites.
NAR says it will continue to advocate for clear standards from the DOJ and ask it to take the current lack of a regulation into consideration for businesses that develop and maintain accessible websites.
For Realtors, the ADA website guidelines can be confusing. To help make the issue clearer, NAR developed two videos for members:
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